Shopbell & Company was an American architectural firm located in Evansville, Indiana, in the United States.

History

The firm was founded as Harris & Shopbell in 1897 and still had that name in 1905. The firm later became Clifford Shopbell & Co. (ca 1910), and later still (ca 1916 - 1925) Shopbell, Fowler & Thole. contains "18. Copies of selected drawings from the office of Clifford Shopbell & Co., later Shopbell, Fowler & Thole, architects, Evansville (ca. 1916-1925)." Retrieved 28 November 2011 The partners designed buildings during the 1910s and 1920s, mainly in Evansville, but also elsewhere in Indiana and Kentucky. Many of its works survive and are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Evansville, Indiana, historic preservation staff described Clifford Shopbell and Company as "probably the most prominent--or at least the most active" local architectural firm in Evansville's Downtown. They credit several of its works as showing "clear understanding of program and ceremonial demands", note the firm's use of Prairie School design, and commend it for "one creditable Sullivanesque essay," (the Fellwock Auto Company Building). They also note the Indiana Bank and the Masonic Temple in Classical Revival mode, "along with one or two Chicago School buildings".

In 1919, Clifford Shopbell & Co. built the Evansville Municipal Market.Municipal market for city of Evansville, Indiana, interior, 1919 - Clifford Shopbell & Company, architects Library of Congress. "Notes: Illus. in: The Western architect ..., v.28, no. 3, March 1919. Chicago : The Western architect, inc., 1919, plate 15." digital file from original print Retrieved 28 November 2011

By 1905, Harris & Shopbell had already built 9 Carnegie libraries: Shelbyville, Greensburg, Franklin, Seymour, Salem, Princeton, Alt. Vernon and Poseyville, IN, and Henderson, KY; as Clifford Shopbell, the firm went on to build several more. Illinois preservation staff record that Shopbell also built the Illinois libraries at Carmi in 1914, Grayville in 1913, and Marion in 1916. Illinois preservation staff called Clifford Shopbell "the dominant architect of Carnegie libraries in Indiana, with at least fifteen of that state's commissions". The preservation staff state frankly that:

"Like many architects who sought Carnegie Library commissions, Shopbell welcomed publicity. When the Clarion-News of Princeton, Indiana, interviewed him in 1903, Shopbell mentioned that he was currently building four Carnegie libraries, and said that although smaller libraries were usually constructed of pressed brick, since his firm had "an inside price on stone", if Princeton acted quickly, they too could afford a stone library. The firm of Harris and Shopbell was selected and Princeton built a stone library. As the Illinois libraries built by Shopbell are all of brick, his inside price on stone must not have lasted into the 1910s."

Principal partners

The founding partners were Clifford Shopbell and William J. Harris.google bookobituary in Western Architect

Harris was the senior partner; he was born in Louisville, KY, graduating from the high school there in 1887. After an "apprenticeship" in architecture, Harris opened an office in Evansville in 1895, and formed a partnership with Shopbell in 1897. He was a member of the Freemasons, the Knights of Pythias, and the Elks. He married Bell Hawley in 1894.

Shopbell was born in Princeton, IN, on December 8, 1871. From 1889, Shopbell spent five years in the Indianapolis office of architect W. Scott Moore. In 1894 he moved to Evansville, working with architect C. A. Brehmer. In 1897 he married Winifred Dunlap of Indianapolis and joined Harris to form their architectural partnership. Shopbell was a member of the Freemasons, as well as belonging to the Shriners and the Knights of Pythias. Shopbell died in 1939.

Properties constructed

Works include (with attribution):

+ Works by Clifford Shopbell and related companies Building Location Company Listing Albion Apartments, "model flats", 1910-11NRHP, page 18 701 Court St. Evansville Shopbell & Co. NRHP American Trust and Savings Bank (Indiana Bank), 1903, enlarged 1914NRHP, page 4 524-530 Main St Evansville Shopbell & Co. NRHP Bernardin-Johnson House 17 Johnson Pl. Evansville Thole, Edward Joseph; Clifford Shopbell & Co. NRHP Bitterman Building 202-204 Main St. Evansville Clifford Shopbell & Co. NRHP John W. Boehne House 1119 Lincoln Ave. Evansville Shopbell, Clifford & Co. NRHP Buckingham Apartments (demolished) 314-316 SE 3rd St. Evansville Shopbell & Co. NRHP Busse House 120 SE 1st St. Evansville Harris & Shopbell NRHP Court Building (Furniture Building)Court Furniture Building, Evansville, Indiana 123-125 NW 4th St. Evansville Harris & Shopbell NRHP Evansville Municipal Market 813 Pennsylvania St. Evansville Shopbell, Clifford, & Co. NRHP Old Fellwock Auto Company 214 NW 4th St. Evansville Shopbell & Co. NRHP Fellwock Garage 315 Court St. Evansville Harris & Shopbell Co. NRHP Greensburg Carnegie Public Library 114 N. Michigan Ave. Greensburg, IN Shopbell, Clifford, & Co. NRHP Clifford Shopbell designed several libraries: see Illinois Carnegie Libraries Multiple Property Submission. Michael D. Helfrich House 700 Helfrich Lane Evansville Shopbell, Clifford, & Co. NRHP Hose House No. 12 1409 First Ave. Evansville Harris & Shopbell NRHP Huber Motor Sales Building 215-219 SE 4th St. Evansville Shopbell & Co. NRHP Ingle Terrace 609-619 Ingle St. Evansville Shopbell & Co. NRHP Kuebler-Artes Building 327 Main St. Evansville Shopbell & Co. NRHP Masonic Temple (Evansville, IN), 1912 301 Chestnut St. Evansville Shopbell & Co. NRHP Masonic Temple (Franklin, IN),Now Johnson County Museum of History 1922 135 N. Main St. Franklin, IN Shopbell, Fowler, and Thole NRHP Oak Hill Cemetery, 1901Oak Hill Cemetery 1901 Evansville Harris & Shopbell NRHP Rose Terrace, "model flats", 1910-11 301-313 NW 7th St. Evansville, Shopbell & Co. NRHP Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum, 1916-17NRHP, item 8 page 3; also names (45) YMCA of 1913, and (117) Walnut Street School of 1913. 350 Court St. Evansville Shopbell, Clifford & Co. NRHP Van Cleave Flats 704-708 Court St. Evansville Shopbell & Co. NRHP One or more works Boonville Public Square Historic District, Boonville, IN Harris & Shopbell NRHP Henderson County Public Library (1904) Contributing building in South Main & South Elm Streets Historic District, Henderson, KY Shopbell & Harris NRHP One or more works West Side Historic District, Shelbyville, Indiana Harris & Shopbell NRHP

Bibliography

"NRHP:" William J. Harris and Clifford Shopbell. Harris & Shopbell architects, Evansville, Indiana. Harris & Shopbell (publisher), 1908. (Pictures of buildings).Google books. The year is also recorded in the reference as 1904 so the year is uncertain.

References

External links Historic Photograph of Clifford Shopbell & Co, 1919 Willard Library, Indiana.