From the Archives – Shuman’s Bakery

Many German immigrants came to Alexandria and were Saint Mary parishioners in the 19th century. One was Ernest Shuman, who arrived in 1825 with his Irish wife, Maggie Sullivan Shuman. The Shumans were bakers. Ernest’s son, Louis P. Shuman, had a bakery on Fairfax Street for a while, then opened L. Shuman Confectioner in the Marshall House at King and Pitt Streets and moved in 1876 to the 500 block of King Street, where the business thrived. For years, the entire Shuman family lived above the bakery; at least four generations worked there for over 125 years. Some still live in Alexandria and are parishioners and graduates of Saint Mary School.

Generations of Saint Mary parishioners bought their wedding and birthday cakes, pies, cookies, rolls and bread at Shu- man’s. The bakery’s most famous creation was a jelly cake—three large round, thin layers of pound cake, separated by layers of red currant jelly, cut into tiny diamonds and sprinkled with powdered sugar. The cakes were essential for every Saint Mary Church celebration, family Christmas party or other festive occasion. Queen Elizabeth is said to have tried it when she visited Alexandria as a princess, and subsequently ordered the cakes for Buckingham Palace.

Saint Mary School students stopped at Shuman’s after school for Cokes and treats. Long-time parishioner John Schoeni recalled his childhood visits to Shuman’s, remembering that the ladies working there visited every table, offering the chil- dren freshly baked cookies. One day, two students played hooky and were enjoying lunch there. To their dismay, their mothers, who had been to a meeting at Saint Mary’s Lyceum, walked in for lunch and caught them!

Urban renewal in 1960 robbed Shuman’s and the entire 500 block of King Street of its quaint old buildings to make way for a new courthouse. Shuman’s moved to the corner of South Washington and Wilkes Streets for a number of years, but the old ambiance was lost. It remains a nostalgic memory for some long-time parishioners.

— Kitty Guy, Parish Historian

In 2020, to commemorate the 225th anniversary of our parish, we started “From the Archives” as a weekly feature online and in our bulletin to spotlight the history of Saint Mary’s. Due to its popularity, we are continuing the series. An archive of the features is located here.