HODGSON, Frederick Thomas (1832-1919) was active in Collingwood, Ont. where he worked as a surveyor, builder, and after 1890, as an architect. Born in Selsby, Yorkshire, England on 19 September 1832, he emigrated Upper Canada in 1847 with his uncle William MacDonald and his family. He settled at Duntroon, in Nottawasaga Township, then moved to the village of Hurontario in 1851. He assisted with the development of the Northern Railway terminus at Collingwood, acting as a contractor for houses and sheds erected for the men engaged on final extension of the railway line and later erecting his first building on Hurontario Street in 1853-54 on the site of the present Globe Hotel. In 1858 he dabbled in journalism, contributing articles to the Collingwood Enterprise, of which he was to later serve as Editor in 1876-77.
In 1859 he moved to St. Catharines, Ont. where he held the position of Superintendent of Rolling Stock on the Welland Railway until 1876. He returned to Collingwood, but in 1877 he left Canada and moved to New York City to accept a position as Associate Editor of The American Builder magazine. In 1878 he was appointed Managing Editor for the journal, and remained there until 1890. He later worked as editor of the National Builder [Chicago], which absorbed The Builder & Woodworker, a paper which Hodgson had established in New York. His journalistic experience led him to contribute to other journals including The Canadian Architect & Builder [Toronto], the Carpenter & Builder [New York], Architect's Magazine [New York], The Dixie [Atlanta, Ga.], and The Craftsman [Cleveland].
Hodgson was remarkably prolific as an author and writer on the subject of practical building and construction techniques, and The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. lists 144 titles by Fred T. Hodgson, but many of these volumes were created by slightly altering the titles to revised editions, and by recompiling, editing and recycling much of the material he had published in earlier volumes. His best know work was The A.B.C. of the Steel Square (1881), a practical guide to the use of the carpenter's steel square in construction, eventually published in twenty editions and sold in six countries. This book was reprinted as recently as 1972. Some of his other publications include:
Practical Carpentry: Being a Guide to the Correct Working and Laying Out of All Kinds of Carpenter's & Joiners Work, pub. Industrial Pub. Co., New York, 1883;
Plaster & Plastering: Mortars and Cements: How to Make and How to Use, pub. Industrial Pub. Co., 1883;
Stair Building Made Easy: The Art of Building the Bodies, Carriages, Etc., pub. Industrial Pub. Co., New York, 1892;
Hardwood Finisher: Rules and Directions for Finishing in Natural Colours, and in Antique, Mahoghany, Cherry, Birch, and Filling, Staining, Varnishing & Polishing, pub. Industrial Pub. Co., New York, 1892;
Cyclopedia of Bricklaying, Stone Masonry, Concretes, Stuccos and Plaster, pub. Drake Pub., Chicago, 1914;
The Up-to-Date Hardwood Finisher, pub. Drake Pub., Chicago, 1915;
Mortars, Plasters, Stucco, Artificial Marbles, Concretes, Portland Cements and Compositions in Constructive and Decorative Work, pub. Drake Pub., Chicago, 1916;
Practical Bungalows and Cottages for Town & Country, Drake Pub., Chicago, 1916.
In Collingwood he wrote and published the "Collingwood Board of Trade Report for 1893" in which he illustrated, without credit, many of the buildings he himself had designed and built. In this and other local publications he advertised himself as "Architect, Builder, Civil Engineer and General Contractor". In his later career much of his work as an Editor of the American journals noted above was carried out by correspondence from his own residence in Collingwood. Hodgson died in Collingwood on 15 July 1919 (obituary Montreal Daily Star, 16 July 1919, 4; obit. Collingwood Bulletin, 17 July 1919, 1; biog and port. in Huron Institute: Papers & Records [Collingwood], 1914, ii, 101-02; inf. Charles Garrad, Willowdale, Ont)
Fred T. HODGSON (works in Collingwood)
WEST WARD SCHOOL, 1890 (Enterprise [Collingwood], 31 July 1890, 8)
THIRD STREET, 'Armadale', a residence for Herbert Y. Telfer, 1890 (Enterprise [Collingwood], 13 Nov. 1890, 1, descrip.; Laurel Lane-Moore, Collingwood: Historic Homes and Buildings, 1989, 76-8, illus. & descrip.)
HURONTARIO STREET, store for E.R. Carpenter, 1891 (American Contractor [Chicago], xii, 6 June 1891, 41, descrip.)
CLARKSBURG, ONT., bank for the Beaver Valley Banking Co., 1891 (American Contractor [Chicago], xii, 6 June 1891, 41, descrip.)
THIRD STREET, at Oak Street, 'Tornaveen', a mansion for Frank F. Telfer, 1891-92; stable and barn, 1894 (American Contractor [Chicago], xii, 6 June 1891, 41, descrip.; Enterprise [Collingwood], 3 March 1892, 8; C.R., v, 4 Oct. 1894, 1; Laurel Lane-Moore, Collingwood: Historic Homes and Buildings, 1989, 82-4, illus. & descrip.)
unidentified street, residence for Frank Nettleton, 1894 (C.R., v, 6 Sept. 1894, 1)
HURONTARIO STREET, residence for Charles Mickler, 1895 (C.R., v, 10 Jan. 1895, 1)
GLOBE HOTEL, Hurontario Street, addition, 1895 (C.R., vi, 11 April 1895, 3)
GENERAL & MARINE HOSPITAL, major extension, 1895 (C.A.B., viii, Aug. 1895, 100, illus. & descrip.)
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE, new Gymnasium Building, 1895 (C.R., vi, 20 June 1895, 1)
COLLINGWOOD TOWNSHIP, farm house for George Watson 'outside the town limits of Collingwood', 1895 (C.R., vi, 26 Sept. 1895, 2)
FEDERAL POST OFFICE, Hurontario Street, as Local Supervising Architect for Thomas Fuller of Ottawa, 1897 (Owen Sound Sun, 22 June 1897, 2, descrip.)
HURONTARIO STREET, at Simcoe Street, reconstruction and improvements to commercial block of five stores for David Wilson, 1897 (C.R., viii, 14 Oct. 1897, 1)
SIMCOE STREET, at Ste. Marie Street, express and telegraph office, with bonded warehouse and store, 1898 (C.R., ix, 4 May 1898, 3)
ARLINGTON HOTEL, Hurontario Street, for J. McFayden, 1900 (dwgs in the possession of W.J. Carswell, Collingwood)
HURONTARIO STREET, store for W.A. Hamilton, 1900 (C.R., xi, 30 May 1900, 2)
THIRD STREET, residence for George E. Fair, 1900 (Enterprise-Messenger [Collingwood], 5 July 1900, 1, descrip.)
THIRD STREET, at Oak Street, residence for John Hogg, 1900 (C.R., xi, 29 Aug. 1900, 2)
HURONTARIO STREET, store and warehouse for Robert O'Brien, 1901 (C.R., xii, 15 May 1901, 3)
unidentified street, residence for J. Birnie, 1902 (C.R., xiii, 7 May 1902, 2)
HURONTARIO STREET, double store and residence for Alexander Freeman, 1902 (C.R., xiii, 7 May 1902, 2)
GEORGE FAIR & CO., Hurontario Street, two new stores, to replace those 'which burned last year', 1905 (Enterprise-Messenger [Collingwood], 30 Nov. 1905, 1, descrip.)
HURONTARIO STREET, major additions to a residence built c. 1874 and formerly owned by William Foster, and remodelled for Frederick A. Hodgson, son of the architect, 1906 (Laurel Lane-Moore, Collingwood: Historic Homes and Buildings, 1989, 44-5, illus. & descrip.)
Fred T. HODGSON (works elsewhere)
MIDLAND, ONT., extensive alterations to residence for James Playfair, 1894 (C.R., v, 20 Dec. 1894, 2)
CLARKSBURG, ONT., Queen's Hotel, large addtion and alterations, 1899 (C.R., x, 9 Aug. 1899, 3)
CREEMORE, ONT., residence for Jacob Hisey, 1899 (Enterprise-Messenger [Collingwood], 31 Aug. 1899, 4)
PENETANGUISHINE, ONT., addition and extensive alterations to Post Office, 1901 (C.R., xii, 24 April 1901, 2)