City Directories and History: This was the historic location of the J.M. Truluck “Block” consisting of numerous businesses. Please enjoy viewing an extensive history of the family and business by clicking on the MORE INFORMATION link found under the primary image.
Built according to plans by the Charleston architectural firm of Walker & Burden [Henry F. Walker and Henry 8. Burden] as the Truluck Hotel – ca. 1917. Atwo-story brick building with several shops at street level, most of which have been altered to one extent or another over time. Each shop or storefront historically featured stacked bond, rowlock and basketweave bricksurrounds; however, those for #136 and 138 East Main are obscured with a wood shingled awning and stuccoed surround, espectively.
Above the storefronts and separating them visually from the second floor Is a rowlock stringcourse which also serves as a sill for several double-width windows, each of which features a brick surround with diagonaliy-set brick comerblocks. Sash have been removed from these and smaller Intervening windows, the voids having been Infilled with plywood. A rowlock stringcourse separates the second floor visually from the upper facade, which consists of a soldier course and rowlock decorative, stepped brick parapet. 132 East Main Street, which features a three-part storefront, a raised brick bulkhead and a striped canvas awning, originally housed the Truluck Hotel Barber Shop, and in 2002 it is Lynches’ Barber Shop. Number 134 East Maincontains a three-part storefront with a flat canvas awning, was once the home to Berger’s Jewelry, and presently houses Classic Collection. 136 East Main, the most altered storefront with Its wood shingled awning and bulkhead, houses Anchor Finance Company, while 138 East Main, with Its canted and stuccoed business front, is In 2002 an office of World Finance Corporation. (S.C. Dept. of Archives and History)
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John Moultrie Truluck and the Truluck Block
In 1909 at the age of 29, Truluck began construction on a large brick stable and a buggy and harness shop on the corner of Church and Main St.This was to be the first brick livery stable erected in Lake City. In 1914, Truluck began construction in Lake City of what would become known as the “Truluck Block”, by building five more two-story brick buildings adjacent to his stable and buggy shop. When opened, these stores initially contained an Ice-cream parlor, the Lake City Post Office, a bank, and several suites of offices, with an opera house upstairs known as the “Truluck Auditorium.” In 1917, after the Halcyon Hotel on Acline was consumed by a raging fire, Truluck recognized an
Mr. J.M. Truluck, Sr.
opportunity and decided that Lake City had a pressing need for a new hotel to serve the city. Truluck immediately began construction on Hotel Truluck which was to utilize the entire second floor of the existing Truluck Block, taking the place of the short lived opera house and office suites and, in addition, a new building was built at the end of the block which housed the hotel’s lobby, ballroom, and barbershop. The Hotel featured commodious, modern rooms by the day’s standards with private baths featuring claw foot bath tubs. The hotel’s dining room and ballroom served as an event space for the young city of Lake City and hosted many receptions and dances. The hotel also featured its own barbershop and drugstore on the ground floor, flanking either side of the lobby. In 1941, the JM Truluck Stable building burned in a massive fire. All of the remaining buildings of the Truluck Block including the original 1909 buggy and harness shop are still standing as of 2015 and remain in the Truluck family as they have for over a century. One enduring vestige of Hotel Truluck that can still be experienced to this day is the old Truluck Hotel Barbershop which still exists virtually unchanged from its 1917 form. A restoration of the building facades is planned in the near future. (Written and submitted to R&R by R. Myers Truluck, Jr., – 2016)
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