Memorable Manitobans: John Danley Atchison (1870-1959)

John Danley Atchison Click to enlarge

Architect.

John Danley Atchison Click to enlarge

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 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1906
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	637 Main Street, 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 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	388 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1912
Kirkwood Block	575 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1912	Destroyed by fire (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
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
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
Bank of Commerce	315 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1919
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: 25 August 2023

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