McPHAIL, Albert Harold (1888-1961), a native of Northern Ontario, was born at Bruce Mines on 2 June 1888 and was raised there before his family moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.. At the young age of 14 years, he became an apprentice of James Thomson, a local Sault Ste. Marie architect, from 1902 to 1907. He then took a position in the American office of Edward Demar, just across the border in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and worked there in 1907-09 while taking home correspondence courses in architecture and construction with the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Penn.
In 1909 he formed a partnership with Stewart B. Moran in Haileybury, Ont. (see list of works under Moran & McPhail). They relocated to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont in 1912, but their collaboration ended in 1914 and McPhail moved to Windsor, Ont. where he joined with Irvin S. Walker and became a member of the new firm of Walker & McPhail (1915-18). It was there that he decided to open his own office in late 1918. His early work in the Collegiate Gothic tradition combined a formal symmetry with careful attention to brick and stone detailing, best seen in his designs for Prince Edward School, and an almost identical plan for Victoria Avenue School, both in Windsor. In 1923 he won the competition for the design of Assumption Street School, but was briefly suspended from membership in the Ontario Association of Architects because the competition failed to meet the standards set for its members by the OAA. McPhail was undeterred by these restrictions, and won the competition regardless.
By the late 1920's McPhail had adopted a progressive modernist style for his work, evident in his design for the 13 storey Canada Building, one of the largest (and tallest) buildings in Windsor at that time. McPhail remained active in the profession until 1958, and died in Windsor on 12 December 1961 (obituary Windsor Star, 12 Dec. 1961, 8; obituary and port. Windsor Star, 13 Dec. 1961, 3 and 6; biog. and port, with list of works in the Windsor Star, 18 June 1927, Section Four, 22; inf. Ontario Assoc. of Architects)
A.H. McPHAIL (works in Windsor unless noted)
MUNICIPAL VEHICLE GARAGE, with major addition to No. 2 Fire Hall, Pitt Street, 1917 (Evening Record [Windsor], 1 Aug. 1917, 8, t.c.)
SARNIA, ONT., Metropolitan Theatre, Christina Street, 1919 (Sarnia Observer, 7 April 1919, 1)
DOUGALL AVENUE PUBLIC SCHOOL, major additions and alterations, 1919 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 18 June 1919, 13, t.c.; and 13 April 1920, 3, descrip.)
VICTORIA AVENUE PUBLIC SCHOOL, 1919; major addition, 1925 (C.R., xxxiii, 19 Nov. 1919, 48, t.c.; and xxxvi, 26 July 1922, 746-7, illus.; Border Cities Star [Windsor], 17 July 1925, 13)
PRINCE EDWARD PUBLIC SCHOOL, Giles Boulevard near Parent Avenue, 1919-20 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 1 Nov. 1919, 5, descrip.; C.R., xxxiii, 3 Dec. 1919, 48, t.c.; and xxxvi, 26 July 1922, 746-7, illus.; Detroit Free Press, 25 Jan. 1920, Section Four, 5, illus & descrip.)
ALL SAINTS ANGLICAN CHURCH, Windsor Avenue at London Street, clubhouse for the church, 1919 (C.R., xxxiii, 24 Sept. 1919, 46)
WINDSOR GROVE CEMETERY, Giles Boulevard East at Mercer Street, a large mausoleum building, 1919 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 31 March 1919, 3; and 11 July 1919, 5)
LONDON, ONT., mausoleum at Woodland Cemetery, Springbank Drive, 1919 (C.R., xxxiii, 19 Feb. 1919, 50; dwgs. at Univ. of Western Ontario, Moore Coll.)
CLARENCE H. SMITH DEPARTMENT STORE, Ouellette Avenue at Pitt Street, a major four storey addition, 1920-21; and another addition in 1929 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 28 April 1921, 3, descrip.; list of works in obituary article)
(with Esenwein & Johnson, of Buffalo, N.Y.) PRINCE EDWARD HOTEL, Ouellette Avenue at Park Street, 1921-22 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 4 Feb. 1920, 7 illus. & descrip.; and 30 June 1920, 3, extensive descrip.; Detroit Free Press, 20 Nov. 1921, 21, illus. & descrip.)
FORD CITY, ONT., Ontario Street Public School [later called Ada C. Richards Public School], 1922; demol. 2011 (C.R., xxxvi, 31 May 1922, 52, t.c.; inf. Ian Mason, Sarnia)
BORDER CITIES STAR LTD., Pitt Street at Ferry Street, newspaper printing plant, 1922; office and warehouse, 1927 (C.R., xxxvi, 29 March 1922, 52; and xliii, 6 Nov. 1929, 58; Border Cities Star [Windsor], 18 June 1927, Section Four, 11, illus. & descrip.; Andrew Foot, Windsor Then & Now, 2021, 68-69, illus.)
ASSUMPTION STREET PUBLIC SCHOOL [also called Frank W. Begley Public School], major addition, a commission won in a competition, 1923-24; demol. 2004 (Detroit Free Press, 6 Feb. 1924, 19; Border Cities Star [Windsor], 28 Aug. 1923, 3, descrip,; and 18 Dec. 1924, 3, illus. & descrip.)
RIVERSIDE BREWERY, Riverside Drive near Vanderbilt Crescent, for Fred J. Kirsch, c, 1924 (dwgs. at OA, McDonnell Coll.)
FORD CITY, ONT, residence for W.F. Herman, Sandwich Street, 1927 (C.R., xli, 25 May 1927, 180)
CANADA BUILDING, Ouellette Avenue, a 10 storey office tower, 1929 (Brantford Daily Expositor, 11 April 1929, 2, descrip.; C.R., xliii, 28 Aug. 1929, 24, illus. in advert.; and xliv, 16 April 1930, 17, illus. in advert.)
WALKERVILLE, ONT., St. George's Anglican Church, Devonshire Road at Kildare Road, 1932 (C.R., xlvi, 4 May 1932, 46)
LASALLE, ONT., St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Laurier Drive at Divine Street, 1949-50 (Windsor Star, 28 March 1950, 5, illus.)
COMPETITIONS
WALKERVILLE, ONT., Metropolitan General Hospital, Lens Avenue at Byng Road, 1926. The office of A.H. McPhail was one of 8 local architects who competed for this job (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 27 Jan. 1926, 5). Their submission was passed over in favour of Pennington & Boyde.