James A. Johnson (architect)

James A. Johnson

James Addison Johnson (1865-1939) was a Buffalo, New York architect known for his design of various architectural landmarks and his use of decorative work that many consider a foreshadowing of art deco design.

Johnson was born and educated near Syracuse, New York. Johnson apprenticed and partnered with architects Edward Kent, Joseph Lyman Silsbee, Richard Morris Hunt, James Marling and the firm of McKim, Mead and White in New York City.

Johnson came to Buffalo in 1892 and continue his architectural practice. Significant projects from this period include the Alexander Main Curtiss House designed with partner James Marling.

After Marling's death, Johnson formed a partnership with the German born and trained architect August Esenwein. From its inception in 1897 Esenwein & Johnson was one of the most successful architectural firms of the time and is credited with the design of many buildings that have become Buffalo landmarks. These include the Niagara Mohawk Building, the United Office Building in Niagara Falls, New York, the Ellicott Square Building and various buildings for the Pan-American Exposition notably the Temple of Music (infamous as the site where President William McKinley was assassinated). Esenwein & Johnson designed many buildings for the United Hotels Company, which was the largest hotel chain in the country at the time.

Esenwein & Johnson's work was known for its diverse styles through a sixty year history of designs, executing projects in Georgian Revival, Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles. Of special note is the decorative features of Johnson's design for the 1912 Niagara Mohawk Building which foreshadowed Art Deco ornamentation.

A number of Johnson's Buffalo, New York buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places including The Calumet, Hotel Lafayette, M. Wile and Company Factory Building, Fosdick-Masten Park High School and Lafayette High School.

Johnson died in 1939 in Buffalo, New York.

Gallery

Works

With August Esenwein


After Esenwein's Death