Bogart, John

John Bogart (February 8, 1836 - April 25, 1920) was a renowned civil engineer active in New York City and environs in the late 19th and early 20th century. Bogart was born into an old, established Dutch-descended family of Albany. He attended the Albany Academy and then graduated from Rutgers College in 1853. His brief experience working in the engineering corps of the New York Central Railroad convinced him to pursue a career in engineering. After finishing at Rutgers, he worked on the enlargement of the Erie Canal and then, from 1858, as assistant engineer for the construction of Central Park, still in its early phases. He then served as an engineer in the U.S. Army during the Civil War, rising to the rank of Colonel and helping to build fortifications at Fortress Monroe. He later served as chief engineer of the New York National Guard. After the war, he returned to civilian life and soon thereafter became chief engineer of the Park Commission of Brooklyn before returning in 1872 to the New York City Department of Public Parks, where he served as Chief Engineer for six years. In the following years, Bogart was a traveling consulting engineer on issues relating to public works and public parks, working throughout the United States and even Venezuela. He also worked for a time as the chief engineer of the New York City Rapid Transit Commission. In 1886, he served as deputy state engineer for New York before being elected State Engineer and Surveyor in 1887. Aside from Central Park, among his major accomplishments was advising the Niagara Falls Power Company and helping to design the Washington Bridge over the Harlem River (not to be confused with the later George Washington Bridge over the Hudson), which was completed in 1888 and was considered something of a modern marvel at the time. In 1870, Bogart married Emma Cherrington Jefferis, who survived him.