Wright & Sanders

John Wright, a native of Scotland, immigrated to Canada in 1845 and settled in Victoria in 1858. He was the first professional architect to establish himself in British Columbia. In 1861 Wright formed the partnership of Wright & Sanders with George H. Sanders, who had joined the office as a drafter the year before. Wright was the public face of the firm, and it is to him that firm's works are usually attributed. Sanders' role is not specifically known and he has usually been assigned the role of business manager. However, it was Sanders, not Wright, who had architectural training while Wright had been trained in carpentry and engineering, indicating that Sanders may have had a behind-the-scenes role in architectural design while Wright handled the more practical aspects of design and superindendence. Wright & Sanders practiced in Victoria for the next six years, designing a variety of buildings including houses, churches and Congregation Emanu-El, the oldest synagogue on the west coast of North America. In 1866 they entered and won an architectural competition to design the new Asylum for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind in Berkeley, California. Due to the project's size and complexity, they relocated to San Francisco in 1867. In 1868 they also won a competition to design the new campus of the University of California, Berkeley, but refused the job over a compensation dispute. The firm was even more productive in San Francisco. In addition to churches, they designed houses for men like Mark Hopkins Jr. and Alfred A. Cohen, the campus of the San Francisco Theological Seminary, the Napa State Hospital, Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton and some of San Francisco's earliest skyscrapers. The firm kept up their Victoria connections and late in their partnership they were commissioned to design the Great Western Hotel, plans for which were completed but the project was ultimately canceled due to local conditions and the panic of 1893. Wright withdrew from the partnership in 1895, at about the age of 65. Sanders continued the firm after Wright's retirement at least until the time of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The earthquake and ensuing fires destroyed the firm's drawings and records as well as a large part of their built work. The firm appears in a business directory published shortly after the disaster at a temporary address, though Sanders likely chose to retire shortly thereafter. ==Partner biographies==

John Wright John Wright (May 15, 1830 – August 23, 1915) was born in Killearn, Scotland. He immigrated to Canada in 1845, settling with relatives near Guelph, Ontario. He trained there as a carpenter and engineer, and established himself as a contractor. In 1856 he was appointed superintendent for the new Guelph City Hall (1857), which was designed by William Thomas. He moved to Victoria the year after that building was completed. There, in addition to his practice, he was appointed superintendent of Fisgard Lighthouse and Race Rocks Light, both completed in 1860. In 1882 the PCAA joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as the organization's San Francisco chapter. At this time Wright was made a Fellow of the AIA and was elected the first chapter president. He served until 1884. In 1868 Sanders married Euphemia Armstrong, a sister of Wright's wife, in San Francisco. On Independence Day, about two months later, Mrs. Sanders drowned when the gangway connecting the Oakland Long Wharf and the El Capitan collapsed. Sanders and his sister also fell into the water but were rescued. Sanders married his second wife, Emma Burgess, in 1907. Sanders and his second wife were affiliated with The New Church and were congregants of the First Swedenborgian Church of the New Jerusalem, or O'Farrell Street Church, for which he was the architect. The second Mrs. Sanders died in 1916 and Sanders moved to Berkeley, where he lived with a stepdaughter. He died there at the age of 81. ==Legacy==

At least two notable San Francisco architects, Bernard Maybeck and George Applegarth, worked for Wright & Sanders. Applegarth, a nephew of Sanders, worked for the firm from to . The bulk of Wright & Sanders' work in San Francisco was destroyed during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and ensuing fires. Other projects were demolished or otherwise destroyed over time. Much move of his work in British Columbia survives. In California, major extant works include the Church of St. James the Apostle (1886) in Oakland, the Lick Observatory (1888) and three major buildings on the campus of the San Francisco Theological Seminary. Three of the firm's works have been designated National Historic Sites of Canada, and two others have been designated California Historical Landmarks. ==Architectural works==

• 1860 – Pandora Avenue Methodist Church, Pandora Ave and Broad St, Victoria, British Columbia • 1861 – Nanaimo Methodist Church, Wallace St, Nanaimo, British Columbia • 1869 – Calvary Presbyterian Church, Powell St and Geary Blvd, San Francisco • 1870 – First Methodist Church, Powell St, San Francisco • 1872 – Central Presbyterian Church, Tyler St, San Francisco • 1876 – McCreery Building, Pine St, San Francisco • 1878 – Mark Hopkins Jr. house, 999 California St, San Francisco • 1880 – Bellrose, the John Garber house, Claremont Ave, Berkeley, California • 1886 – Church of St. James the Apostle, 1540 Twelfth Ave, Oakland, California • 1887 – Lachman Block, Market and Fremont Sts, San Francisco • 1891 – First Swedenborgian Church of the New Jerusalem, 1640 O'Farrell St, San Francisco • 1891 – Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company Building, 500 Montgomery St, San Francisco • 1892 – Montgomery Hall, San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, California • 1893 – Montgomery Memorial Chapel, San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, California • 1897 – Scott Hall, San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, California ==Notes==