Louis E. Schorlig was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1851, emigrating with his parents to New York when he was a child. In 1855 they came to Sacramento and shortly afterwards to Humboldt County where Schorlig became a well-known florist and businessman.

The property originally covered the entire block on the west side of 12th Street between J and K Streets. The large house, built in 1885 for Schorlig by Arcata carpenter Shepherd Hall, was surrounded by the horticultural splendor that brought its owner the distinction as Arcata's "most scientific florist" who "thoroughly understands the nature and seasons of rare flowers and plants."

Built in the Italianate style, the house displays the typical features of this architecture - simple and handsome with little of the ostentatious ornamentation of the Queen Anne and Eastlake which were also being built in Arcata in the late 1860s.

Excerpted from the NRHP Nomination.