Chronicle has moved to different office space on Lexington’s West Main Street

The bright blue house on Lexington’s East Main Street is no longer the Lexington County Chronicle’s office space.

We started renting the blue house in 2022, and it was such a great fit for us. As the building goes under new ownership, we are very fortunate that we didn't have to move far!

205 West Main St., across from Libby’s of Lexington, is our new office space. It’s a historic house and a shared workspace with other downtown Lexington professionals. This move does not impact paper delivery or publication dates—it only impacts where our reporters, Sophia Sousa and Jacob Phillips, and our sales and marketing manager, Kelly Mason, and I come to work each day. We're still out in the community reporting on stories that matter to you.

While we have loved our bright blue house, we have been looking forward to this move. I want to share a bit of history on our new space with you.

Samuel Martin Roof, Lexington County Sheriff from 1866 to 1871, had close ties to this building, documents show.

According to a Civil War regimental history page, Confederate Capt. Roof was injured, and his right arm was amputated above the elbow.

“On October 19, 1864, Capt. Roof was wounded in the right arm and side, then captured during the Battle of Belle Grove, VA. He sustained a fractured lower third of his right humerus and his right arm had to be amputated above the elbow in the U.S. Army Field Hospital in Winchester, VA,” according to the page. “He was transferred to another hospital in November, then moved again to the U.S. Army General Hospital at West's Buildings in Baltimore, MD. Presumed to have recovered, he was sent to Fort McKenry, MD, then Fort Delaware, DE, where he was released on June 14, 1865 after taking the Oath of Allegiance.”

A South Carolina historic survey taken in the 1980s lists 205 Main St. in Lexington as the Belton-Roof House, and South Carolina’s State Historic Preservation Office survey database also lists the property as the Roof House. Its construction date is listed as 1875.

The South Carolina Historic Properties Record entry for Belton-Roof House/Roof House does not name a builder. Its earliest recorded owners are listed at the Roof Family.

In 2012, the Town of Lexington’s Historic Preservation Board gave a Historic Preservation Award to the property, now owned by Scott W. Wallace, the former owner of Scott Properties of the Midlands & Charleston.

My favorite part of working in Lexington’s downtown is the easily accessible trails I can walk to while on break, and thankfully, our new space will still allow me to do that. I usually walk on the Old Mill Pond Trail because it’s so close to our current office, but our new office space is closer to Virginia Hylton Park, so you’ll likely find me there occasionally.

Here’s to another year of local reporting from local reporters. Thank you for your support!

You can always reach us at our emails, or you can call us at 803-774-1200. All customer service matters are handled by our sister paper, The Sumter Item, so when you call this number, The Sumter Item will answer.

Bryn Eddy, Editor, bryn@lexingtonchronicle.com
Jacob Phillips, Sports Editor, jacob@lexingtonchronicle.com
Sophia Sousa, Reporter, sophia@lexingtonchronicle.com
Kelly Mason, Sales & Marketing Manager, kelly@lexingtonchronicle.com
Cary Howard, Graphics Manager, cary@lexingtonchronicle.com
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This story has been updated to reflect that the move has been completed.