The Historic L. B. Brown House

The L. B. Brown House was built in 1892, during the period of Bartow’s initial development. It is a good example of Frame Vernacular construction typical of that period. This house is decorated with intricate mill work and gingerbread. The house has nine rooms. The Brown house was built by Lawrence Bernard Brown (1856-1941) who was born into slavery, in Wacahoota, outside of Archer.

He moved to Deland around 1882 where he built a number of houses. Lawrence moved to Bartow during the 1880s and built a large number of dwellings, one of which was the L. B. Brown House. Lawrence and AnnieBelle (1882-1938) Brown raised seven children here. Lawrence and his wife are buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Bartow.

The house is now owned by the Neighborhood Improvement Corporation of Bartow, Inc. Restoration was completed in 2001 with the cooperation of the city of Bartow, citizens of Bartow, and the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources.