The pre-Civil War architecture of the nineteenth century was marked by the development of two distinct styles: the "corporate, " which originated in the chaste, brick buildings of early Boston, and the "early Gothic Revival, " which brought new vitality to American religious and domestic architecture. Pierson traces the evolution of these styles in the works of Ithiel Town, Richard Upjohn, James Renwick, A.J. Davis, and Andrew Jackson Downing.