DAY, John (1849-1896) was the youngest son of William Day, a builder in Guelph, Ont. He may have been trained under his father, but he also worked in Cleveland, Ohio before returning to his native city in 1874 or 1875 to begin his own architectural practice. He designed many commercial blocks and private residences in Guelph and by 1885 he had '..earned a wide reputation for this skill and artistic ability which he displays in his work' (biography and list of works in M. Bixby, Industries of Canada: Hamilton...Waterloo, Guelph and Berlin, 1886, 96). The commission for which he is best known today is the remarkable Petrie Block, Wyndham Street (1882), a drug store and meeting hall with an elaborate cast iron facade surmounted by a mortar and pestle, symbols of the druggist's trade, and fabricated entirely in galvanized metal. Day also designed the Commercial Hotel (1883) but it was during his work on the reconstruction of this building in 1888 that he sustained a serious spinal injury as the result of a fall. This event appears to have curtailed his activity as an architect and may have been one of the factors that lead to his untimely death on 4 November 1896 when he was found dead from self-inflicted gun wounds. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Guelph and left an estate valued at $450. (obituary and coroner's inquest in the Guelph Daily Mercury, 6 Nov. 1896, 1; Globe [Toronto], 7 Nov. 1896, 20; obituary in C.A.B., ix, Nov. 1896, 177; OA, Wellington County Wills 3854)
GUELPH
PAILSEY STREET, three stores for Richard F. Maddock, 1876 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 21 March 1876, 1; 2 Nov. 1876, 2)
QUEBEC STREET, two stores for George Bruce Sr., 1876 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 2 Nov. 1876, 1)
WATERLOO AVENUE, residence for John Lamprey, 1879 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 4 Sept. 1879, 1)
WOOLWICH STREET, three houses for John Hogg, 1882 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 13 Jan. 1882, 1, t.c.)
SPEED SKATING RINK, Woolwich Street, 1882 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 2 Dec. 1882, 1, descrip.)
PETRIE BLOCK, Wyndham Street North near Macdonell Street, a four storey commercial block with drug store for Alexander B. Petrie, 1882; restored 2016-17 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 24 Oct. 1882, 1, descrip.; 2 Dec. 1882, 2, descrip.; Globe & Mail [Toronto], 2 March 2018, H4, illus. & descrp.)
COMMERCIAL HOTEL, Macdonell Street West, for C. Reinhart, 1883; reconstruction and addition, 1888 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 24 Oct. 1883, 1, descrip.; 1 Sept. 1888, 1, t.c.)
DUBLIN STREET, at Cambridge Street, pair of houses for James Morrison, 1883 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 24 Oct. 1883, 1)
UNION CEMETERY, caretaker's lodge and residence, 1883 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 24 Oct. 1883, 1)
SILVER CREEK BREWERY, Waterloo Road, new facade and addition of one storey to existing building for George Sleeman, 1883 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 24 Oct. 1883, 1)
WATERLOO AVENUE, residence for George Sleeman, 1883 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 24 Oct. 1883, 1)
CAMBRIDGE STREET, residence for David McLaughlin, 1884 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 15 Dec. 1884, 1)
ARTHUR STREET, residence for Frederick Evans, 1884 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 15 Dec. 1884, 1)
WOOLWICH STREET, two pairs of houses for John Hogg, 1884 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 15 Dec. 1884, 1)
DUBLIN STREET, at Liverpool Street, residence for A.C. MaLauchlan, 1884 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 15 Dec. 1884, 1)
PAILSEY STREET, residence for William Humphries, 1884 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 15 Dec. 1884, 1)
WOOLWICH STREET, terrace of houses for John Hogg, 1887 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 15 Oct. 1887, 1)
HEARN'S BLOCK, St. George's Square, 1887 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 15 Oct. 1887, 1)
McTAGUE STREET, residence for Gilbert Sully, 1887 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 15 Oct. 1887, 1)
ARTHUR STREET, residence for D. Stirton, 1887 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 15 Oct. 1887, 2)
ST. JOHN'S WARD SCHOOL, Elora Road at Tiffany Street, 1887 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 15 Oct. 1887, 1)
DUBLIN STREET, residence for William Morris, 1890 (C.R., i, 10 May 1890, 2)
ST. GEORGE'S WARD SCHOOL, 1891 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 21 March 1891, 1, t.c.)
ST. JAMES WARD SCHOOL, 1891 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 21 April 1891, 2, t.c.)
KENT STREET, residence for James Hough Jr., 1891 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 23 Oct. 1891, 4)
DELHI STREET, at Eramosa Road, cottage for William Putzier, 1891 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 23 Oct. 1891, 4)
WATERLOO AVENUE, residence for George Sleeman, 1891, '..the plans were secured from an architect's journal and adapted to his use by Mr. John Day' (Guelph Daily Mercury, 23 Oct. 1891, 4)
DOUGLAS STREET, office block for Hugh McMillan, of Field & McMillan, Barristers, 1892 (C.R., iii, 25 June 1892, 2)
GUELPH GAS & ELECTRIC LIGHT CO., addition to the power station, 1892 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 3 Nov. 1892, 1)
DOUGLAS STREET, residence for John Mitchell, 1892 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 3 Nov. 1892, 2)
WOOLWICH STREET, pair of houses for J.E. McElderry, 1893 (C.R., iv, 6 April 1893, 2; Guelph Daily Mercury, 4 Nov. 1893, 1)
WYNDHAM STREET, reconstruction of store for Pringle & Clums, 1893 (C.R., iv, 13 April 1893, 2, t.c.)
PRIORY HOTEL, Woolwich Street, interior alterations, 1893 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 2 Nov. 1893, 2)
WOOLWICH STREET, pair of houses for Thomas Blanchfield, 1895 (C.R., vi, 8 Aug. 1895, 1, t.c.)
QUEEN STREET, two additions to residence for Robert Melvin, 1896 (C.R., vii, 17 Sept. 1896, 3; 28 Oct. 1896, 4)
ELSEWHERE
OUSTIC, ONT., a church in Eramosa Township, 1883 (The Sun [Orangeville], 18 Jan. 1883, 2, t.c.)