American born, John D. Atchison was to become one of the foremost architects of Western Canada. He spent his early professional career with the Chicago firm of William LeBaron Jenny and William Bryce Mundie. Jenny has often been given credit for designing the first true skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building of 1883-85 in Chicago. Atchison left Jenny and Mundie in 1893 to join the team co-ordinating the 1893 Columbian Exhibition. By 1895 he had established his own practice in Chicago producing many buildings for the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad. In 1906 he moved to Winnipeg, where he had established an office the previous year. In Winnipeg he was responsible for many large apartment blocks as well as some of the finest office blocks in the city. All his work was in a neo-classical style over a steel frame. In Winnipeg his best works include: The Great West Life Building of 1911; the Union Trust Building of 1912; and the Bank of Hamilton Building of 1918. Atchison brought Winnipeg a connection with the most progressive architectural centre in North America at that time, and helped advance the technical and stylistical level of building there. He retired to Pasadena, California in 1927.