City planning became an important topic for architects following the completion of the Pullman District in the 1880s. Shaw made a foray into city planning with the construction of Marktown, Indiana for industrialist Clayton Mark, founder of Mark Manufacturing Company. Mark recently built a steel mill on the Indiana coast and wanted a company town to support it. Shaw designed the village and construction began in 1916. However, only a small portion of it was ever built, preserved today as the Marktown Historic District.