This article provides new perspective on architectural training and practice in nineteenth-century America by focusing on the little known efforts by the Prague-born architect Leopold Eidlitz to create a new school of architecture in New York in the 1860s. Eidlitz proposed to establish a polytechnic institute based on the schools of central Europe and sponsored by the American Institute of Architects as an alternative to William Ware’s newly implemented Beaux-Arts influenced programs at MIT. While Ware’s program flourished, Eidlitz’s Grand Central School of Architecture was rejected by his professional peers. Contrasting these two divergent visions highlights the profession’s unresolved debates about the proper venues and subjects for professional education, the roles of art, science, and drawing in design and construction, and ultimately the architect’s relationship to society.