The Federal-style Paxton Place once stood on spacious grounds on the rural road that linked the University of Virginia with the downtown area. It is a very good example of houses built in the city of Charlottesville around 1825. The West Main Street house has had many owners, and has served as the Shisler Funeral Home, as a Loyal Order of Moose Lodge and at the time of its listing in the Virginia and National registers, Paxton Place was serving as a beauty parlor.

The buildings and districts listed under the Charlottesville Multiple Resource Area nomination represent a cross section of all the city’s historic periods, from the founding of Charlottesville in the 1760s through the advent of the automobile and the impact it had on the city’s expansion. Also included are buildings that have played an important part in the history of Charlottesville’s black community. Paxton Place was listed in the registers under the Charlottesville MRA without a formal nomination document; the property is also contributing the city ‘s downtown West Main Street Historic District.