Monroe M. Shipe

Colonel Monroe Martin Shipe (March 12, 1847 – April 27, 1924), also called M. M. Shipe, was an American real estate developer who developed Hyde Park, an early streetcar suburb in Austin, Texas. He also founded the Austin Electric Railway Company, a streetcar network that initially served Hyde Park but expanded to become the public transit network for the city of Austin and, eventually, the direct predecessor of Austin's current transit agency, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Personal life

Shipe was born on March 12, 1847, in Paris, Ohio, and graduated from the Canton Academy. His career prior to moving to Austin was varied. He began as a traveling sales agent for his brother, who was an inventor, then moved briefly to Florida to manage a large orange grove. Then on to Abilene, Kansas where he became a prominent member of the community and, in 1887, developed a mule-drawn street railway system for the city. However, Abilene's boom economy collapsed in 1888 leading to the failure of Shipe's street railway.

In 1889, Shipe and his wife, Adele, moved from Abilene to Austin

Glenn, Shipe's son, was born in Abilene but moved to Austin with his father and assisted in the development of Hyde Park. Glenn was a real estate developer in North Austin until his death in 1944.

Shipe's daughter, Clotilde, married Swiss woodworker Peter Mansbendel. They lived in the Tudor Revival style Peter and Clotilde Shipe Mansbendel House in Hyde Park. Mansbendel was notable for decorative interiors of high-value homes in Houston and Dallas and work on a number of buildings at The University of Texas. He emigrated to the US in 1907 and moved to Austin in 1911 as Clotilde Shipe's fiancé, having met her while he was living in the Northeast. Clotilde lived in the house until her death in 1963.

Shipe was influential in a variety of affairs within the city of Austin including advocating for a commission form of city government, the damming of the Colorado River, and helping to develop the city's commission charter.

Very quickly, Shipe built a road to his new development, laid the rails for the new line, and built a powerhouse to power it. The streetcar began running in February 1891

Shipe left the streetcar company in December 1891

Hyde Park

Shipe purchased the land that would become his Hyde Park development in May 1890 for $70,000. He and his wife, Adele, transferred the land to the M.K. & T. Land Co. (Missouri, Kansas and Texas Land and Town Company), of which Shipe was founder and president, in December of that year for $180,000.00. The development was officially begun in January 1891. The area is considered to be Austin's first suburb and sat about 20 blocks north of the nascent City of Austin The neighborhood was named after Hyde Park, London. Shipe's streetcar line made Hyde Park a streetcar suburb, a major factor in the development's early success. Early advertisements promoted the development as "free from nuisances and an objectionable class of people, proper restrictions being taken to guard against undesirable occupants."

Shipe also advertised Hyde Park on its amenities including, according to a 1892 advertisement, "water mains, electric lights, gas, electric cars, the finest drives in the city, the most beautiful groves and two elegant lakes."

Shipe House

Shipe built a two-story house for himself in Hyde Park, completing it in 1892 as one of the first houses in the development. The house sat in a subdivision of Hyde Park which Shipe called Shadowlawn. Shipe used some reclaimed lumber from the grandstands and fencing of the State Fair in the home's construction. After the fair's relocation to Dallas, part of the fairgrounds had become a portion of Hyde Park and most of the structures were demolished.