It was built in 1919–1920, and is a three-story red brick building in the Classical Revival style.

The front and end facades are dominated by two-story porticos with Ionic order columns having a stucco shaft.

It is the oldest building on the campus of West Liberty University.

The building is named for John C. Shaw, president of West Liberty Normal School from 1908 to 1919.

This article about a property in Ohio County, West Virginia on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub.