ABOUT FLAT ROCK
As is the case with many Blue Ridge Mountain communities, Flat Rock can trace it’s history back 10,000 years to its first inhabitants, the Cherokee, and on through to Civil War settlement and beyond. Like Asheville and other areas with the right climate, Flat Rock saw an influx of visitors from coastal communities who escaped the sweltering summer heat and low-country ailments by establishing residences in the area. In fact, there were so many South Carolinians with summer residences in Flat Rock the area took on the moniker of “Little Charleston of the Mountains ”. If you are interested in learning more about the history of Flat Rock you can visit some wonderful sites online. Learn about history as told through the tapestry of a quilt or find out more via the Flat Rock, Inc Historical Society. You can also visit the Henderson County History Museum for hands-on learning.
To stay focused on Flat Rock’s past, however, discredits the Village today and the people who live and work here and are devoted to Flat Rock’s future. Flat Rock residents, some with rich personal ties to the history of Flat Rock, live here now not because they are escaping from malaria-infested lowlands but because something draws them to this particular place in the mountains which they now call home.
For some, it is simple geography. Flat Rock is located half-way between Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC. Many couples part ways at the end of the driveway each morning as one heads up the mountain while the other heads down. For many, it is the desire to spend retirement in “God’s Country” taking advantage of mild summers and winters, breath-taking long-range views and ample golfing and outdoor opportunities. For others, it’s harder to define. Something about this place just feels right. There’s just enough history to make you long for days gone by mixed with the right amount of modern indulgences to make you want to stay a while and return again and again. It’s no wonder then that the mission of the Village of Flat Rock is to remain largely unchanged.
Visit and explore Flat Rock today and you'll see that we're living the vision. Our first post office still stands where it once did but it's now a book exchange. Peace's Grocery, a general store for 90 years still has creaky wooden floors, clapboard siding and a glass-paned front door but it now welcomes shoppers with toys, art work and gifts at the store known as "The Wrinkled Egg". The gymnasium of our former high school has a new life and is even ready for you to move in - Charleston Garden at Flat Rock Condominiums. And the historic hub of Flat Rock remains today at the corner of Greenville Hwy and W. Blue Ridge Road. There may be a few extra coats of paint and hues on the set of buildings now known as Little Rainbow Row and the names and faces may have changed but the attitude is as it always was - quaint, friendly and relaxing. So whether you visit Flat Rock for the day, a weekend or for the best years of your life, you'll be transformed, just as we have been.
