HOPSON, Charles Henry (1865-1941), an important regional architect in Nova Scotia, was born in Reading, England and served an architectural apprenticeship there with Joseph Greenaway from 1880. In 1884 he moved to London and worked as a draftsman for Frederick G. Knight and Horace Cheston before emigrating to Philadelphia where he found a position in the office of James H. Windrim. Hopson then worked for Jeremiah O'Rourke, a leading architect of Newark, N.J. and moved to Halifax, N.S. in 1888. He was employed as assistant to Edward Elliot in Halifax but left for Boston in November 1889 where he was said to have '...obtained a public appointment' (Halifax Herald, 4 Nov. 1889, 3). In 1893 he was recorded in Washington, D.C. and held 'an important position in the United States Government Bureau of Architecture', likely with the Treasury Dept. (Atlantic Weekly [Dartmouth], 29 April 1893, 3). Upon his return to Halifax in April 1895 he formed a partnership with Elliot (see list of works under Elliot & Hopson) and their office flourished until the death of Elliot in late May 1901. Hopson decided to continue to practise and invited his younger brother Edward G. Hopson to form a new partnership and they opened two offices, one in Halifax and the other in Sydney, N.S. In late 1902 they admitted Richard A. Johnson into the partnership (Sydney Record, 20 Oct. 1902, 8) but by June of 1903 both Charles and Edward Hopson had departed from Canada leaving Whitten & Johnson as their successors (Sydney Record, 24 June 1903).
C.H. Hopson appears to have left Nova Scotia in early 1903 and he moved to Selma, Alabama where he is recorded as presenting plans for a new court house to City Council in February of that year (inf. A.K. Craig, Alabama Dept. of Archives, Montgomery, Ala.). His name also appears as an architect active in that city until 1909, and he later practised in Pensacola, Fla. (1909-14) and in Atlanta, Georgia from 1915 onward where he became a specialist in the design of ecclesiastical buildings. In 1925 he was one of several architects from Canada and United States who were invited to submit designs for two new towers for the Church of Our Lady Roman Catholic Cathedral [now Basilica] in Guelph, Ontario. The construction of the towers was intended to complete the building originally designed by Joseph Connolly of Toronto and constructed in 1876-88. Hopson submitted a sophisticated modern Gothic design which was selected, and the towers were completed by November 1926. Hopson remained active until 1940, and later died in Atlanta, Georgia on 2 January 1941 (obituary Atlanta Constitution, 3 Jan. 1941, 18; W. T. Comstock, The Architect's Directory, 1909, 34; biography in M. Rosinski, Architects of Nova Scotia: A Biographical Dictionary, 1994, 207-08; R.I.B.A., Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, 2001, i, 948-49)
HOPSON BROTHERS (works in Nova Scotia)
PORT MORIEN, N.S., in Cape Breton, Presbyterian Church, 1901 (Sydney Record, 5 July 1901, 3, t.c.)
GLACE BAY, N.S., manse for the Presbyterian Church, 1901 (Sydney Record, 5 July 1901, 5, t.c.)
GLACE BAY, N.S., St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Hospital, 1901 (Sydney Record, 5 July 1901, 5, t.c.; 11 July 1901, 1, illus.)
NORTH SYDNEY, N.S., St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, parish hall, 1901 (Sydney Record, 9 July 1901, 5, t.c.)
SYDNEY, N.S., near Rockaway, residence for Mr. Shields, 1901 (Sydney Record, 10 Aug. 1901, 5)
SYDNEY MINES, N.S., Sydney Mines Academy, 1901 (C.R., xii, 11 Sept. 1901, 3)
SYDNEY, N.S., Commercial Bank Building, Charlotte Street at Pitt Street, 1901; demol. (Sydney Post, 24 Oct. 1901, 2)
HALIFAX, N.S., residence for Alexander Hobrecker, Young Avenue, 1902 (Halifax b.p. 31 Dec. 1901; Nova Scotian [Halifax], 1 Jan. 1904, 1; dwgs. at PANS, Dumaresq Coll.)
SYDNEY, N.S., Forbes Block, Charlotte Street, 1901-02 (Sydney Record, 2 Nov. 1901, 5, descrip.)
SYDNEY, N.S., commercial block for Capt. John Carlin, Charlotte Street, 1902 (Sydney Record, 13 Jan. 1902, 5, descrip.)
NORTH SYDNEY, N.S., Union Bank, 1902 (Sydney Record, 30 April 1902, 8)
HALIFAX, N.S., J. Wesley Smith Memorial Church, Robie Street at Charles Street, 1902-03 (Evening Mail [Halifax], 30 Jan. 1902, 3, descrip.; and 30 May 1903, 12, illus. & descrip.; E. Pacey, Historic Halifax, 1988, 148-9, illus.)
SYDNEY, N.S., residence for H.W. Jubien, Dorchester Street, c. 1903 (dwgs. at Beaton Institute, Sydney)
C.H. HOPSON (works in Alabama & Florida)
SELMA, ALA., City Hall, proposal for a new civic building, 1903 (Selma Morning Times [Selma, Ala.], 10 Feb. 1903, 4, descrip.; Montgomery Advertiser, 11 Feb. 1903, 8, descrip.)
SELMA, ALA., Selma University, Minter Avenue, [the local educational campus for the Black Baptist College], a new college building costing $8,000, 1903 (Age-Herald [Birmingham], 11 March 1903, 4)
FLORENCE, ALA., a brick commercial block for an unnamed client, 1903 (Selma Morning Times [Selma, Ala.], 27 March 1903, 8)
PERDIDO BAY, ALA., summer residence for J.C. Groves, 1903 (Selma Morning Times [Selma, Ala.], 2 April 1903, 5)
SELMA, ALA., Elk's Lodge, Water Street at Lauderdale Street, for the Fraternal Order of Elks, 1903 (Selma Morning Times [Selma, Ala.], 20 June 1903, 1; and 5 Aug. 1903, 7, t.c.)
TROY, ALA., Methodist Church, North Three Notch Street at East Walnut Street, 1903 (Troy Messenger, 24 June 1903, 4)
SELMA, ALA., Carnegie Library, Selma Avenue at Lauderdale Street, 1903-04 (Weekly Advertiser [Montgomery, Alabama], 11 Dec. 1903, 7)
PENSACOLA, FLA., Y.M.C.A. Block, and several other commissions, 1904 (Selma Morning Times [Selma, Ala.], 20 April 1904, 8, in the Florida town where the architect Mr. Hopson "...is crowded with work"; Pensacola Daily News, 15 July 1904, 1)
PENSACOLA, FLA., residence for J.M. Muldon, 1904 (Pensacola Daily News, 15 July 1904, 1)
EVERGREEN, ALA., Baptist Church, 1904 (Selma Morning Times [Selma, Ala.], 22 Oct. 1904, 4, descrip.)
GADSDEN, ALA., new public school, Chestnut Street at Eleventh Street, 1907 (Gadsden Times-News, 11 Jan. 1907, 1, descrip.; and 18 Jan. 1907, 2; Birmingham News, 24 Jan. 1907, 13, descrip.)
GADSDEN, ALA., residence for E.B. Vaughan, in Moragne Heights, 1907 (Gadsden Times-News, 25 Jan. 1907, 1)
GADSDEN, ALA. J.H. Snead Seminary, new dormitory block for the Seminary, 1907 (Birmingham News, 1 Feb. 1907, 14)
C.H. HOPSON (works in Atlanta, Georgia unless noted)
WARREN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, Greensferry Avenue, 1915-16 (Atlanta Constitution, 19 Nov. 1915, 12)
PONCE DE LEON METHODIST CHURCH, Ponce de Leon Avenue at Piedmont Avenue, 1915-16 (Atlanta Constitution, 18 Sept, 1915, 6, and 10 Oct. 1915, 11, illus. & descrip.; and 11 Nov. 1916, 6, descrip.)
WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, a new Sunday School Building, Ponce de Leon Avenue at North Boulevard, 1918, to replace the church which burned May 1917 (Atlanta Constitution, 20 April 1918, 12, descrip.)
AVAVATH ACHIM SYNOGOGUE, Washington Street at Woodward Avenue, 1919 (Atlanta Constitution, 3 Aug. 1919, 6, illus. & descrip.)
SHRINER'S MOSQUE, Ivy Street, for the Fraternal Order of Shriner's, 1919 (Atlanta Constitution, 17 Aug. 1919, 1)
PEACHTREE ROAD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Peachtree Road at Matthewson Avenue, 1921 (Atlanta Constitution, 27 Feb. 1921, 4, illus. & descrip.; American Inst. of Architects, AIA Guide to the Architecture of Atlanta, 1993, 133-34, illus. & descrip.)
NORTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL, Ponce de Leon Avenue at Bedford Street, 1922 (Atlanta Constitution, 14 May 1922, 2, illus. & descrip.)
LUCILE AVENUE PUBLIC SCHOOL, 1922 (Atlanta Constitution, 28 June 1922, 3; and 10 Sept. 1922, 4, illus.)
ROCK SPRING PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Piedmont Avenue NE at Rock Springs Road, 1923; with chancel addition, 1936 (Atlanta Constitution, 25 Oct. 1936, 13, illus.; USA, National Register of Historic Places, Designation Statement 21 March 1990)
HAYNES MANOR ESTATE, a Model Demonstration Home, Peachtree Battle Avenue at Alton Drive, for the Atlanta Constitution Newspaper Co. & the Home Owner's Institute, 1927-28 (Atlanta Constitution, 23 Oct. 1927, Section Two, p. 7, descrip. and site illus.)
OAKHURST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Eastlake Drive at Second Avenue, 1928 (Atlanta Constitution, 25 June 1928, 11, descrip.)
(with Hentz, Adler & Schutz, Architects) COURTHOUSE & JAIL, major addition, 1933 (Atlanta Constitution, 6 July 1933, 6)
FULTON TOWER JAIL, extensive remodelling of Jail , 1934, originally built in 1898 and demol. 1962 (Atlanta Constitution, 24 April 1934, 20)
GAINSVILLE, GA., Grace Episcopal Church, East Washington Street, 1936-37 (Atlanta Constitution, 9 Oct. 1936, 26, illus.; and 28 March 1937, 10, illus. & desrip.)
MASONIC TEMPLE, Auburn Avenue at Hilliard Street, 1937 (Atlanta Constitution, 26 Sept. 1937, 11, descrip.)
COLONIAL HILLS SCHOOL, major addition, 1940 (Atlanta Constitution, 20 June 1940, 29)
C.H. HOPSON (works in Ontario)
GUELPH, ONTARIO, two new bell towers for the existing Church of Our Lady Roman Catholic Church, Norfolk Street at MacDonell Street, 1925-26 (Acton Free Press, 25 June 1925, 5, descrip.)
COMPETITIONS
HALIFAX, N.S., South African War Memorial, 1900. Hopson was one of several local Halifax architects who submitted a design. His proposal was for a 60 foot high column, and was illustrated in the Halifax Herald, 27 Oct. 1900, 10, descrip.; and 11, full page illus. It is unclear who won the competition.