The former Suter's building

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 1 Jan 2012

The tall building (the shop at its base is at 63-65 High Street) is located on the south side of Image; see that link for further context. It stands out from the surrounding buildings, both in height and in appearance, but it is not commented upon in guides to the architecture of the area, nor in listed building reports. However, there is a photograph of it in Donald MacLeod's "Dumbarton: Its Recent Men and Events ..." (1898). It was then a very recent construction, its predecessor having been demolished only three or four years earlier. The photograph is captioned "Mr R.L.K.Suter's new building", with J.M.Crawford listed as the architect (he was responsible for several other buildings in Dumbarton, and for Image). In the old photograph, the shop has "The National Boot Depot" above its front, but the building has otherwise changed little, unlike its neighbours on either side. When the previous building at this site was being demolished, c.1895, the name William Risk was found on its front, having previously been hidden by woodwork. For more on William Risk, who became Provost of Dumbarton, see Image; compare Image Incidentally, the books already cited do not anywhere give the full name of Mr R.L.K.Suter, mentioned above, but he was Robert Louis Kossuth Suter (died 1st June 1903, in his 48th year). His middle names, which stand out as unusual when compared to names of other members of his family, were presumably given in commemoration of Louis Kossuth (Lajos Kossuth), a prominent Hungarian former statesman, who was resident in the UK when Mr Suter was born, and who is known to have toured and lectured extensively in Scotland at around this time.

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