Memorable Manitobans: John Danley Atchison (1870-1959)

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John Danley Atchison
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Architect.

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John Danley Atchison
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Born at Monmouth, Illinois on 17 February 1870, son of Nathaniel Atchison and Elizabeth Danley, he was trained at the Chicago Art Institute and the Chicago Manual Training School before moving to Winnipeg in 1905. He served as President of the Manitoba Association of Architects (1911) and was a member of the Art Committee of the Winnipeg School of Art from 1913 to 1923. Atchison was the most important “Chicago style” architect in Winnipeg, designing nearly 100 buildings.

He and wife Grace Relyea Abeel (1871-?) had four children, the youngest two of whom were born in Winnipeg: Isabel Relyea Atchison (1902-1978), Elizabeth Danley “Betty” Atchison (1905-?), John Danley Atchison (1907-1968), and Robert Abeel Atchison (1910-1993). In September 1923, the family moved to Los Angeles, California where he continued his architectural practice.

He died at Los Angeles, California on 20 June 1959 and was buried there.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building

Location

Year

Status

Alexandria Block

389-393 Graham Avenue, Winnipeg

1905

Demolished (1979)

Balmoral Court

540 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg

1905

 

Kennedy Block

315-323 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1906

Partly destroyed by fire (1973)

Wardlaw Apartments

544 Wardlaw Avenue, Winnipeg

1906

 

Hample Building

271 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1906

 

Holyrood Court

563 William Avenue, Winnipeg

1906

 

Lee Court

217 Donald Street, Winnipeg

1906

Demolished (?)

Bon Accord Block

635-645 Main Street / 185 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg

1906-1907

 

Fairchild Building

110-120 Princess Street, Winnipeg

1907

 

Jordan Block

305 Fort Street, Winnipeg

1907

Demolished (?)

Peck Building (addition)

33 Princess Street, Winnipeg

1907

 

Elliott House

16 Ruskin Row, Winnipeg

1908

 

Dennistoun House

166 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg

1908

Demolished (2017)

Inglis Building (addition)

291 Garry Street, Winnipeg

1908

 

Devon Court

376 Broadway, Winnipeg

1908

Demolished (1982)

Russell House

213 Kingsway, Winnipeg

1908

 

Winnipeg Police Court (renovation)

223 James Avenue, Winnipeg

1908

 

Canada Permanent Mortgage Building

296-298 Garry Street, Winnipeg

1909

 

Edmonton Block

383-389 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1909

Demolished (?)

Grosvenor Court

161-165 Stafford Street, Winnipeg

1909

 

Oldfield, Kirby and Gardner Building

234 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1909

 

Maltese Cross Building

66 King Street, Winnipeg

1909

 

Paterson Block

54 Donald Street, Winnipeg

1909

 

MacKenzie House

408 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg

1909

 

Welland Court

409-411 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg

1909

Demolished (?)

Great West Life Building

177 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg

1909-1911

 

Chevrier House

106 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg

1910

 

Eastern Townships Bank

367-369 Main Street, Winnipeg

1910

Demolished (?)

Orpheum Theatre

283 Fort Street, Winnipeg

1910

Demolished (1946)

Belvidere Apartments

275 Colony Street, Winnipeg

1910

 

Chevrier House

104 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg

1910

 

Dingwall House

52 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg

1910

Demolished (?)

Consolidated Plate Glass Warehouse

375 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg

1911

Demolished (?)

Gooderham House (Harold Dean Gooderham)

323 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg

1911

Demolished (?)

Nanton Block

391 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1911

Demolished (1985)

Allan Killam McKay Building

364 Main Street, Winnipeg

1911-1912

Demolished (?)

Boyd Building

384-392 Portage Avenue / 270 Edmonton Street, Winnipeg

1911-1912

 

Northwest Investment Building

575-581 Portage Avenue / 351-357 Langside Street, Winnipeg

1912

Destroyed by fire (2 February 2022)

Cadomin Building

280 Main Street, Winnipeg

1912

 

Carlton Building

354 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1912

 

Industrial Bureau Exposition Building

Main Street at Water Avenue, Winnipeg

1912

Demolished (?)

Mac Building

585 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg

1912

 

Union Tower Building

387 Main Street, Winnipeg

1912

 

All Souls Unitarian Church

103 Furby Street, Winnipeg

1913

 

Knights of Columbus Building

282-294 Graham Avenue / 244 Smith Street, Winnipeg

1913

Demolished (1974)

Merchants Bank

1386 Main Street, Winnipeg

1913

 

Sunnycrest Apartments

667 Wolseley Avenue, Winnipeg

1913

 

Union Trust Building

191 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg

1913

 

Tribune Building

257 Smith Street, Winnipeg

1913-1914

Demolished (1983)

Ames Holden McCready Building

318 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg

1914

 

Curry Building

227-249 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1915

 

Lord Kitchener School

1490 Henderson Highway, Winnipeg

1915

 

Lord Wolseley School

939 Henderson Highway, Winnipeg

1915

 

Salisbury School No. 1

795 Prince Rupert Avenue, Winnipeg

1915

Demolished (July 1987)

Bank of Hamilton

395 Main Street, Winnipeg

1916-1918

 

St. George's Anglican Church

168 Wilton Street, Winnipeg

1916

Demolished (1957)

Willys-Overland Building

686 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1916

 

Lord Nelson School

820 McPhillips Street, Winnipeg

1917

 

National Theatre (alterations)

300 Fort Street, Winnipeg

1917

Demolished (1930)

Emerson Town Hall and Court House

104 Church Street, Emerson, Municipality of Emerson-Franklin

1917-1918

 

Kennedy Block (conversion)

315-323 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1919

Partly destroyed by fire (1973)

Red Cross Lodge, Fort Osborne Barracks

Tuxedo

1919

Demolished (?)

Alaska Bedding Warehouse (addition)

129 Gomez Street North, Winnipeg

1920

 

Manitoba School for the Deaf

500 Shaftesbury Boulevard, Winnipeg

1921-1922

 

Medical Arts Building

Graham Avenue at Kennedy Street, Winnipeg

1922-1923

 

Hunter House

105 Yale Avenue, Winnipeg

1923

 

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Samuel Sinnott “Sam” Kennedy (1877-1961)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Bank of Toronto Building (456 Main Street, Winnipeg)

John D. Atchison Was Here by Gail Perry
Prairie History, Number 1, Winter 2020

Sources:

Birth registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Winnipeg’s big building development during 1908,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 December 1908, page 31.

“New building for Garry Street,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 May 1911, page 1.

“Building permits,” Manitoba Free Press, 5 July 1911, page 16.

1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

“Reach $5,000,000 mark,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 May 1911, page 10.

The Story of Manitoba by F. H. Schofield, Winnipeg: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913.

The Leading Financial, Business & Professional Men of Winnipeg, published by Edwin McCormick, Photographs by T. J. Leatherdale, Compiled and printed by Stone Limited, c1913. [copy available at the Archives of Manitoba]

“Tenders for building,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 June 1914, page 2.

“East Kildonan building three fine new schools,” Manitoba Free Press, 30 April 1915, page 4.

“Society,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 September 1923, page 8.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

“Temple facade to get new life,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 July 1985.

Crescentwood, A History by R. R. Rostecki, Winnipeg: Crescentwood Home Owners Association, 1993.

John Danley Atchison, Geni.

John Danley Atchison, FindAGrave.

We thank Nathan Kramer, Murray Peterson, and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 23 February 2024

Memorable Manitobans

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