City architect, country architect: An investigation into the relationship between professional and self-taught architects in nineteenth-century Maryland

This thesis examines the complex relationship between self-taught and professional architects in the nineteenth-century United States. The community of Harford County, Maryland is used as a case study to better understand this relationship and the complicated exchange of ideas that existed in the moment before the formal separation of builder and architect. Through the use of archival resources and field work examining the built environment of Harford County, this study finds that these two types of designers were not as far apart as they seemed. Both types of designer relied upon each other to navigate the changing world of architecture. The fluidity of this intellectual exchange reflected the changes occurring throughout American society as the nation transformed from a primarily agrarian to an industrial society.