The American Clipper Architect off a coast with pilot boat, a regatta and other shipping in the distance

The Architect was the largest of three ships built in Baltimore in 1847-48 by L.B. Cully for John Ellerton Lodge of Boston and the China Trade. She measured 520 tons. A prototype of the later much large Baltimore clippers, the name is suggestive of a break with architectural tradition as she bears a sharper stem and finer lined stern that had customarily been used for deep sea voyages. The result was a very fast and economically successful designed ship. She was one of the contenders for the title "First Clipper Ship" and became along with Gray Eagle and Greyhound prominent in the South American trade, pricipally with Rio de Janeiro. She also one of the earliest vessels to take gold-seekers to California during the 1849 gold rush.