The Big Rock Station is featured on today’s Throwback Thursday

By Charlie Hutson

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- Back in 1927, Dominic Lobertini built the Big Rock Station building (above) on the corner of North Tennessee Avenue and Mill Street. It was a two story building with a restaurant, waiting room, rest rooms and service garage on the ground floor. The second floor was office space.

In 1940, Fletcher Brown bought the building, and he added a new building onto the station. It housed a showroom and service garage for his car dealership, Service Motor Company. They sold Dodge and Plymouths, and back then, this was the largest auto firm building in Lafollette.

In 1946, just after World War II R.C. (Curt) Alley and Con E. Troutman opened Service Motor Sales. Notice the slight name change.

They sold the very popular and stylish Studebaker brand, one of the top brands after WW II. Later they sold Packards and Jeeps.

In the late 1960s, Urban Renewal started in Lafollette, and it bought out this location and razed the building and re-sold the property to Sherman Brown, owner of Brown Motors. The property was used as a sales lot back then.

Today the property is owned by LUB and used as a parking lot. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-12/18/2025-6AM)