In 1974, Neil Darrach’s daughter Marjorie wrote two letters by hand to Paul Baldwin. They now sit in the Elgin County Archives with the rest of Baldwin’s research on the architect: newspaper clippings, notes, 63 slides and 13 photographs of Darrach’s buildings, here and in Regina.
On Wednesday, October 14th, Baldwin gives a public talk on Darrach. He is guest curator of a new Elgin County Museum exhibition, Neil R. Darrach: Built to Last.
Buildings you already know
Darrach designed more than 24 buildings in the city, and several now have heritage designation: City Hall, Wellington Street Public School, the old public library, the former Southern Loan building and the Princess Avenue Playhouse.
City Hall went up in 1898 and 1899 at 545 Talbot Street, after Darrach won a design competition. In 1984 it was named a National Historic Site of Canada, as “one of the few relatively unaltered Richardsonian Romanesque Town Halls surviving in Canada.”
The Elgin County courthouse rebuild was Darrach’s work too. Fire gutted the 1853 building on July 1st, 1898 and within a week Darrach was hired to design its reconstruction. He kept the original front and the south rear wall, then added wings and a dome. It is now part of the consolidated courthouse at 4 Wellington Street.
The Playhouse, home of the Elgin Theatre Guild, was one of his churches. The stone tablet on its tower names it the Church of Christ and is dated 1906.
No formal education, and he won anyway
Darrach was born in Southwold Township on April 17th, 1850. He taught himself, starting as a carpenter and contractor. His designs were chosen year after year over those of trained architects, in many cases well-known designers from Toronto and other large cities. The city made him its official architect from 1896 to 1898.
However, his career was not all wins. The local museum reports he went bankrupt after a serious loss as a contractor on the Grand Central Hotel in 1882, and spent several years working in Toronto before he came back in 1894.
What the account book shows
One item in Baldwin’s files is an account journal that Darrach and architect John Findlay kept from 1900 to 1915. It records projects for individuals, schools and businesses, including what the contractors cost and the type of work they did.
Findlay came from Scotland in 1907 and became Darrach’s draftsman. Darrach left for Regina in 1911. After he returned, the two formed the partnership Darrach & Findlay and worked together until Darrach retired in 1925. Memorial Hospital, which once stood on Pearl Street and opened in 1924, was one of his major works of those years. He died in 1926, at age 76.
The talk and the exhibition
The Elgin County Museum’s new exhibition, Neil R. Darrach: Built to Last, looks back at that work, with Baldwin as guest curator. It is a photo tour of Darrach’s buildings that still stand, and it also shows artifacts found while the consolidated courthouse was being built.
Baldwin’s talk comes first, on Wednesday, October 14th, at 7 p.m., at the Elgin County Heritage Centre, 460 Sunset Drive. Admission is by donation. You can park behind the County building at 450 Sunset Drive, with the entrance off Karen Street. The Elgin Historical Society and the Elgin County Museum are presenting the talk together.
The exhibition itself opens to the public on Monday, October 26th. Under its winter hours, the museum’s Heritage Centre is open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, though the museum encourages donations.
Earlier coverage: Elgin Theatre Guild’s New Season Brings Four Plays and a World Premiere
Sources: Elgin County: New Exhibition Celebrates the Architectural Legacy of Neil R. Darrach · Elgin County Archives: Neil R. Darrach research files, Paul Baldwin fonds · Elgin County Archives: Darrach personal information file · Elgin County Archives: Findlay / Darrach journal · Ontario Association of Architects Honour Roll: Neil Darrach · Elgin County Museum: Visit Us
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