H. S. Williams House

28.331339°N 80.71552°W / 28.331339; -80.71552

H. S. Williams House
General information
Type	House
Architectural style	Queen Anne[1]
Location	1219 Rockledge Drive Rockledge, Florida
Construction started	1880; 144 years ago (1880)[1]
Governing body	Brevard County[1]
Technical details
Floor area	Three Story
Website
Lawndale House Museum website

The H. S. Williams House, known as Lawndale, is a historic U.S. home that was located at 1219 Rockledge Drive, Rockledge, Florida. 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 and served with the 40th Alabama Volunteer Regiment. 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.^[2] Once settled in Florida, Williams grew citrus, founded the Brevard Telephone Company, and served as a Florida State Senator.^[3] The second floor of the home, situated above the kitchen was used as a schoolroom for children, and was one of the first schools in the county.^[1][3] 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,^[3] which opened to the public for guided tours in December 2020.^[4]

The house is located in the Rockledge Drive Residential District, in the National Register of Historic Places.^[5]

Notes

1. Brevard County Historical Commission. Historic Brevard: Your Guide to Historic Landmarks in Brevard County (2006), page 18.
2. Williams, Hiram Smith (30 March 1993). This War So Horrible. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. pp. 7–9. ISBN 9780817353742. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
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.
4. "After 20 years of restoration, historic Lawndale in Rockledge opens this weekend for tours". Florida Today. 10 December 2020.
5. "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.