DWYER, Charles P. (c. 1815- c. 1880), architect, author and editor, was born in Ireland and immigrated to Canada in 1841. He arrived in Kingston, Ont. where it was noted that “....Mr. Dwyer, Architect has just arrived here from England” (Kingston Chronicle & Gazette, 3 July 1841, p. 3 col. 4, advert.). The following year, in 1842, it was stated that “Mr. Dwyer, who has studied architecture in France, is to give lectures to the Kingston Mechanics Institute” (Kingston Chronicle & Gazette, 14 May 1842, p. 2, col. 2). That same year, he was one of 13 architects from Canada and the United States who submitted an entry in the important architectural competition for the Kingston City Hall & Market Building, 1842 (City of Kingston, Minutes of Town Council, 23 Aug. 1842). He was not one of the three finalists, and the competition was won by George Browne of Kingston.
He remained in Canada until c. 1845, but in 1847 he had moved to Buffalo, N.Y. where his name was recorded in the City Directory as an architect until 1856. By 1868 he had moved to Philadelphia where he served as Editor of the very first monthly magazine of architecture published in America entitled The Architectural Review & American Builder's Journal. He also contributed his own essays to this journal, including “Ecclesiastical Architecture”, (Vol. 1, Sept. 1868, 197-98), and a lengthy article on the construction of building foundations, (Vol. 1, Nov. 1868, 349-351). Dwyer remained in Philadelphia for the next decade, and was listed variously as an architect, civil engineer, professor of architecture, and finally as editor. No information has been found on his activity after 1880 (inf. Stephen Otto, Toronto; inf. Sandra Tatman, Philadelphia; inf. William Loos, Rare Book Room, Buffalo Public Library).
Publications by Charles P. Dwyer:
1852, History of Buffalo, the first part of a projected nine part series, but only one part was published (copy in the collection of the Buffalo Public Library)
1855, The Economic Cottage Builder, published in Buffalo, N.Y. (book review in the Daily Colonist [Toronto], 28 Nov. 1855, 2; copy in the collection of the Buffalo Public Library)
1856, The Economy of Church, Parsonage and School Architecture, published in Buffalo, N.Y. (copy in the collection of the Buffalo Public Library)
1868-1870, The Architectural Review & American Builder's Journal, edited by Charles P. Dwyer, and published by Samuel Sloan Co., Philadelphia, a monthly journal of architecture and construction, produced in Philadelphia. A key serial publication of American architecture, now considered to be the first monthly architectural magazine to be circulated in the United States.
1872, The Immigrant Builder, or Practical Hints to Handy-Men, Showing How to Construct Dwellings in the Bush, on The Prairie, or Elsewhere, published in Philadelphia.