The Brock House Hotel

The 100-room Brock House Hotel became one of the most famous hotels in Florida during this era, attracting notables and celebrities from all over the world. Among its guests were Grover Cleveland, Ulysses S. Grant, Jay Gould, the Vanderbilts, James Rockefeller, and Gen. William Sherman. It was later expanded by Luther Caldwell.

In 1876 Brock, in the midst of bankruptcy due to stiff competition on the river from DeBary’s line and others, sold his property to Luther Caldwell who was involved in forming a new railroad to ship citrus from the Indian River. Caldwell was interested in attracting rail passengers to the area. The rail-pier, where five steamboats a day once docked, was located just east of Broadway Street. In 1887 Enterprise was able to access the Jacksonville Tampa and Key West Railroad by a spur from Enterprise to Enterprise Junction. The advent of these rail lines spelled the end of the steamboat era.