Howard Jacob Shearer Led Development of Our Neighborhood

I’ve always been fascinated about how Monticello Park streets got their names. We know that Club Drive was named for the never-built golf club and Furr Drive was named after C.M. Furr, one of the early developers.  But what about Shearer Blvd?  After a bit of research, I have learned that the lead developer of our neighborhood, H. J. Shearer, named Shearer Blvd. after himself!

Howard Jacob Shearer was the owner of H. J. Shearer and Company, a major real estate development company, which created numerous neighborhoods throughout San Antonio, including several in our vicinity, such as Woodlawn Terrace (northwest of Woodlawn Lake), Lakeside Estates (just north of Woodlawn Lake), and North Woodlawn Terrace (the oldest and largest section of what we now call Monticello Park).

North Woodlawn Terrace, bounded by Donaldson, Fredericksburg, Shearer, and Quentin, was platted on January 23, 1925, and originally contained 439 lots and 103 acres reserved for future development. Mr. Shearer made over $1,000,000 in improvements to the land as part of the development, including sanitary sewers, running water, gas lines, and paved streets with streetlights, sidewalks, and curbs. Total cost for the streets alone was $100,000, about the same cost the city recently invested in rebuilding the trail around our Monticello Park pocket park near TJHS! 

In 1921, Mr. Shearer and his wife Loula built a house for themselves at 1951 West Summit, part of the Woodlawn Terrace subdivision. Once North Woodlawn Terrace was platted, they picked a choice lot, and built a much larger home at 303 Mary Louise. This Norman Revival home was constructed starting in April 1926, and was completed quickly enough to be featured in a January 1927 ad for the Acme Brick Co.

Magnificant Norman Revival home of H.J. and Loula Shearer, 303 Mary Louise

H. J. Shearer continued to develop multiple neighborhoods throughout San Antonio, and was a champion amateur golfer, despite having lost his left hand when he was a child.  He was a member of numerous business, social, and civic organizations, and was elected to the City Council in 1953, but resigned the following year after being involved in an automobile accident. In his later years, he focused on ranching and the oil business.

H. J. Shearer passed away on April 23, 1960, at the age of 74, but his legacy lives on as the visionary developer who created our neighborhood, and I hope we always remember him as the namesake for Shearer Blvd.