ROLFSON, Francis Bent (1872-1941), active in Lethbridge, Alberta from c. 1905 until after 1914. Born in Utah, USA on 30 November 1872, he received his education at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and later studied architecture through courses offered by the International Correspondence Schools at Scranton, Penn. He emigrated to Canada in 1899 and settled in Alberta, and opened his own office as an architect in Lethbridge after 1905. His most significant commission there was the Edwardian design for the Central School in Lethbridge (1908), intended to replace three older school buildings built in the town in the late 19th century.. Rolfson appears to have abandoned the profession after 1920 when he moved to nearby Raymond, Alta. to take up farming, but he may have returned to the profession to assist with the design of the Second Ward Chapel in Raymond (1928-39). He died there on 6 September 1941 (obit. Lethbridge Herald, 6 Sept. 1941, 3; obit. and port. 12 Sept. 1941, 12). A biography and list of works by Rolfson was published in The Recorder [Raymond, Alta.], 5 June 1947, 3, and includes references to his designs for Ward Chapels located at Hill Spring, Alta., at Stirling, Alta., at Taber, Alta., and at Welling, Alta., but the style and appearance of these church structures indicates that the designs may have come from an architectural firm in Utah, perhaps Pope & Burton of Salt Lake City, with Rolfson acting as local supervising architect in Alberta.
LETHBRIDGE, ALTA., residence for Rev. Charles McKillop, 10th Street South, 1907 (Pacific Builder & Engineer [Seattle], v, April 1907, 10)
LETHBRIDGE, ALTA., Central School, 9th Street South, 1908 (Lethbridge Herald, 6 May 1908, 3, t.c.; 10 July 1908, 4, illus. & descrip.)
LETHBRIDGE, ALTA., store and office building for G.J. Bryan & Co., 1908 (Lethbridge Herald, 10 June 1908, 3, t.c.)
COALDALE, ALTA., public school, 1908 (Lethbridge Herald, 20 June 1908, 6)
RAYMOND, ALTA., a brick public school with 12 classrooms, 1909 (Raymond Rustler, 25 June 1909, 4, t.c.)
STETTLER, ALTA., public school, Prospect Avenue at Stettler Street, 1910-11 (Edmonton Daily Bulletin, 16 April 1910, 9, t.c.; 17 March 1911, 1, illus. & descrip.)
RAYMOND, ALTA., residence for Oscar R. Knight, Park Avenue East, 1926-27; still standing in 2023 (Donald Luxton, Town of Raymond Historic Resources Inventory, 2017, 50-53, illus. & descrip.)
(with Pope & Burton, Salt Lake City) RAYMOND, ALTA., Second Ward Chapel & Recreation Hall, Broadway South at Park Avenue East, begun 1928 and completed in 1939; converted in 1988-96 to a Town Hall, Theatre and Public Library; still standing in 2023 (inf. Parks Canada, Canada's Historic Sites, designated 27 September 1989; Donald Luxton, Town of Raymond Historic Resources Inventory, 2017, 14-17, illus. & descrip.)
COMPETITIONS
SASKATOON, SASK., Caswell Hill Public School, 30th Street at Avenue B, 1910. Rolfson was one of several architects who submitted a design for this large eight room school building (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 30 March 1910, 1). The winner was David Webster of Saskatoon.