George Grant Elmslie

George Grant Elmslie (February 20, 1869 – April 23, 1952) was a Scottish-born American architect who was part of the Prairie School. His works are mostly found in the Midwestern United States. He worked with Louis Sullivan and later with William Gray Purcell as a partner in the firm Purcell & Elmslie.

Career Elmslie began his apprenticeship in the office of William LeBaron Jenney, who originated the steel frame skeleton used in modern building construction. In 1887, Elmslie joined Frank Lloyd Wright and George Maher in the office of Joseph Lyman Silsbee, a Western New York based architect who had moved to Chicago. After Wright left to go to work for Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan in 1887, he recommended Elmslie to Sullivan. In 1888, Elsmlie joined Wright at Adler & Sullivan, which led to a 20-year association between Elmslie and Sullivan. Wright and Elmslie shared an office next to Sullivan's. Elmslie was Sullivan's chief draftsman and ornamental designer. He detailed the ornamentation for Sullivan's Wainwright Building in St. Louis, the Schlesinger & Mayer Department store in Chicago and the National Farmers Bank in Owatonna, Minnesota.