PILLAR, Solomon Arvid, also known as A.D. Pillar (1860-1944), originally named Solomon Arvid Pillar, active in Northern Ontario from c. 1905 onward, and listed as an architect in early newspapers in Cobalt and Haileybury. He was born in Russell, Ontario on 5 June 1860 and was trained in the building trades. At some point after 1900, he changed his first name to "A.D." Pillar. He was advertising his services as an architect as early as January 1909 (Cobalt Daily Nugget, 23 Jan. 1909, 8, advert.) and he continued to design institutional, commercial and residential buildings in the region until 1912. He then moved to Vancouver, B.C. and practiced his profession there, where his name was documented in several Building Permit records for the City of Vancouver (inf. Patrick Gunn, City of Vancouver). His commissions there appear to be exclusively residential in nature, both in Vancouver, and in the town of Point Grey. Pillar appears to have abandoned the profession after 1925. In 1944 he was listed as a "carpenter " and suffered a serious injury after falling from a construction scaffold (The Province (Vancouver0, 22 June 1944, 23; Vancouver Sun, 22 June 1944, 13). He died in Vancouver on 25 June 1944 (obituary Vancouver Daily Province, 26 June 1944, 6). His younger brother Seeley Lorenzo Pillar (1865-1968) was an architect in San Bernardino, Calif., active from c. 1890 to 1930.
(works in Ontario)
HAILEYBURY, ONT., a brick public school with 8 classrooms, 1908-09 (New Liskeard Speaker, 21 Feb. 1908, 7, t.c.; Cobalt Daily Nugget, 2 March 1909, 5, t.c.; and 29 June 1909, 4)
HAILEYBURY, ONT., a 3 storey commercial block on Main Street, for Miss Candy milliner, located “....next to the Murray Livery barn” (Cobalt Daily Nugget, 7 March 1910, 8, descrip.)
COBALT, ONT., a new Parsonage for the Methodist Church, for Rev. E.J. Adams, 1910 (Cobalt Daily Nugget, 11 March 1910, 3, detailed descrip.)
HAILEYBURY, ONT., High School, between Latchford Street and Florence Street, 1910 (Cobalt Daily Nugget, 7 March 1910, 4; and 18 April 1910, 4, descrip.; C.R., xxiv, 18 May 1910, 26, t.c.)
HAILEYBURY, ONT., Central Methodist Church, Main Street at Rorke Avenue, 1910 (Cobalt Daily Nugget, 28 July 1910, 5)
HAILEYBURY, ONT., Roman Catholic Separate School, Rorke Avenue, 1911 (Cobalt Daily Nugget, 5 June 1911, 5, t.c.; C.R., xxv, 21 June 1911, 58, t.c.)
(works in Vancouver, B.C.)
WEST 14th AVENUE, near Oak Street, residence for James Robertson, 1912; demol. (City of Vancouver b.p. 3482, 18 Sept. 1912)
WEST 13th AVENUE, near Courtenay Street, residence for Alexander A. Smirl, 1913 (City of Vancouver b.p. 1092, 22 Sept. 1913)
WEST 12th AVENUE, near Maple Street, residence for Miss Louise J. Brunton, 1916 (City of Vancouver b.p. 8098, 19 May 1916)
WEST 14th AVENUE, near Manitoba Street, residence for Charles Donald, 1919 (City of Vancouver b.p. 10889, 30 Oct. 1919)
POINT GREY ROAD, near Stephens Street, residence for Mrs. Mary Handford, 1920 (City of Vancouver b.p. 11824, 9 June 1920)
(works in Point Grey, Vancouver, B.C.)
WEST 37th AVENUE, at Larch Street, residence for John Oliver, 1914 (Town of Point Grey b.p. 1452, 29 May 1914)
WEST 12th AVENUE, near Highbury Street, residence for F. MacDonald, 1919 (Town of Point Grey b.p. 2261, 10 July 1919)
ANGUS DRIVE, at West 35th Avenue, residence for Colin L. Campbell, 1921 (Town of Point Grey b.p. 3270, 4 Feb. 1921)
WEST 12th AVENUE, at Wallace Street, residence for William R. Roote, 1921 (Town of Point Grey b.p. 3446, 5 April 1921)
WEST 11th AVENUE, near Wallace Street, residence for Archibald D. MacMillan, 1921 (Town of Point Grey b.p. 3747, 4 June 1921)
SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS, residence for S.S. Hamilton, West 28th Avenue (also called Nanton Avenue), west of Granville Street, 1921; demol. c. 2015 (Town of Point Grey b.p. 3926, 15 Aug. 1921)
WEST 11th AVENUE, near Wallace Street, residence for Angus Fraser, 1924 (Town of Point Grey b.p. 6216, 6 March 1924)
WEST 11th AVENUE, near Wallace Street, residence for Alan Forsyth, 1924 (Town of Point Grey b.p. 6334, 4 April 1924)
WEST 12th AVENUE, at Highbury Street, residence for Walter T. Jones, 1924 (Town of Point Grey b.p. 6575, 7 June 1924)
MARKHAM STREET (now called Marguerite Street), near West 45th Avenue, residence for Colin L. Campbell, 1925 (Town of Point Grey b.p. 8376, 26 Aug. 1925)
WEST 5th AVENUE, near Tolmie Street, residence for John McGlashen, 1926; demol. (Town of Point Grey b.p. 9330, 1 April 1926)