SALISBURY, Albert Edward (1887-1955) served as a Staff Architect with the Toronto Hydro Electric System overseeing the design of local transformer stations throughout the city. His signature work is undoubtedly the remarkable Glengrove Electric Substation (1930-31), an outstanding Collegiate Gothic landmark set within the residential fabric of North Yonge Street in Toronto.
Salisbury was born in Toronto on 30 November 1887 and attended Jarvis Collegiate and Harbord Collegiate in that city. At the age of 21 years he began an apprenticeship in the office of George M. Miller in November 1908 and continued to work there until February 1912. With the encouragement of Miller, Salisbury enrolled in the Dept. of Architecture at the University of Toronto in September 1911 and graduated in 1914, and became a full member of the Ontario Association of Architects that same year. He briefly worked as a draftsman for The Trussed Concrete Steel Co. (in 1912), then joined the Toronto Electric Light Co. in November 1912 as a draftsman, rising through the ranks until December 1920 when his company was renamed The Toronto Hydro Electric System, and he became senior draftsman and designer, and then received the appointment as Staff Architect in September 1922. He can be credited with over 20 hydro substation designs between 1921 and 1950, many in a distinctive Beaux-Arts style (such as the Parkdale Substation, 1927), and the authorship of his designs can often be identified by the original drawings for each building which are signed “ A.E.S.”, and still in the possession of Architectural Dept. of the Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office on Carlton Street.
Salisbury retired after 1950 and died in Toronto on 11 June 1955 (death notice Toronto Telegram, 12 June 1955, 31; inf. Ontario Association of Architects, Toronto). An appraisal of his substation designs, written by Adele Freedman, was published in the journal City & Country Home [Toronto], April 1990, 41-47, illus. & descrip., and in The Toronto Star, 30 April 2011, p. M4-M5. He should not confused with another architect Henry G. Salisbury who was active in Toronto during the period from 1903 to 1925, and to whom he appears to be unrelated.
(works in Toronto)
CARLAW HYDRO ELECTRIC SUBSTATION, Gerrard Street East at Carlaw Avenue, 1921; with major addition to the south facing Carlaw Avenue, 1922 (dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
NORTH TORONTO RAILWAY SUBSTATION, Eglinton Avenue West at Duplex Avenue, 1921 (dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
HIGH LEVEL ELECTRIC SUBSTATION, Macpherson Avenue, major addition, 1921 (dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
TERAULEY STREET ELECTRIC SUBSTATION, Bay Street, south of Dundas Street West, major addition to existing substation, 1923 (dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
WILTSHIRE HYDRO ELECTRIC SUBSTATION, Wiltshire Avenue, 1924 (dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
PORTLAND HYDRO ELECTRIC SUBSTATION, Portland Street near Niagara Street, 1924 (dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
DANFORTH HYDRO ELECTRIC SUBSTATION, Danforth Avenue near Main Street, 1925 (dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
PARKDALE HYDRO ELECTRIC SUBSTATION, Queen Street West near Dowling Avenue, 1927 (dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
CHERRY HYDRO ELECTRIC SUBSTATION, Cherry Street at Commissioners Street, 1928 (dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
GLENGROVE ELECTRIC SUBSTATION, Yonge Street at Glengrove Avenue, 1930-31 (C.R., xliv, 19 Feb. 1930, 194, illus.; xlv, 23 Sept. 1931, 1125-26, illus. & descrip., but lacking attribution to Salisbury; dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
(with Chapman & Oxley) TORONTO HYDRO ELECTRIC BUILDING, Carlton Street east of Yonge Street, office building, 1931-33 (R.A.I.C. Journal, x, Sept. 1933, 152-56, illus. & descrip.; dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
ADELAIDE STREET HYDRO SUBSTATION, Adelaide Street East at George Street, 1932 (dwgs. Toronto Hydro Electric System Head Office)
TORONTO HYDRO ELECTRIC SYSTEM, Wellesley Street at Yonge Street, major addition and alterations to truck garage, 1950 (Toronto b.p. 6653, 16 March 1950)