Richard Waite was born in London in 1848 as one of seven children of Charles Henry Waite and his wife Harriet Humphries Holland. Richard Waite's father moved to America in 1856 with his wife and children and settled in Buffalo, New York to work in a printing company.
Education and career
Waite like many early architects, learned building design as an apprentice. He studied mechanical engineering in New York City under John Ericsson, the inventor of the Civil Warironclad USS Monitor. Waite returned to Buffalo in 1874 as a fully trained architect. His 1869 marriage to Sarah Holloway, daughter of local contractor Isaac Holloway, afforded him several public works commissions. 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.
Projects
Although Waite designed many homes in the Buffalo area, some of his best-known commissions were in Canada. Some of Waite's key accomplishments:
Buffalo, New York
Trinity Episcopal Church 1872
Public School 32 , built late 1870s; later demolished and replaced. The replacement structure is now used by Bennett Park Montessori School.
Pierce's Palace Hotel, built 1878 - located on Porter Avenue and burned down in 1881, it is now the site of D'Youville College campus at Prospect Park.
Buffalo German Insurance Company Building, built 1875 - office building located at Main and Lafayette Square; demolished ca. 1957 and now site of Tishman Building
W.H. Glenny & Sons Building, built 1875 ; rebuilt 1905 after fire; now named Dennis Building
George Williams House, built 1877, interior was renovated in 1909 in Colonial Revival style.
Buffalo Music Hall,, built 1885-87. Later known as the Teck Theater; demolished 1980s-1990s.
Phillip Becker Mansion, built 1887-88 - built for Mayor Phillip Becker; later converted into the Plaza Suites executive offices
Waite helped design the Oliver Opera House on Main Street North and West Washington Street. This opera house was built in 1885 for 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. The opera house was demolished after it closed in 1953, and the space is presently used for parking adjacent to the JMS Building.
Hamilton, Ontario
Birks Building, built 1883 - Built at the corner of King Street East and Hughson Street South for Canada Life Insurance as their Head Office and sold to jeweller Henry Birks and Sons in 1929. Birks ground floor retail store closed and building was demolished in 1972. Part of the site was replaced by Fidelity-Equitable Trust Tower in 1974; the remaining space was incorporated into Gore Park.
* Birks "Clock of the Charging Horsemen" was restored and placed inside of Farmers Market from 1986 to 2007. It was removed, then remounted outdoors in Jackson Square in 2010.
Canada Life Assurance Company Building, built 1898. After being used as an office building for several decades, it was converted for residential use as St. Regis condos.
Ontario Legislative Building, built 1892 - home of Ontario Legislature since 1892.
Personal and death
Waite's mother died in 1862 and his wife Sarah in 1901. Waite died in 1911, survived by brother William T, and by his five children:
Helen Holloway Waite
son Richard Alfred Waite II studied architecture at Cornell University, but changed to theology at Syracuse University due to poor health. He became a Methodist minister and died in St. Louis, Missouri. Waite is buried with his wife at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.
