Memorable Manitobans: Daniel Smith (1840-1913)

Daniel Smith Click to enlarge

Architect, civil servant.

Born at Bristol, Quebec on 1 November 1840, he was educated at Ottawa, Ontario. In 1877, he joined the federal Department of Public Works where he was a draughtsman under architect Thomas S. Scott. In August 1882, he was transferred to Winnipeg to supervise Scott’s design for Government House.

He was appointed local Superintendent of Public Works for all of western Canada, responsible for the construction of all federal buildings from Port Arthur [Thunder Bay] to British Columbia. He retired in 1900 and took up private practice in Winnipeg specialising in industrial architecture. He formed a partnership with William Bruce in 1907 and, two years later, took on the added reponsibility of provincial factory inspector for the provincial government. He also served as President of the Winnipeg Industrial Exhibition and was a Winnipeg city alderman (1890-1891).

He and wife Bridget Mary Smith (1846-1919) had two children: Frank F. Smith (1876-?) and ? Smith (?-?, wife of E. L. Thomas).

He died at his Winnipeg home, 114 Balmoral Place, on 12 July 1913 and was buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Status
Boyd Building (addition)	Spence Street at Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1903	Demolished (?)
Canadian Moline Plow Warehouse	289 Chambers Street, Winnipeg	1903
Kilgour-Rimer Block (addition)	Bannatyne Avenue at Princess Street, Winnipeg	1903	Demolished (?)
Manitoba Cold Storage Warehouse	151 Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg	1903	Destroyed by fire (2004)
Strang Liquor Warehouse	Fort Street, Winnipeg	1903	Demolished (?)
Winnipeg Brewery Malthouse	Colony street south of Broadway, Winnipeg	1903	Demolished (?)
Consolidated Stationery Warehouse (addition)	104-108 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1904
Crump Block	844-852 Main Street, Winnipeg	1904
Czerwinski Box Factory	Logan Avenue, Winnipeg	1904	Demolished (?)
Queen Victoria Statue (stone base)	450 Broadway, Winnipeg	1904	Removed (2021)
Bell Hotel	662-664 Main Street, Winnipeg	1906
Canada Paint Company Factory and Grain Elevator	Sutherland Avenue, Winnipeg	1906	Demolished (?)
Codville-Georgeson Building	43-49 Westbrook Street, Winnipeg	1906	Demolished (1993)
Dunlop House (addition)	Young Street, Winnipeg	1906
Florence Block (renovations)	826 Main Street, Winnipeg	1906
Smart Bag Company Building (addition)	145 Pacific Avenue, Winnipeg	1906
Strang House	Edmonton Street, Winnipeg	1906
Misericordia Hospital (expansion)	20 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg	1906-1907
Mount Royal Hotel	287 Garry Street, Winnipeg	1906-1907
Beveridge Block	800-806 Main Street, Winnipeg	1907	Destroyed by fire (2021)
Northern Hotel (addition)	826 Main Street, Winnipeg	1907
Fire Hall No. 2 (addition)	Smith Street, Winnipeg	1907-1908	Demolished (1941)
Melbourne Apartments	133 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg	1910

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: MacKinnon House (114 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg)

Sources:

“Apartment buildings and hotels,” Manitoba Free Press, 21 November 1907, page 28.

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

1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Death registration [Daniel Smith], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Daniel Smith dead,” Manitoba Free Press, 14 July 1913, page 16.

“Daniel Smith died today after short illness,” Winnipeg Tribune, 12 July 1913, page 1.

Obituary [Mrs. D. Smith], Winnipeg Tribune, 28 April 1919, page 5.

Daniel Smith, Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950.

We thank Grace Jacobs, George Penner, Nathan Kramer, and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 1 January 2025

Memorable Manitobans This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations. Search the collection by word or phrase, name, place, occupation or other text: Custom Search Browse surnames beginning with: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z Browse deaths occurring in: 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 Send corrections and additions to this page to the Memorable Manitobans Administrator at biographies@mhs.mb.ca Criteria for Memorable Manitobans | Suggest a Memorable Manitoban | Firsts | Acknowledgements Help us keep history alive!