SCHWAB, John, or Johann (1864-1931), a German-speaking architect active in Winnipeg, Man. during the first decade of the 20th C. Born in Austria on 12 February 1864, he emigrated to Canada in 1897 and arrived in Winnipeg in 1898. No information has been found on his education or training, but he appears to have been a competent architect of some ability, a fact reflected in his first commission in the city, that for an impressive pair of houses on Edmonton Street executed in the fashionable Queen Anne style. He was the logical choice as the architect to design a major addition to the German Lutheran Church on Henry Avenue in 1903, and he prepared the plans for the German Society Club on Heaton Avenue (1904), and for Trinity Lutheran Church on Dufferin Avenue, an ecclesiastical landmark for another German-speaking congregation, built in 1905. Schwab also designed a variety of commercial and residential buildings for Jewish clients in the Winnipeg area, but no references to his work can be found after 1910. He died in Winnipeg on 12 January 1931 (obit. Winnipeg Tribune, 14 Jan. 1931, 4; 15 Jan. 1931, 5; inf. Dr. Gordon Goldsborough, Manitoba Historical Society, Winnipeg)
(works in Winnipeg)
EDMONTON STREET, pair of houses for Martin Hoover and Alfred Town, 1901 (City of Winnipeg, 1984 - The Year Past, pub. 1986, 27-8, illus. & descrip.)
WILLIAM AVENUE, major additions and alterations to residence at 595 William Avenue for an unnamed client, 1902 (C.R., xiii, 20 Aug. 1902, 2)
GARRY STREET, brick and stone commercial block for an unnamed client, 1903 (C.R., xiv, 4 March 1903, 3, t.c.)
TRINITY LUTHERAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH, Henry Avenue at Fountain Street, major addition, 1903; burned 26 Dec. 1904 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 5 May 1903, 10; 21 July 1903, 8, descrip.; 7 Sept. 1903, 7, descrip.; C.R., xiv, 13 May 1903, 3)
IMMANUEL GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, Stella Avenua at Charles Street, 1903 (Manitoba Morning Free Press [Winnipeg], 7 Sept. 1903, 7, descrip.)
HOOVER & TOWN MFR. CO., James Avenue at Louise Street, brick and stone warehouse, 1903; burned January 1905; rebuilt by Hooper & Walker, but later collapsed during a storm (C.R., xiv, 12 Aug. 1903, 3, t.c.; Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 18 July 1905, 8)
DUFFERIN AVENUE, eight houses for F. Letchzier, 1903 (C.R., xiv, 26 Aug. 1903, 2)
PULFORD APARTMENTS, Portage Avenue, between Edmonton Street and Kennedy Street, for A.H. Pulford, 1903-04 (C.R., xiv, 4 Nov. 1903, 3; Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 11 May 1904, 10, descrip.; and 24 Nov. 1904, 19)
BROWN BLOCK, Garry Street, between Ellice Avenue and Portage Avenue, for James Brown, 1903 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 14 Nov. 1903, 18, illus. & descrip.)
TRICK BLOCK, Main Street North, for Dr. Charles W. Trick, 1903; demol. (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 14 Nov. 1903, 19, illus.)
ZIMMERMAN BLOCK, Main Street, between Logan Avenue and Henry Avenue, for Benjamin Zimmerman, 1903; demol. 1987 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 30 Jan. 1904, 6, illus. & descrip.; City of Winnipeg, 1986 - The Year Past, pub 1988, 41-2, illus. & descrip.)
GERMAN SOCIETY CLUB, Heaton Avenue at Argyle Street, 1904 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 24 Oct. 1904, 7, illus. & descrip.; John W. Graham, A Guide to the Architecture of Greater Winnipeg, 1960, 15)
KERN BLOCK, Main Street at Sutherland Avenue, for J.H. Kern, 1904 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 8 Aug. 1904, 2, t.c.)
HOUSE OF JACOB JEWISH SYNAGOGUE [Beth Jacob Synagogue], Schultz Street, near Dufferin Avenue, 1904; demol. (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 26 March 1904, 28, illus. & descrip.; Winnipeg Telegram, 18 Aug. 1904, 10)
KING STREET, at Dufferin Avenue, commercial block for J. Kluner, 1905-06 (C.R., xv, 8 Feb. 1905, 6, t.c.; and xvii, 11 July 1906, 4, t.c.)
TRINITY GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH, Dufferin Avenue near Salter Street, 1905; demol. (C.R., xvi, 12 April 1905, 6, t.c.; Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 29 April 1905, Section Two, 9, descrip.; and 3 June 1905, 6, illus.; and 31 Oct. 1905, 13)
AUSTIN STREET, brick block for Henry Finesilver, 1906 (C.R., xvii, 19 Sept. 1906, 4, t.c.)
LAUZON BLOCK, William Avenue, commercial block for Edward Lauzon, 1906 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 16 April 1906, 17, t.c.; and 6 Dec. 1906, Free Press Building Number, 40, descrip.)
GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH, Manitoba Avenue at Brown Street, 1910; demol. (City of Winnipeg b.p. 162, 1910; dwgs. at Winnipeg City Archives)