Baker, Alfred | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

BAKER, Alfred (1877-1956), active in Toronto, Ont. from 1899 where he was head draftsman and chief assistant to S. Hamilton Townsend for more than thirty years. Born in Stratford, Ont. on 13 July 1877 he served an apprenticeship there with the well-known architect Harry J. Powell from 1892 to 1897. He then moved to Chicago to gain drafting experience for two years, and later returned to Toronto in 1899 and joined the office S.H. Townsend. He became the successor to Townsend upon the retirement of the latter in 1913. Only one commission by Baker has been located, that for a four storey brick commerical block of stores and offices on Queen Street West for Horatio C. Boultbee, TORONTO, ONT., 1914 (Toronto b.p. 11521, 13 May 1914). Baker died in Toronto on 11 March 1956 (death notice Toronto Star, 12 March 1956, 31; inf. Ontario Association of Architects).