Shirley Simons
{{short description|American architect}}
File:Pines Theater, Lufkin, Texas.jpg, Lufkin, Texas]]
File:Ernest O Thompson State Office Bldg-2010-08-a.JPG]]
Thomas Shirley Simons, Sr. (March 12, 1897 – August 1, 1963), commonly known as Shirley Simons was a prominent architect of Tyler, Texas. He was born in 1897 at Taylor, Texas, and raised in Fort Worth, Texas.{{cite web|title=NRHP nomination form for Azalea Residential Historic District|url=http://www.historictyler.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/AZALEA_NR.pdf|page=8 of 67}} He graduated from Rice Institute in 1919 with a Bachelor of Science in architecture.{{cite book|title=Rice University General Announcements|year=1921–1922|publisher=Rice Institute|url=http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/francis-mairs-huntington-wilson/rice-university-general-announcements-volume-192122-suo/page-7-rice-university-general-announcements-volume-192122-suo.shtml}} He also served in the field artillery during World War I from September through November 1918.{{cite book|title=The Rice Institute Pamphlet|publisher=William M. Rice Institute|date=January 1919|page=78|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g5IZAQAAIAAJ}}
After practicing with William Ward Watkin in Houston, Simons moved to Lufkin, Texas in 1922 where he established his own architecture practice. In the late 1920s, he moved his architectural practice to Tyler, Texas. He remained active as an architect in Tyler until his death in 1963.{{cite web|title=City to host ceremony to unveil Half Mile of History stones in downtown|publisher=City of Tyler, Texas|author=Susan Guthrie|date=April 7, 2009|url=http://www.cityoftyler.org/Home/tabid/36/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/865/CategoryID/23/NewsID/742/Default.aspx}}{{cite news|author=Cindy Mallette|title=Tyler's Half-mile of History Honors Local Architect|newspaper=Tyler Paper|date=October 23, 2008|url=http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20081023/NEWS08/810230332}} Shirley's three sons (T. Shirley Simons, Jr., Edwin Simons, and Watson Townes Simons) later joined his architectural practice.{{cite news|title=Simons Says "Build The Hospital"|author=Edwin Holt|publisher=Holt Colorin Box|date=March 15, 2011|url=http://holtcoloringbox.blogspot.com/2011/03/simons-says-build-hospital.html}}
A number of Simons' works, including the Tyler City Hall, San Augustine County Courthouse and Jail, and Austin Daily Tribune Building, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.{{NRHP url|id=64000827|title=Angelina County MRA}}{{NRISref|version=2010a}}
Works in Tyler, Texas
- Tremont Place (1987), 615 Tremont Place, Tyler, TX 75701 (situated in the Azalea Residential Historic District) (Shirley Simons){{Cite web |title=615 Tremont Pl, Tyler, TX 75701 |url=https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/615-Tremont-St_Tyler_TX_75701_M71477-30089 |access-date=2023-03-19 |website=realtor.com® |language=en}}
- Bergfeld Park (tennis courts, amphitheater and restrooms), part of the Azalea Residential Historic District, 1400 Block South Broadway, Tyler, Texas{{cite web|title=NRHP nomination form for Azalea Residential Historic District|url=http://www.historictyler.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/AZALEA_NR.pdf|page=6 of 16}}
- Robert and Mattie Fair House (1937), 905 South Chilton Avenue, Tyler, Texas (part of the Azalea Residential Historic District) (Shirley Simons, Sr. and Allen Campbell){{cite web|title=NRHP nomination form for Azalea Residential Historic District|url=http://www.historictyler.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/AZALEA_NR.pdf|page=7 of 72}}
- Hanson-Cooper House (1931), 312 E. Charnwood, Tyler, Texas
- W. Howard and Vera Bryant House (1951), 2212 South Chilton Avenue, Tyler, Texas (part of the Azalea Residential Historic District){{cite web|title=NRHP nomination form for Azalea Residential Historic District|url=http://www.historictyler.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/AZALEA_NR.pdf|page=8 of 73}}
- Marvin United Methodist Church (1942 remodel and parsonage), 300 W. Erwin St., Tyler, Texas, NRHP-listed
- Thomas and Edna Pollard House (1935), 801 Troup Highway, Tyler, Texas
- Ramey House (1935 interior remodel), 605 S. Broadway, Tyler, Texas (Simons, Shirley), NRHP-listed
- St. Gregory Elementary School, 400 South College Avenue, Tyler, Texas{{cite book|author=Robert E. Reed, Jr.|title=Tyler|page=48|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2009|isbn=978-0738571782}}
- St. John's AF & AM Lodge, 323 W. Front Street, Tyler, Texas (Simons, T. Shirley Sr.), NRHP-listed
- Shirley Simons Residence, 118 West Fourth, Tyler, Texas (part of the Azalea Residential Historic District)
- Tyler City Hall (1938), 212 N. Bonner Avenue, Tyler, Texas (Simons, T. Shirley, Sr.), NRHP-listed
- Tyler Junior College original campus building plan{{cite web|title=Tyler Junior College|publisher=Texas State Historical Association|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kct40}}
- Tyler Little Theatre (1939), 1014 W. Houston, Tyler, Texas{{cite web|title=Places of Worship|publisher=City of Tyler, Texas|url=http://www.cityoftyler.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=358}}
- Tyler U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, aka William M. Steger U.S. Courthouse (1934), 211 W. Ferguson Street, Tyler, Texas (Simons, Shirley), NRHP-listed{{cite web|title=William M. Steger U.S. Courthouse|publisher=U.S. General Services Administration|url=http://www.gsa.gov/portal/ext/html/site/hb/category/25431/actionParameter/exploreByBuilding/buildingId/215}}
- White House, aka The Castle (1929), 116 Lindsey Lane, Tyler, Texas
- Willow Brook Country Club, 3205 West Erwin Street, Tyler, Texas
- Witherup Home (1932), 212 West Dobbs Street, Tyler, Texas{{cite web|title=Tyler Landmark Register|publisher=Historic Tyler|url=http://www.historictyler.org/historicproperties/tylerlandmarkregister/}}
- Woman's Building (1931), 911 South Broadway, Tyler, Texas (part of the Azalea Residential Historic District) (Shirley Simons, Sr., and Sam R. Hill)
Works in Lufkin, Texas
- Angelina Hotel, West Shepherd and South First, Lufkin, Texas{{cite news|author=Nancy Croom Wilson|newspaper=The Lufkin Daily News|title=Celebrated architect Shirley Simons designed some of Lufkin's most famous buildings|date=April 3, 2005|url=http://lufkindailynews.com/life/article_a911c823-af6f-526e-afb8-78093df0e827.html}}
- Bowers-Felts House, 1213 Lotus Lane, Lufkin, Texas (Simons, Shirley), NRHP-listed
- Brookshire, Houston-Yeates House, 304 E. Howe Street, Lufkin, Texas (Simons, Shirley), NRHP-listed
- Central Ward Grammar School, Lufkin, Texas (demolished)
- Everitt-Cox House (1922 remodel), 418 Moore, Lufkin, Texas (Simons, Shirley), NRHP-listed{{cite web|title=Angelina County Historical Places|publisher=Angelina County Genealogy|url=http://www.angelinacountygenealogy.com/historicalplaces.html}}
- First National Bank Building, northeast corner of Lufkin Avenue and First Street, Lufkin, Texas
- Kurth Memorial Library, Cotton Square facing Lufkin Avenue, Lufkin, Texas
- Kurth Ward Grammar School, Lufkin, Texas
- Pines Theatre, 113 South First Street, Lufkin, Texas, NRHP-listed
- School on South Raguet, Lufkin, Texas
- Shands Gymnasium, Lufkin, Texas (demolished)
Works in other cities
- Austin Daily Tribune Building (1941), 920 Colorado, Austin, Texas (Simons, Shirley), NRHP-listed
- Houston Museum of ArtThe original neo-classical building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston was built in 1926 and designed by William Ward Watkin. Simons worked with Watkin in the early 1920s, and it is likely that this is the "Houston Museum of Art" building referenced in the previous source.
- Nacogdoches High School Gym and Auditorium, Nacogdoches, Texas
- San Augustine County Courthouse and Jail (1927), Courthouse Square, San Augustine, Texas (Simons, Shirley), NRHP-listed{{cite web|title=San Augustine County Courthouse|publisher=TexasEscapes.com|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/San_Augustine/San-Augustine-County-Courthouse-Texas.htm}}
- Stephen F. Austin University campus expansion (classrooms, administration buildings, president's residence, library, auditorium and fine arts building, men's and women's dormitory), Nacogdoches, Texas
- The Ashcroft House, 333 College Street, Sulphur Springs, Texas (a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark)
- University of Texas Student Health Center, Austin, Texas