Old Judges Hill Historic District
A Proposed Austin Local Historic District
Herblin-Shoe House - 1899
Stylistic influence(s): Queen Anne/Eastlake, Late Victorian; Neo-Classical. Variety of styles exhibits change in taste during early 20th Century from Victorian (including interior woodwork and mantels) to Classic Revival styling, which was added to the original house.
Architect/Builder: Contractor/builder John Allen Greathouse
Historic Use: Residence
Current Use: Residence
Historic Use: Residence
Current Use: Residence
Historical designations:
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
City of Austin Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
City of Austin Historic Landmark
Building History
Constructed for William Herblin’s family in 1899-1900 as 2-story Late Victorian/Queen Anne w/ gable attic and brick veneer. The Herblins sold the home to Mary & Ruffin Shofner in October, 1910, and they sold the house to Mildred & George Clark in October of 1917. Mary & William Shoe purchased the home in July of 1927, and the home was left to their daughter in December of 1969. Lucy Shoe Meritt’s career in the East allowed her to spend summers in the home from the time the Shoes first purchased the house in 1927. The Meritts moved to the home permanently in 1971 after their retirement, spending summers at their home in Ontario; their Austin home was not air conditioned.
Significant Persons Associated with Building
1989-1910: William Herblin (b. 1857, TN), associated with Daniel H. Caswell in the cottonseed oil business as the superintendent of the Austin Oil Manufacturing Company.
1927-2003: William Bonapart Shoe (d. 1943), one of first safety engineers in the U.S. - WWI chief safety engineer for shipyards in N. Atlantic District of U.S. Shipping Board, helped set Texas rates under Workman’s Compensation Act. Insurance actuary and adjuster.
1927-2003: Lucy Shoe Meritt (1906-2003), professor of archaeology and Greek at Mt. Holyoak College (1937-1950). One of world’s foremost authorities on classical archaeology with particular reference to Greek, Etruscan and Roman architecture. Returned to family home in Austin in 1972 and was a Visiting Scholar in the Dept. of Classics at UT 1973 until her death in 2003. In 1964 she married Benjamin Dean Meritt (1899-1989), a professor of Greek epigraphy at the Universities of Vermont, Brown, Michigan, Princeton and the American School in Athens, and later a visiting scholar in the classics department of UT until his death.
Constructed for William Herblin’s family in 1899-1900 as 2-story Late Victorian/Queen Anne w/ gable attic and brick veneer. The Herblins sold the home to Mary & Ruffin Shofner in October, 1910, and they sold the house to Mildred & George Clark in October of 1917. Mary & William Shoe purchased the home in July of 1927, and the home was left to their daughter in December of 1969. Lucy Shoe Meritt’s career in the East allowed her to spend summers in the home from the time the Shoes first purchased the house in 1927. The Meritts moved to the home permanently in 1971 after their retirement, spending summers at their home in Ontario; their Austin home was not air conditioned.
Significant Persons Associated with Building
1989-1910: William Herblin (b. 1857, TN), associated with Daniel H. Caswell in the cottonseed oil business as the superintendent of the Austin Oil Manufacturing Company.
1927-2003: William Bonapart Shoe (d. 1943), one of first safety engineers in the U.S. - WWI chief safety engineer for shipyards in N. Atlantic District of U.S. Shipping Board, helped set Texas rates under Workman’s Compensation Act. Insurance actuary and adjuster.
1927-2003: Lucy Shoe Meritt (1906-2003), professor of archaeology and Greek at Mt. Holyoak College (1937-1950). One of world’s foremost authorities on classical archaeology with particular reference to Greek, Etruscan and Roman architecture. Returned to family home in Austin in 1972 and was a Visiting Scholar in the Dept. of Classics at UT 1973 until her death in 2003. In 1964 she married Benjamin Dean Meritt (1899-1989), a professor of Greek epigraphy at the Universities of Vermont, Brown, Michigan, Princeton and the American School in Athens, and later a visiting scholar in the classics department of UT until his death.