In 1895, Baker completed his largest commercial building for R.T. Anne's Roman Catholic Church in Lennox Island (1895) and the fine Queen Anne style Sacred Heart Parish House in Alberton (1895). John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Miscouche (1892) and its associated presbytery house (1895) the Summerside Methodist (now Trinity United) Church (1893) St. In the 1890s, they would co-operate on other ecclesiastical projects including the magnificent and well preserved St. His son, Albert Baker (1879-1956), would marry into the Schurman family and served as one of the directors of the M.F. The Schurmans were also descended from Bedeque Loyalists and Baker would continue to work closely with them.

The contractor for this building was Schurman, Clark, and Company of Kensington. In 1888, the Presbyterian congregation of Cardigan in Kings County employed George Baker to design their new church. George may have been working with his brother, Philip Baker (1845-1893), who was then also living in Summerside as a carpenter/joiner and serving in the town government as a councillman. It also required the ability to use specific equipment. This was a more distinct and advanced skill than being a carpenter, since a joiner could cut and fit joints in wood so they would connect together without the use of nails. His occupation is listed as a 'house joiner'. The 1881 Census reveals that George and Sophia were residing in Summerside with Ella and Albert, their two young children. This church is now located within the Avonlea Village in Cavendish where it hosts popular summer plays and concerts. Dempsey of Summerside was the contractor for the project, while one of the carpenters was Andrew MacLeod of Irishtown. In 1874, he designed his first church on the Island for the Presbyterian congregation of Long River. Baker was living in Miscouche and was married in a Baptist ceremony on December 29th to Sophia Jane Clarke (1846-1917) of Cavendish. Two of his brothers would eventually move to the United States, Isaac to Massachusetts and Charles to Missouri.īy 1874, he was back in Prince Edward Island which was then the newest province in the Dominion of Canada, having joined confederation a year earlier. Here, he witnessed the growth of many new cities and saw firsthand the architectural techniques and styles which were then in fashion. go West!' George would spend time in British Columbia and then venture down to Colorado and the western states. In his youth, George left the Island, perhaps following the advice of the American journalist, Horace Greeley, who told the youth of his country to 'Go West young man. In later life, he would study architecture through correspondence courses. George Baker did not, however, enroll in any formal architectural school. George may have been influenced by his father to become a skilled builder since in addition to being a farmer, John Baker was also a carpenter. John's Island (PEI) where John Baker farmed and served as the community's blacksmith. In the late 1780s, the Bakers settled on land in the Bedeque area of St.

During the American Revolution, he joined the Loyalist side and was forced to flee with his family to New York from where they were evacuated to Nova Scotia. His great grandfather, John Baker (c1748-1821), was a Quaker from Pennsylvania. George Edwin Baker was the eldest of ten children born to John Baker (1817-1894) and Caroline (Bagnall) Baker (1818-1903) of Bedeque.

Edwin baker