TROUTH, Ralph Henry (1887-1965), active in Edmonton, Alberta for more than thirty years where he worked as an architect and general contractor, and he often designed the buildings which he subsequently erected for a variety of clients. Trouth was born in Perry, Iowa, USA on 30 March 1887 and in 1905 he graduated from the local high school, then learned the building trades in 1906-10 under the supervision of William E. Veatch, a successful local building contractor in Perry.
Trouth arrived in Canada in late 1910 and settled in Edmonton where he was recorded as a draftsman for Magoon & MacDonald, a leading architectural firm in that city, and it is likely that much of his architectural training and knowledge of the profession was gained while employed in that office. By 1914, he was working as an assistant for Allan M. Jeffers, and later for Ernest W. Morehouse, but he also began to work under his own name as both an architect and builder, and his name appears in numerous building permit records with the City of Edmonton from 1914 to 1930 and beyond. By 1920, he was describing himself as an “architectural designer”, but by 1927 he was listed in directories only as a “general contractor”. One of his notable works from this later period was the El Mirador Apartments, 108th Street, Edmonton (1935), designed in the Spanish Revival style with a unique outdoor courtyard.
After WWII, Trouth moved to Vancouver, B.C. where his name as a fully qualified architect appears in 1947-48 (British Columbia & Yukon Directory, 1947, 1067) and his signed drawings for several projects there are now held in the collections of the City of Vancouver Archives. Trouth returned to Edmonton after 1950 and later died in Calgary on 15 January 1965. He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Edmonton (death notice Edmonton Journal, 16 Jan. 1965, 34; inf. from Architectural Inst. of British Columbia, Vancouver). The Edmonton City Archives holds several sets of blueprint drawings signed by Trouth, and submitted for building permit applications between 1914 to 1930. A photographic portrait of Trouth was published in the Edmonton Journal, 10 April 1929, 13.
(works in Edmonton unless noted)
unnamed street, apartment and store for Mr. Hunter, 1914 (City of Edmonton b.p. 61, 1914; dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives)
CHISHOLM BLOCK, Jasper Avenue at 104 Street, 1919 (City of Edmonton b.p. 59, 1919; dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives)
McMULLEN BLOCK, 101 Street at 101A Avenue, 1919 (City of Edmonton b.p. 106, 1919; dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives)
CANADIAN LIGHTING & HEATING CO., 101A Avenue, 1919 (City of Edmonton b.p. 107, 1919; dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives)
HUB CLOTHING CO. & WILSON GROCERY LTD., 101 Street at 101A Avenue, a pair of stores, 1919 (City of Edmonton b.p. 140, 1919; dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives)
ALBERTA DAIRY SUPPLIES LTD., 84th Street at 110 Avenue, warehouse and factory, 1920-21 (Edmonton Journal, 5 Nov. 1920, 6, descrip.; C.R., xxxiv, 24 Nov. 1920, 53)
EMPIRE GARAGE & DOMINION MOTORS, 102 Street, 1920 (City of Edmonton b.p. 29, 1920; dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives)
JASPER AVENUE, a row of three stores for the Central Building Co., 1921 (Edmonton Bulletin, 22 Oct. 1921, 12, descrip.; City of Edmonton b.p. 437, 1921; dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives)
DEVONSHIRE APARTMENTS, 112 Street, 1922 (City of Edmonton b.p. 8, 1922; dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives)
CAPITAL CITY CURLING ARENA & RINK, 110th Street at 97th Avenue, “….immediately west of the Parliament Building”, 1923 (Edmonton Bulletin, 17 Nov. 1923, 6, descrip.)
87th AVENUE, residence for Herbert S. Hegler, 1930 (City of Edmonton b.p. 795, 1930; dwgs. at Edmonton City Archives)
EL MIRADOR APARTMENTS, 108 Street near Jasper Avenue, 1935; with major addition, 1937 (inf. Edmonton Historical Board; Globe & Mail [Toronto], 7 May 2021, p. H4, illus. & descrip.)
CALGARY, ALTA., McGavin Bakery Ltd., 10th Street N.W. at 3rd Avenue N.W., 1937, with addition, 1941 (list of works in A.I.B.C. Application Form submitted by Trouth in 1946)
(works in British Columbia)
VANCOUVER, B.C., a commercial building for an unnamed client, Howe Street, 1946 (dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
VANCOUVER, B.C., The New York Apartments, York Avenue near Balsam Street, a 3 storey apartment block for Stanley Pukesh, 1948; still standing in 2022 (Vancouver Sun, 13 April 1948, 12, descrip.)
HANEY, B.C., a new hotel for the Haney Hotel Co. Ltd., 1948 (C.R., lxi, Nov. 1948, 142)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Mountain View Auto Court, Kingsway, 1951 (dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
COMPETITIONS
NORTH BATTLEFORD, SASK., a large Public school, 1913. Trouth was one of 23 architects who submitted an entry in the major architectural competition, and he did so while training in Edmonton. He received 3rd Prize of $200 for his effort (Edmonton Journal, 10 March 1913 4). The winner was the firm of Stephenson, Evans & Filingham of North Battleford.