Born at the home of his grandmother in North Londonderry, Vermont, Atwood attended public schools in Boston.

From 1889 to 1890 he was City Architect of Boston, designing the Bowditch School, the Congress Street Fire Station, and the Harvard Avenue Fire Station, all on the National Register of Historic Places.

Atwood also designed several churches for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1918 to the Sixty-sixth Congress, and then resumed his work as an architect in Boston.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress