Whitford, J. Hugh | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

WHITFORD, J. Hugh (1900-1951), born in Bridgewater, N.S. and served with the Canadian Army during WWI before joining the architectural staff of the Canadian National Railways. In 1921 he was among over one hundred competitors to submit plans in the international competition for the War Memorial at Cambrai, France and for his effort he was awarded 8th Place. He moved to New York City to join McKim, Mead & White and later worked for Fellheimer & Wagner on their plans for the Union Terminal in Cincinnati. In 1931 he returned to Nova Scotia and later set up his own office in Bridgewater where he is credited with the refined Georgian design of the Dominion Public Building in nearby MAHONE BAY, N.S. (C.R., l, 15 July 1936, 615, illus. & descrip.). This was a rare example of a federal building commission awarded to a local architect instead of being controlled by the office of the Chief Architect of the DPW in Ottawa. Whitford later became President of the Nova Scotia Assoc. of Architects in 1946-47 and was District Resident Architect in Nova Scotia for the Dept. of Public Works at the time of his death on 12 July 1951 (obit. Halifax Herald, 13 July 1951, 10; R..A.I.C. Journal, xxviii, Aug. 1951, 241).