1905 to 2018
The Story Behind 111 N. Main St. Building
The earliest information we have on this building is from September 1875, when Clifton Augustus Reed used this location as a repository for buggies and carriages. In 1882 he acquired the building, naming it the Reed Building. He operated a “fine grocery” (Reed & Webb) on the first floor and sold ladies’ clothing from what is now 109 N. Main St. By 1885 this site was Reed’s Sewing Machine Parlor. He added pianos and organs under the name 
Anderson Music House in 1888. The second floor of both addresses was an open space devoted to buggies and carriages.
According to the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, the business was still here in 1914. An advertisement in the Anderson Intelligencer states that the C. A. Reed Music House moved to 314 S. Main St., then finally closed its doors on November 5th, 1915. Reed retired on December 2nd of that year, turning over his stock to the Reece-Welch Piano Company who returned to the present address to succeed him in the business.
C. A. Reed was born in South Carolina on June 5, 1845 and served with the South Carolina Cavalry during the Civil War. His service came to an end shortly before his 19th birthday in 1864 when during a battle a Minié ball passed through his left hand and then cut through his right wrist shattering the bone and severing an artery, causing him to have his right hand amputated. He returned to Anderson and married Francis Emeline Kingsley. Mr. Reed was an active entrepreneur with dealings in clothing, groceries, real estate, insurance, buggies, carriages, and musical instruments. He served on the board of one of the mills, and as Vice President of the interurban trolley line running between Anderson and Belton. He was also a member of Anderson’s Masonic lodge. He passed away on November 10, 1924.
