Shopbell & Company
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., and later still Shopbell, Fowler & Thole. 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,". 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.
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:
Principal partners
The founding partners were Clifford Shopbell and William J. Harris.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 :| Building | Location | Company | Listing |
| Albion Apartments, "model flats", 1910-11 | 701 Court St. Evansville | Shopbell & Co. | NRHP |
| American Trust and Savings Bank, 1903, enlarged 1914 | 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 | 314-316 SE 3rd St. Evansville | Shopbell & Co. | NRHP |
| Busse House | 120 SE 1st St. Evansville | Harris & Shopbell | NRHP |