Latshaw, John

LATSHAW, John (1806-1883) was one of the first designers to introduce the Greek Revival style to Ontario. Born in Pennsylvania on 6 March 1806 he came to Canada in 1828 or 1829 and settled in Drummondville (now Niagara Falls). He had been trained for the Lutheran ministry but when his mother died and his father remarried, he left home to study architecture. In 1834 he was commissioned by Alex Hamilton to design ‘Willowbank’, an important Greek Revival landmark which dominates the hillside of Queenston overlooking the Niagara River and the escarpment. His name has also been linked to ‘Ruthven Park’, a sophisticated and finely proportioned classical residence built for Col. David Thompson at Cayuga, Ont. in 1845-46.

Latshaw acquired large tracts of land in the south Drummondville area and donated part of his holdings to the Methodists of Lundy’s Lane. He designed and supervised the construction of their church in 1846. In 1855 he served as Foreman of the Works to Kivas Tully on the Welland County Court House & Gaol, and later completed extensive renovations and improvements to this building after he was appointed County Architect for Welland County on 10 June 1870. He can also be credited with several commercial and institutional buildings in St. Catharines and surrounding communities of the Niagara Peninsula, and may have executed work in the United States after opening an office in Niagara Falls, N.Y. in late 1881 (Suspension Bridge Journal [Niagara Falls, N.Y.], 10 Sept. 1881, 3). Latshaw died at Niagara Falls South on 17 August 1883 and was buried in the cemetery beside Lundy’s Lane United Church. The Lundy’s Lane Historical Museum holds an account book from Latshaw documenting many of his commissions from 1855 to 1878 (death notice in the Welland Tribune, 24 Aug. 1883, 1; biog. in Historical Atlas of Lincoln & Welland, 1876, 86; inf. Dennis Gannon, St. Catharines; Stephen Otto, Toronto)


QUEENSTON, ONT., ‘Willowbank’, a residence for Alexander Hamilton, 1833-34 (NAC, MG 24-126, vol. 16, letter from Alexander Hamilton to John Latshaw)

LUNDY’S LANE, ONT., Methodist Church, 1845 (Niagara Falls, Canada: A History of the City, 1967, 36)

(attributed) CAYUGA, ONT., ‘Ruthven Park’, a residence for David Thompson, 1845-46 (C.H.G., xiv, Nov. 1937, 34-5, 51, illus.)

PORT COLBORNE, ONT., Humberstone Township Hall, Main Street, 1852 (City of Port Colborne, Clerk’s Office, Minutes of Council for Twp. of Humberstone, meeting of 16 Jan. 1852)

ST. CATHARINES, ONT., Welland House Hotel, Ontario Street at King Street, 1853-55 (St. Catharines Journal, 14 July 1853, 3, t.c.)

ST. CATHARINES, ONT., Stephenson House Hotel, Yates Street at Salina Street, 1855 (Hamilton Gazette, 18 June 1855, 3, descrip.)

ST. CATHARINES, ONT., Odd Fellow’s Hall, St. Paul Street at Ontario Street, 1862-63; demol. 1915 (J. Horowitz, St. Catharines General & Business Directory, 1874, 28, descrip.)

ST. CATHARINES, ONT., conversion of the Town Hall into the Lincoln County Court House, with major addition, King Street at James Street, 1863 (St. Catharines Constitutional, 20 Aug. 1863, 2; Evening Journal [St. Catharines], 24 Aug. 1863, 2, descrip.; dwgs. at the St. Catharines Historical Museum)

PORT ROBINSON, ONT., public school, Cross Street at South Street, 1863 (ACORN, The Newsletter of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, xvii, No. 2, Spring 1992, 21-2, illus. & descrip.)

NIAGARA FALLS, ONT., Clifton Town Hall, Queen Street, 1865-66; shell of building later incorporated into new Town Hall, 1954 (OA, Minutes of Council of Town of Clifton, meeting 6 Feb. 1865)

WELLAND, ONT., reconstruction of the North Wing of the Gaol at the Welland County Court House, East MaIn Street, 1870 (Globe [Toronto], 5 Feb. 1870, 4, t.c.; Welland Tribune, 22 Feb. 1872, 3)

PORT COLBORNE, ONT., Baptist Church, 1873 (Welland Tribune, 26 Feb. 1873, 3)

NIAGARA FALLS, ONT., Stamford Township Hall, Ferry Street, 1874 (OA, Minutes of the Council of the Twp. of Stamford, 19 Jan. 1874)

THOROLD, ONT., Town Hall, Front Street, 1876; burned c. 1975 (Thorold Post, 12 Nov. 1875, 1)

ALLANBURGH, ONT., Methodist Church, 1876 (Thorold Post, 14 April 1876, 4)

THOROLD, ONT., major addition to East Side Public School, 1876 (Thorold Post, 14 July 1876, 1)

THOROLD, ONT., Odd Fellow’s Hall, 1876 (Thorold Post, 14 July 1876, 1, descrip.)

THOROLD, ONT., large stables for the Osborne House Hotel, for William Hendershot, 1877 (Thorold Post, 2 Nov. 1877, 4)

THOROLD, ONT., Fire Engine House, Albert Street, 1878 (Thorold Post, 25 Jan. 1878, 4)

DRUMMONDVILLE, ONT., mansion for B.F. Corwin, 1878 (Thorold Post, 16 Aug. 1878, 4)

THOROLD, ONT., major addition and alterations to St. John’s Anglican Church, 1878 (Thorold Post, 30 Aug. 1878, 4, descrip.)