It isn’t often that one can talk about where a house has been and where it is going, but for the Lorick Plantati on Home, an exception is to be made.  Built in 1840 by George Lorick, this home boasts pegged wooden floors, hand hewn stair and porch railings in addition to four fireplaces.  Wainscoting in the foyer, parlor and dining room along with ten foot ceilings finish off this antebellum style home.  The home originally consisted of two bedrooms upstairs and a living room and dining room downstairs.  There was a separate building behind the house that served as a kitchen.

According to the census records of 1850, the Lorick home was located on 7,650 acres of land.  Today, that property would be known as Bush River Road to St. Andrews Road.    The Lorick property included land that now is occupied by Seven Oaks Shopping Center, across St. Andrews Road to the railroad tracks, to the present Challedon subdivision, up to the railroad tracks running near the Lake Murray dam and back to the Carriage Lane condominiums. 

In the years prior to 1861, many large farms were under development, as were the communities that surrounded them.  Hardworking, dedicated to their families and church, the early Irmese were proud farmers.  One farmer, George Lorick, was considered to be one of the areas wealthiest.

 With the onset of the civil war, life for the people of Lake Murray changed dramatically.

An Officer with a Kentucky detachment of the 14^th Army Corps maintained a diary when he was in the area during the Civil war.  In this diary were details of how General Sherman’s Union soldiers crossed the Saluda River at Younginer’s Ferry near Twelve-Mile Creek (currently the Honeywell Factory on St. Andrews Road).  Neighboring the Lorick Plantation were homes ransacked for souvenirs and then burned.  Officers stayed at the Lorick Home and their soldiers set up camp at what is now the entrance into the Murraywood Subdivision.

 Many stories that include the Lorick Home come from this era.  One such tale is that Sherman’s troops would bring cattle inside the home, using the fireplaces to prepare meals, dragging the carcasses across the hardwood floors, marring them.  As a final farewell, the soldiers dragged hot coals from the dining room fireplace onto the wooden floors in an effort to burn down the home.  Luckily, the Lorick family returned in time to extinguish the fire.  Evidence of the damage still exists today, as visitors to the home can see where boards had to be replaced. (photos in the virtual tour)

 Not much is written about the Lorick Home from the post-civil war era until 1937, when William J. Fullbright purchased the home from the Lorick family.  In 1943, after Mr. Fullbright passed away, his widow sold the home to Harold P. Lorick, a descendant of George Lorick.  After the purchase, Mr. Lorick built a race track on the property. 

 Stories abound regarding the famous carriage races that took place in the front yard of the Lorick Home.  The race track area is known today as the Seven Oaks Shopping Center.  Each week, everyone in town gathered to catch up on the latest gossip while watching the exciting races unfold at the Lorick Plantation.

 In 1952, the Lorick Home was sold to Frederick Benjamin Green and named “Green Acres,” where it stayed in the Green and Love families until 1994.  Once encompassing hundreds of acres, Green Acres was now surrounded by a bustling city on a mere 25 acre lot.

 In July of 1995, the Lorick Home was donated to the Lake Murray Tourism and Recreation Association, who moved it to its present location.  Slowly traveling down a five mile stretch of Old Bush River Road, was the Plantation in its entirety.  Not to be cut in half as most modern day house moves, the 35 foot tall by 34 foot wide structure lumbered along for seven hours to its new location, the Lake Murray Country Visitors Center near the Lake Murray Dam on North Lake Drive.

 Great pains were taken to ensure that the Lorick Plantation Home retained its original southern charm to welcome its guests in the future.  As the home for the area visitors’ center, what better place to learn about Irmo than at the oldest continuous dwelling within the borders of Lexington County?  If the walls could only talk, what tales they would tell…and to learn more about some of those tales, be sure to check out www.irmoinfo.com.