John L. Smithmeyer

John L. Smithmeyer was an American architect. He was born in Vienna, Austria in 1832 and came to the U.S. in 1848. He studied architecture in Chicago and began an architectural practice in Indianapolis. After serving in the U.S. Civil War in Indiana, he was appointed superintendent of the construction of Government buildings in the South and subsequently moved to Washington DC. and partnered with Paul J. Pelz to win the competition for the new building of the Library of Congress (now Thomas Jefferson Building).