Memorable Manitobans: Joseph Pierre Michel Lecourt (1824-1913)

Joseph-Pierre-Michel Lecourt Click to enlarge

Architect.

Born at Quebec in 1824, he was educated at the Séminaire de Nicolet from 1840 to 1844, and then studied as an architect with Frederick Hacker. By 1852 he was designing buildings for the province of Canada, turning from the neo-classicism of his teacher to a neo-renaissance style. In 1873, he came to Winnipeg as supervising architect for the federal Department of Public Works. He returned to Ottawa in the 1880s. He died there on 9 December 1913 and was buried in the Notre Dame of Ottawa Cemetery.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Status
Post Office	198 Main Street, Winnipeg	1873	Demolished (?)
Customs House	194-196 Main Street, Winnipeg	1873	Demolished (?)
Stony Mountain Penitentiary (administration building, cellblock, guards' house, stables, laundry, school, ice house, blacksmith shop)	RM of Rockwood	1874-1877	Demolished (?)
Dominion Land Office	202 Main Street, Winnipeg	1875	Demolished (?)
Fort Osborne (soldiers' barracks)	Winnipeg	1877	Demolished (?)
Immigrant Hospital	Winnipeg	1880	Demolished (?)
Legislative Building	Kennedy Street, Winnipeg	1881-1883	Demolished (1922)

See also:

The Early History of the Cauchon Block, Later the Empire Hotel by Randy R. Rostecki
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 21, Number 3, Spring 1976

Joseph-Pierre-Michel Lecourt, Dictionary of Canadian Biography XIV, 635-37.

Sources:

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, December 1999, 288 pages.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.

Joseph Pierre LeCourt, FindAGrave.

We thank Glen Toews for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 24 October 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!