Belford Shoumate was born in Aberdeen, Ohio. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania and worked with architect Joseph Urban in New York City. Shoumate worked in Miami for one year with Carlos B. Schoeppl before coming to Palm Beach. Since the late 1930s, Belford Shoumate has left his architectural imprint, in either design or restoration, on more than 500 buildings of many styles in South Florida, from Bermuda and Colonial to Art Deco. Shoumate became very interested and active in the preservation of Palm Beach’s architectural heritage and presided over and contributed to the organizational efforts of preservation committees, including that of the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach.
