GILMORE, James (1875-1962), a successful architect from Cincinnati, Ohio who moved to Prince Rupert, B.C. in early 1914 and lived and worked there only for a few months before returning to Ohio in late 1914. He opened an office in Prince Rupert in early March 1914 (Pacific Coast Architect [San Francisco], vii, March 1914, 40), and while working in northern British Columbia, his name became associated with one major commission, that for the large Exhibition Hall on Acropolis Hill, PRINCE RUPERT, B.C., 1914-15; demol. 1945-46. Designed in the Spanish Mission style, with twin towers and a large central dome (the dome itself was not built), it was constructed for the Northern British Columbia Agricultural & Industrial Association (Bella Coola Courier, 6 June 1914, 1, descrip.). Covering nearly 10,000 sq. ft., it was one of the largest public buildings ever built in northern British Columbia. A copy of the perspective drawing for the project, signed “J. Gilmore, Architect” appears in the book by Phyllis Bowman entitled Land of Liquid Sunshine, 1982, 85, illus.
Gilmore was born in Cincinnati on 22 July 1875 and he took an early interest in architecture and was sent to Europe to study engineering and architecture in Florence, Pisa and Rome. In 1903 he returned to Cincinnati and was a partner in the firm of McLaughlin & Gilmore from 1903 to 1906 (Wm. T. Comstock, The Architect’s Directory, 1904-05, 82). Gilmore opened his own office in 1906 and was active there until 1932, except for a brief period in 1914 when he lived and worked in British Columbia. He specialised in the design of large residences, schools and commercial buildings. Gilmore died in Cincinnati, Ohio on 30 December 1962 (obituary Cincinnati Enquirer, 31 Dec. 1962; D. Luxton, Building The West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 501; inf. Colin Barr, Victoria, B.C.). A detailed biography and list of works by Gilmore in Ohio was prepared by Walter Langsam in 2008 and published online as part of the Biographical Dictionary of Cincinnati Architects 1877-1940.