H. S. Williams House

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H. S. Williams House
H. S. Williams House (Rockledge, Florida) 002.jpg
H. S. Williams House
General information
TypeHouse
Architectural style Queen Anne [1]
Location1219 Rockledge Drive
Rockledge, Florida
Construction started1880;145 years ago (1880) [1]
Governing body Brevard County [1]
Technical details
Floor areaThree Story
Website
Lawndale House Museum website

The H. S. Williams House, known as Lawndale, is a historic U.S. home in Rockledge, Florida along the Indian River. Hiram Smith Williams built the house in 1880 after moving to the area in 1874 from Alabama. [1]

A native of New Jersey, Williams had lived and traveled in the Midwest but settled in 1859 in Livingston, Alabama. During the American Civil War, Williams enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private and served with the 40th Alabama Volunteer Regiment. [2] During his service, he penned a journal that historians have praised for its clarity of its writing and keen observations about the daily life of a soldier. [3] He was captured on 19 March 1865 during the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina and remained a prisoner until the end of the war. [4]

Once settled in Florida, Williams grew citrus, founded the Brevard Telephone Company, and served as a Florida State Senator. [5] He became the first postmaster of Rockledge after establishing the post office in 1875. [4] He died in 1921. [4]

The house was built in the Queen Anne style and retained its original architectural features in both the interior and exterior. [6] The first floor consists of a foyer, a dinning room, two parlors, a kitchen and a restroom. [6] The second floor consists of three bedrooms, an office, a guest room, a bathroom and a schoolroom. [6] The schoolroom, situated above the kitchen was used as a schoolroom for children, and was one of the first schools in the county. [1] [5] Brevard County purchased the home in 1989 and restored it. [1] In 2012, the Preservation and Education Trust from Rockledge raised money to convert the historic home house into a museum, [5] which opened to the public for guided tours in December 2020. [7]

The house is located in the Rockledge Drive Residential District, in the National Register of Historic Places. [8]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brevard County Historical Commission. Historic Brevard: Your Guide to Historic Landmarks in Brevard County (2006), page 18.
  2. ↑ "H S Williams in the U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865", Ancestry.com . Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  3. ↑ Williams, Hiram Smith (30 March 1993). This War So Horrible. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. pp. 7–9. ISBN   9780817353742 . Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 "Another Pioneer Answers the Inevitable Summons" (obituary), The Cocoa Tribune , Cocoa, Florida, volume V, number 37, November 24, 1921, pages 1 and 4. (subscription required)
  5. 1 2 3 Berman, Dave. "Group hopes to turn house into museum", Florida Today , Space Coast section, (Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today, 1 October 2012), pages B1 & B3.
  6. 1 2 3 Datzman, Ken. "'Holiday Tour of Historic Homes' in Brevard kicks off—showcases some of the county's history; decorated homes are now open to the public for viewing", Brevard Business News , West Melbourne, Florida, volume 39, number 50, 13 December 2021, page 21.
  7. ↑ "After 20 years of restoration, historic Lawndale in Rockledge opens this weekend for tours". Florida Today. 10 December 2020.
  8. ↑ "Rockledge Drive Residential District", National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, NPS Form 10-900, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1992. Note: see section on the H. S. Williams House on page 8.

28°19′53″N80°42′56″W / 28.331339°N 80.71552°W / 28.331339; -80.71552

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