With Our Past Before Us: Nineteenth-Century Architecture in the Kingston Area

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Frame, brick, and the famous Kingston limestone; exteriors, interiors,
and fireplaces; residences, churches, schools, and public
buildings—all are covered in this detailed study of early architecture
in Kingston, Ontario.

Kingston is well known for its textured limestone penitentiary
buildings, Queen’s University, commercial blocks, and some ornate
Victorian churches. It is also home to several other magnificent
institutional buildings, such as the Rockwood Lunatic Asylum, and
numerous impressive residences.

This is the most detailed work to date on the architecture of “the
limestone city” and area. McKendry looks at the buildings in the
context of the geography of the area, its social and political history,
and the individuals who influenced the city’s growth and development.
As well as covering the specifics of interior and exterior building
styles, she gives us background on the architects, their philosophies,
skills, and accomplishments.

The text is characterized by extensive research (both primary and
secondary sources); the style is clean and quite readable, if
uninspired. It is the generous amounts of fascinating information that
make the book so appealing. Unlike most books on architecture, which
present buildings

as only physical objects, McKendry seeks out the reasons behind the
results. The chapter on penitentiary design, for example, examines the
philosophical demands that society in the 19th century placed on prison
designers: “security, salubrity and reformation.”

More than 100 black-and-white photos by the author and reproductions of
archival photos and drawings illustrate the work. Although these are
quite good, they leave the reader longing for more. The shortage of
photos—especially of strong detail shots—is the weakest aspect of an
otherwise valuable work.