The land that later became the Shelby Place neighborhood served as a lumber and pipe storage yard at the beginning of the twentieth century, but was platted for development in May 1906 by George W. Seibert.  The neighborhood was designed with thirty-four lots, including six lots facing Vincennes Street. The majority of houses on the street were constructed on the street between 1911 and 1916, with 1912 and 1913 as particularly busy years. The neighborhood also features a central median, or esplanade. The central grassy and tree-lined bands – an outgrowth of the ‘City Beautiful’ movement at the turn of the century – added a bucolic touch to urban neighborhoods and were an attractive incentive to residential development. The Shelby Place Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
 
Miss Lena Ritz bought this house from builder Stephen Day & Sons in July 1913, and lived here with her sisters, Katie Ritz and Mary Manus. After her death at age 82 in November 1939, the house was sold to Vernia and Lois Patterson in September 1940.
 
Mr. Patterson was a conductor for the Southern Railway System. The Pattersons lived here only a short time before selling the home to Guy and Mary Priestly in February 1942. The Priestlys resided here until June 1959, when the home was purchased by James W. Robinson. Robinson was the co-founder and owner of Robinson Nugent Electronics, and his family lived in the home through 1965.

 This 1 ½ -story, dormer-front bungalow has a side-gable asphalt shingle roof, a rock-faced concrete foundation, and an exterior clad in vinyl siding. An exterior brick chimney runs up the east wall, and includes an inset segmental arch panel. On the main elevation is a partial-width, gable-roof porch with octagonal wood columns on rockfaced concrete block piers. The porch floor extends the width of the façade and has a concrete railing with fluted balusters. At the roofline of the main elevation is a large, gabled dormer with three wood sash windows. The house has knee brace brackets – now encased in vinyl siding – at the eaves. On the west elevation is a projecting window bay with a shed roof.

The property’s judgment number is 22CO1-1408-MF-001159. With this number you can visit the Clerk’s Office in the City-County building and enter it into their computers to find the judgment owed on the property. This is public record.