Richard A. Waite
Richard A. Waite (1848-1911) was a British-born American architect in the late 19th century.
Richard Waite's father arrived in America in 1856 with his wife and children and settled in Buffalo, New York to work in a printing company. His son Richard, like many early architects, learned building design as an apprentice. He studied mechanical engineering under John Ericsson, the inventor of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.
He continued his studies in New York after 1871 and returned to Buffalo in 1874 as a fully trained architect. In 1876, he made architectural history by hiring Louise Blanchard Bethune as a draftsman. She went on to become the first professional woman architect in the United States.
Although Waite built many homes in the Buffalo area, some of his best-known commissions were in Canada and Scotland.
A list of some of Waite's accomplishments:
- Pierce's Palace Hotel, Buffalo, New York, 1878-1881
- Walden-Myer Mausoleum, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, New York
- Buffalo German Insurance Company, Buffalo, New York, 1875 [demolished ca. 1957]
- Birk's Building Hamilton, Ontario
- Canada Life Assurance Company, Montreal, Quebec 1898
- Grand Trunk Railway Company Limited, Montreal 1906
- Ontario Legislative Buildings, Toronto 1892
- Canada Life Building, Montreal
Mr. Waite also helped design the Oliver Opera House in South Bend, Indiana.[citation needed] This opera house was built by James and Joseph Doty Oliver, both founders of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works located in South Bend, Indiana. James Oliver was the inventor of the Chilled Plow.
