J. D. McArthur

John Duncan McArthur (June 25, 1854 – January 10, 1927) was a Canadian industrialist, businessman, and railway builder. Born in Lancaster township, Glengarry County, Canada West, he worked as a farmer before heading west to Manitoba in search of work on railway crews in 1879. He also had significant investments in lumber, mining, and real estate, and built the first high-rise in Winnipeg, the McArthur Building. He is considered to be "one of western Canada’s greatest railway contractors" and businessmen, having built over of track.

Early and personal life McArthur was born to Duncan McArthur and Christina (nee McCuaig) McArthur on 25 June 1854 in Lancaster, Glengarry County, Canada West. He was educated at local schools in Glengarry County and spent much of his adolescence working on his family's farm.

While living in Manitoba, McArthur kept in contact with his childhood sweetheart, Mary McIntosh. He returned east to Glengarry County in January 1889, and on 16 January 1889, the two married and shortly thereafter relocated to Winnipeg. The couple had no children.

Professional life In 1879, encouraged by Horace Greeley's slogan to "go west, young man," McArthur travelled west to Manitoba over the Dawson Trail. Two years later, McArthur signed his first subcontract for heavy rock cutting with the Canadian Pacific Railway between Winnipeg and Fort William. He tried to build an extensive system in Alberta, the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway, which was hampered by the First World War. Despite optimism that he would recover, McArthur's condition continued to deteriorate, and on 10 January 1927, McArthur died in Winnipeg, shortly after returning from Battle Creek. In 1955, the Government of Manitoba named the McArthur Hydroelectric Generating Station – located on McArthur Falls – in his honour.