KINSEY, John Emerson (1873-1962) of Detroit, Michigan has been credited as the architect and designer of the Walker Power Building, WALKERVILLE, ONT., an important industrial landmark built there in two phases in 1911 and in 1912. This reinforced concrete structure has previously been attributed to Albert Kahn of Detroit, but recent research conducted in Windsor in 1998 and subsequently published in several sources has linked this commission to that of J.E. Kinsey. In addition, new research conducted in 2020 has now revealed that Kinsey was actually an employee of the Kahn office in Detroit from 1903 until 1911, and his name appears consistently in Detroit city directories as “superintendent of building” or as “building superintendent” with the office of Albert Kahn (City of Detroit Directory, 1905, p. 1393; and City of Detroit Directory, 1908, p. 1315). Kinsey likely received the commission for the Walker Power Building in late 1910, and a presentation folio of photographs showing this and other completed buildings erected by the Toronto contractors Wells & Grey Ltd., includes an exterior photograph of this Windsor industrial building with a printed caption " Architect: J.E. Kinsey, Detroit, Mich."
This substantial Windsor landmark, still standing in 2020, bears all the hallmarks of the Kahn style, and it has a remarkable resemblance to other Kahn projects in Canada such as the Kaufman Rubber Co. factory in Kitchener, Ont. (1911), and the sprawling Dominion Tire Co factory, also in Kitchener (1911-12). It is likely that Kinsey used his experience gained in the Kahn office to oversee this Walkerville project, and may have called upon his colleagues in the Kahn office to advise and oversee his own work on this project. The name of the Walker Power Building is actually a misnomer; the building was never intended to be used for electrical power generation, but instead was leased to a variety of seven different companies including a stove manufacturer, an automobile fan producer, a metal drill manufacturer, and a stationery company producing heavy loose leaf ledger books. An illustrated article and description of the completed building can be found in the Evening Record [Windsor], 16 May 1913, 9, illus. & descrip.; inf. Andrew Foot, Windsor).
Kinsey was a Canadian native, born in Springfield, Ontario on 7 January 1873 and he later moved to Detroit where he trained as a carpenter, and then obtained a position as building superintendent in the Kahn office in 1903. He remained there until late 1911, but in January 1912 he was invited by John C. Stahl (1877-1943) to form a new partnership in Detroit, and together they obtained a variety of residential and commercial commissions in both Windsor, Ont. and in Detroit (see list of Canadian works by Stahl & Kinsey under Stahl, John C.). In 1916 he moved to Stockbridge, Mich. where he continued to practise, and moved again about 1945 to Elkhart, Indiana.and was credited with the design of two churches, one in Elkhart, and another in nearby Mishawaka. He later died in Elkhart on 15 September 1962 at the age of 89 yrs. (obituary State Journal [Lansing, Mich.], 17 Sept. 1962, A7; South Bend Tribune [South Bend, Indiana], 17 Sept. 1962, 23).
WALKERVILLE, ONT. The Walker Power Building, Devonshire Road at Riverside Drive East, for the Walkerville Land & Building Co., first phase with a three storey block, 1911; second phase, with a 4 storey block, 1912; extensively renovated and restored 2015-2019 (Windsor Star, 17 Jan. 1998, Section E, page E1, illus. & descrip., with credit to J.F. Kinsey; Windsor Star, 29 March 2017, p. A1 and A6, illus. & descrip., with credit to J.F. Kinsey). An illustrated article on the original complex appears in the Evening Record [Windsor], 16 May 1913, 9, illus. & descrip., but is lacking an attribution to an architect.
DETROIT, MICH., American State Bank, Michigan Avenue at 35th Street, 1917 (Detroit Free Press, 9 Sept. 1917, Section Four, p. 10, illus.)
DETROIT, MICH., American State Bank, Harper Avenue at Van Dyke Avenue, 1917 (Detroit Free Press, 9 Sept. 1917, Section Four, p. 10, illus.)
DETROIT, MICH., American State Bank, Kercheval Avenue at Concord Avenue, 1917 (Detroit Free Press, 9 Sept. 1917, Section Four, p. 10, illus.)
STOCKBRIDGE, MICH., Public School for S.D. No. 1, 1931 (State Journal [Lansing], 10 June 1931, 8)
ELKHART, INDIANA, McCoy Baptist Church, c. 1950 (South Bend Tribune, 17 Sept. 1962, 23, list of works in obituary)
MISHAWAKA, INDIANA, First Christian Church, East 3rd Street, c. 1950 (South Bend Tribune, 17 Sept. 1962, 23, list of works in obituary)