Memorable Manitobans: James McDiarmid (1855-1934)

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James McDiarmid
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Architect, building contractor, naturalist.

Born at Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland on 9 March 1855, he immigrated to Canada in April 1883 with his brother John McDiarmid. He moved to Winnipeg and, in 1884, became a partner with George White Murray in the construction firm of Murray and McDiarmid. In 1905, it became the James McDiarmid Company, General Builders and Contractors, with branches in Calgary and Vancouver. His firm built many different kind of structures, including grain elevators all over the prairies, and the Legislative Building after the cancellation of the original contract that had led to the fall of the Roblin government. McDiarmid designed many of the buildings himself, especially churches. He was also Vice-President of the Beaver Elevator Company.

As well as working as an architect, he was an amateur painter, and a collector of art. He joined the art committee of the Winnipeg Industrial Bureau in 1906, and he proposed the construction of a civic art gallery, never built, in 1909.

On 17 April 1890, he married Isabella Smith (1866-1953) at Winnipeg. They had no children. He served for many years as Chairman of the Winnipeg Parks Board and was instrumental in founding the Municipal Golf Course. A member of the Natural History Society of Manitoba, he collected mineral, semi-precious stones, and shells. He was also a member of the Carleton Club and Masons.

He died at his Winnipeg home, 250 Balmoral Street, on 24 February 1934 and was buried in the Kildonan Presbyterian Cemetery.

Some of his works in Manitoba included:

Building

Location

Year

Status

Stonewall School No. 108

Second Avenue North, Stonewall

1891

Demolished (1957)

St. Andrew’s Manse

429 Elgin Avenue, Winnipeg

1893

 

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church

415 Elgin Avenue, Winnipeg

1894

 

Penrose House

232 Bell Avenue / 444 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg

1894

 

Winnipeg Lutheran Tabernacle

Furby at Sargent, Winnipeg

1894

 

Speirs Bakery

170 Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg

1895

 

Emerson Presbyterian Church

Emerson

1896

 

Bodega Hotel / Victoria Hotel

312 Main Street, Winnipeg

1897

Demolished (?)

Great West Saddlery Factory

112-114 Market Avenue, Winnipeg

1898

 

MacPherson Fruit Block

491 Main Street, Winnipeg

1898

Demolished (?)

D. H. Bain Building

115 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg

1899

 

Marshall Wells Warehouse

123 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg

1900

 

Cleland Block

705-707 Main Street, Winnipeg

1901

Demolished (1998)

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church

338 Hamilton Street, Manitou

1901

 

Corbett Block

611-617 Main Street, Winnipeg

1901

 

McDiarmid House

250 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg

1901

 

Blue Ribbon Building (Anne Building)

87 King Street (88 Arthur Street), Winnipeg

1901

 

Thomas Scott Memorial Orange Hall

216-218 Princess Street, Winnipeg

1902

 

Steele Block

360 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1903

 

Sandison Block

302 Main Street, Winnipeg

1904

 

Ideal Bedding Building

288 Princess Street, Winnipeg

1904

Demolished (2017)

Point Douglas Presbyterian Church

95 Macdonald Avenue, Winnipeg

1905

 

St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Chapel and Winter Vault

506 Osborne Street, Winnipeg

1906

 

Dominion Post Office Building

208 Provencher Boulevard, Winnipeg

1907

 

Postal Station B

1048 Main Street, Winnipeg

1907-1909

 

Winnipeg Paint and Glass Company Building

179 Pioneer Avenue, Winnipeg

1908

 

Customs Examining Warehouse

145 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg

1908-1910

 

Keewayden Building

138 Portage Avenue East, Winnipeg

1909

 

Canada Building

352 Donald Street, Winnipeg

1910

 

Imperial Oil Cooperage

995 Alexander Avenue, Winnipeg

1910

 

Rover Avenue Electric Terminal

199 Annabella Street, Winnipeg

1910-1911

 

Imperial Oil Cooperage (addition)

995 Alexander Avenue, Winnipeg

1911

 

Kemp Block / Gaylord Block (addition)

111 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg

1911

 

St. Stephens Presbyterian Church / Elim Chapel (addition)

546 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1911

 

Swift Canadian Wholesale Market

312 William Avenue, Winnipeg

1911-1912

 

Cumberland Building

344 Cumberland Avenue, Winnipeg

1912

 

Knowles School for Boys

2065 Henderson Highway, Winnipeg

1912

Destroyed by fire (1959)

St. James Presbyterian Church

221 Hampton Avenue, Winnipeg

1912

Demolished (?)

Notre Dame Investment Building

167-169 Pioneer Avenue

1912-1913

Demolished (1991)

St. Stephens Manse

299 Young Street, Winnipeg

1913

 

Pantages Theatre

180 Market Avenue, Winnipeg

1913-1914

 

Imperial Oil Cooperage (alterations)

995 Alexander Avenue, Winnipeg

1914

 

Manitoba Cold Storage Warehouse (addition)

151 Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg

1914

Destroyed by fire (2004)

Martin Bole and Wynne Warehouse

576 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg

1914

 

Scott Fruit Company Warehouse

319 Elgin Avenue, Winnipeg

1914

 

R. R. Scott House

29 Ruskin Row, Winnipeg

1914

 

Manitoba Legislative Building

450 Broadway, Winnipeg

1915-1920

 

Macleod House

70 Harvard Avenue, Winnipeg

1918

 

First Federated Church of Unitarians

790 Banning Street, Winnipeg

1921

 

Harris Abottoir Meat Packing Plant

Archibald Street, Winnipeg

1925

Demolished (2001)

Pointe du Bois Staff House

Pointe du Bois, Whiteshell Provincial Park

1926

 

Leonard and McLaughlin Garage and Auto Sales Building

541 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1927

 

Baldwin Apartments

205 Arlington Street, Winnipeg

1929

 

Dominion Post Office Building

1039 Princess Avenue, Brandon

1929-1930

 

Manitoba Telephone System Building

166 Portage Avenue East, Winnipeg

1930-1932

 

See also:

Manitoba Business: Winnipeg Paint and Glass Company

Sources:

Natural History Society of Manitoba, 21st Anniversary Bulletin, 1920 to 1941. Natural History Society of Manitoba.

Marriage and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Jas. McDiarmid, prominent city pioneer, dies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 24 February 1934, page 1.

Winnipeg Building Index.

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

First Federated Church of Unitarians, 790 Banning Street by Murray Peterson, Peterson Projects, December 2009.

We thank Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough, Gordon McDiarmid, and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 7 August 2024

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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