MYERS, Elijah E. (1832-1909), a remarkably prolific architect based in Detroit, Mich., was credited with the refined Gothic design of Knox Presbyterian Church, Church Street South, ST. MARYS, ONT., 1879-80 (London Free Press, 27 Jan. 1879, 4; Daily Advertiser [London], 29 Jan. 1879, 1; Knox Church St. Marys: The Third Church, 1906, unpag.). This work by Myers was destroyed by fire in 1891, as was the church building which later replaced it (this latter church burned in 1905).
Myers was born in Philadelphia and learned the carpenter’s trade there, and later studied architecture and engineering at the Franklin Insitute. He moved to Detroit in 1872 and became know for his designs of several state capitol buildings including the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, 1872-79, the Texas State Capitol in Austin, 1883-88, and the Colorado State Capitol in Denver, 1890-94 (H.W. Hitchcock & W. Seale, Temples of Democracy: The State Capitols of the U.S.A., 1976, 174-93, illus.). He also submitted entries in the architectural competitions for the capitol buildings in Boise, Idaho, in Indianapolis, and in Cheyenne, Wyoming, but his proposals for these cities were rejected, either for financial or political reasons. Myers died in Detroit on 5 March 1909 (obit. Detroit Free Press, 6 March 1909, 12; biog. and list of works in H. Withey, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects, 1956, 436; biog. MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 1982, iii, 262).