The

L.A. Brock House

As Time Goes By....
One of our town's finest turn-of-the-century homes. It's a place that's full of local history.

North Main Street at Central Avenue
Honea Path, South Carolina

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Built in 1903 by Lewis Augustus Brock -- a pioneer merchant and banker - this house, with its spacious wraparound front porch, has been a unique window to life in this community throughout the 20th century.

From comfortable rocking chairs on the porch, the Brock family and their neighbors gathered each evening to await the familiar train whistle at 6 o'clock and to check out the new arrivals in town at the southern passenger depot just across Main Street.

To the North - through the oak trees in the yard, past the slow-moving horse drawn carriages on Main Street - was the construction site for the town's new library. It was extraordinary in those days for a small town to rate such a fine local library. But after another Honea Path pioneer, Jennie Erwin, raised the funds, including a $5,000 donation from the famed philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the library opened on February 5, 1908.

In 1912, the oil lamps gave way to electric lights in the Brock home. Shortly after Honea Path's first power plant went into operation (it was across the railroad track in the old ice plant building on Carolina Avenue), this became one of the first homes in town wired for electricity. Many of those original light fixtures are still working after nearly 100 years.

Music was a major part of life in this house. The original music room was where our reception desk is today. "They'd dance around in the front hall when somebody played the piano over in the music room," recalled the late Albert Brock, who spent his childhood here. Then some of the couples would get together and they'd be on the side porch. They played old songs. There was square dancing and waltzing in the hall."

Local horse and buggy rigs soon had to share Honea Path's Main Street with Henry Ford's popular Model T automobile. Albert Brock observed from his front porch, that Main Street was not ready for the Model T. "The road was banked wrong for cars and people would come up Main Street too fast." he recalled. "They couldn't make the curve and would run off the road into the ladies flower garden near the train depot. Later a Pure Oil station was put in there. Two or three cars went right through the dang filling station."

In the evenings, the Brocks gathered around the family's super heterodyne radio to listen to live broadcast from Pittsburgh over KDKA, the nation's first commercial radio station. In later years, L.A. Brock used the radio as his link to the world. The voice of his favorite newsman, Lowell Thomas, boomed through these rooms daily during the 1930's and 40's.

We invite you to share in the nostalgia that's inspired by this historic Southern home. Admire the timeless design, fine craftsmanship, and attention to detail that went into its construction nearly a century ago.

Pour a cup of coffee, kick back, relax, and sit for a spell on the front porch and watch the world go by. It's a fine Honea Path tradition and one we shouldn't be so quick to forget.

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Last Updated September 28, 2018