WHITE, James Robert (1872-1949), a Canadian-born architect who lived and worked in Niagara Falls, N.Y. during the period from 1890 until after 1930. He was active in the following offices:
James R. White, Hamilton, Ont., draughtsman with James Balfour, c. 1888 to 1890
Roberts & White, Architects, Buffalo, N.Y., 1892-93 (with Frank M. Roberts)
James R. White, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 1893- 1913
James R. White, Hamilton, Ont., draughtsman with Munro & Mead 1913-14
James R. White, Hamilton, Ont., 1914-15
James R. White, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 1915-1924
White & LaChance, architects, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 1925 (with Walter W. LaChance of Niagara Falls, N.Y.)
James R. White, Niagara Falls, N.Y. 1926-30
James R. White, Kenmore, N.Y., 1931 to 1940
Born in Hamilton, Ontario in March 1872, he was educated there and by the young age of 15 years he had distinguished himself by exhibiting his architectural drawings in the Fine Arts Section of the Great Central Fair in Hamilton in September 1886, and receiving prizes for his drawings in September 1889. It was during this period that he obtained a position as apprentice in the office of James Balfour, a leading architect in Hamilton. However, after 1890 he left Canada and moved to Buffalo, N.Y. where he was in partnership with Frank M. Roberts, as Roberts & White, Architects (see the Buffalo City Directory, 1893, p. 1182). Their collaboration ended in 1894, and White then moved to nearby Niagara Falls, N.Y. to open his own office. By all accounts, his practice was a successful one; by November 1895 it was reported that he had completed 50 buildings there (Spectator [Hamilton], 27 Nov. 1895, 1).
He continued to live and work in New York State until 1913 when, for unknown reasons, he moved back across the border to his hometown of Hamilton, taking a position with Munro & Mead, Architects, but also working under his own name there. By 1915 he had moved again, returning to Niagara Falls, N.Y. to continue his professional practice, and later collaborated with another expatriate Canadian architect Walter W. LaChance, then a resident in upstate New York, on the design of several school buildings in 1925. White then moved to nearby Kenmore, N.Y. after 1930, and later died in Buffalo on 29 November 1949 (obituary Buffalo Evening News, 29 Nov. 1949, 37; inf. Robert Hamilton).
(works in Canada)
(with Frank M. Roberts) NIAGARA FALLS, ONT., High School, Epworth Circle, 1892-93; altered with subsequent additions, still standing in 2024, and now called Kingston College (C.R., iii, 23 July 1892, 2; Evening Times [Hamilton], 12 July 1893, 8; inf. Robert Hamilton)
STAMFORD TOWNSHIP, new factory for Niagara Wire Co., 1899 (C.R., x, 12 July 1899, 4)
HAMILTON, ONT., large apartment house costing $50,000, Bold Street, 1914 (C.R., xxviii, 1 April 1914, 81)
(works in New York State)
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y., Oddfellows Hall, 1902, a project won in a competition (Spectator [Hamilton], 6 Feb. 1902, 8)
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y., Masonic Temple, for Niagara Frontier Lodge No. 133, 1906 (Buffalo Evening News, 31 March 1906, Section Two, p. 10)
BUFFALO, N.Y., Independent Realty Assoc., a 6 storey office block at Falls Avenue and First Street, in North Park, 1906 (Buffalo Evening News, 22 Aug. 1906, 19, descrip.; Buffalo Courier, 23 Aug. 1906, 12, descrip.)
BUFFALO, N.Y., Garage & Light Mfr. Co., East Genesee Street, a 3 storey industrial building, 1909 (Buffalo Times, 3 July 1909, 9, descrip.)
BUFFALO, N.Y., The Landen Building, William Street near Pratt Street, for I.J. Landen, 1909 (Buffalo Times, 3 July 1909, 9, descrip.)
(with W.W. LaChance) NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y., Ferry Avenue Public School, 1925 (Niagara Falls Gazette, 19 Sept. 1925, 21)
(with W.W. LaChance) NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y., Centre Avenue Public School, 1925 (Niagara Falls Gazette, 19 Sept. 1925, 21)
(with W.W. LaChance) NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y., 17th Street Public School, 1925 (Niagara Falls Gazette, 19 Sept. 1925, 21)
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y., Elks Lodge Building, Main Street at Cherry Street, for Lodge No. 346, to cost $150,000., 1927-28 (Buffalo Evening News, 17 Dec. 1927, 1)
TONAWANDA, N.Y., a large 3 storey residence and garage in Central Park, at Argonne Drive and Louvaine Drive, for an unnamed client, 1928-29 (Buffalo Courier-Express, 23 June 1929, 11, illus. in advert.)
KENMORE, N.Y., Fire Hall, Central Avenue near Brighton Road, 1931 (Buffalo Evening News, 14 Jan. 1931, 34, descrip.)