C.R. Shaw House

The C.R. Shaw House is a distinguished two-story residence in Quincy’s historic district with roots extending back to Gadsden County’s earliest settlement period. Originally a simple structure built by Arthur Foreman — one of the first businessmen to ship tobacco abroad before the Civil War, connecting this house to the very origins of the shade tobacco trade — the house was significantly expanded by C.R. Shaw, who added wings, square Doric columns, and leaded glass doors.

Shaw was a prominent planter and packer of tobacco, and his C.R. Shaw Ford Motor Company was one of the early automobile agencies in Quincy — epitomizing the county’s rapid modernization in the early 20th century. The combination of antebellum origins, tobacco-era expansion, and early automotive-era connections makes the C.R. Shaw House one of the most historically layered properties in Quincy’s Historic District.

For visitors tracing the arc of Gadsden County’s economic and social development from the frontier era through the tobacco boom and into the modern age, the C.R. Shaw House offers a uniquely rich stop in Quincy’s extraordinary 36-block historic district.