This week Picturing the Past is returning to
West Probart Street for a look at the homes of two of Brevard’s early doctors, Dr.
Mitchell King and Dr. Charles Hunt, located on the north side of the street beyond
Railroad Avenue.

Home of Dr. Mitchell and Essie King.

Mitchell
Malachi King was born in what is today Transylvania County in 1852 to Samuel
and Charlotte King.  He attended medical
school in Louisville, Kentucky and Atlanta, Georgia, graduating in 1878.  His first practice was in Pickens County,
South Carolina.  Within a few years King
had married and moved back to Brevard. 
The Kings, along with their only son, lived in a small one-story cottage
on West Probart. 

Later home of Dr. Mitchell and Cordelia King.

After Essie
King’s death Dr. King remarried. 
Mitchell and Cordelia King had three more children and soon built a
larger home next door to the cottage. 
This house is a two-story Victorian with a two-tier wrap porch on the
front and east sides.  The home had a mix
of exterior finishes including weather-board siding, beaded-board gable-end
sheathing, patterned wood shingles, stained-glass windows, and decorative
corner brackets.

Dr. King’s
father, and later his brother, operated King’s Mill.  Dr. King, his brothers and some cousins also
ran a gold mine on King’s Creek in the early 1900s.  Dr. King died on March 4, 1923.

Postcard of Hunt Cottages on West Probart Street.

Charles
Washington Hunt was born in Wake County in 1854.  He graduated from the College of Physicians
and Surgeons in Baltimore in 1880 and soon came to Brevard.  For a short time he practiced medicine in
Asheville and Greenville, SC before settling permanently in Brevard.  

In addition to being a doctor, Dr. Hunt was a
strong promoter of Transylvania County as a destination for summer residents
and tourists.

The Hunt
Cottages, operated by Hunt’s wife Henrietta, were popular with summer
visitors.  Early tourism brochures
advertised the Hunt Cottages as being conveniently located, just 5 minutes’
walk from the depot and downtown.  A
large lawn with walkways and shade-trees surrounded the modern cottages, which
had electricity and telephones.  Fresh
home-grown vegetables, poultry, eggs, butter and milk were included at meals.  The Hunt Cottages could accommodate about 50
guests.  Rates were $7-10 per week.

Dr. Hunt was
also responsible for the first Pisgah National Forest entrance gate which was
constructed as a memorial to Transylvania’s World War I soldiers.  Dr. Hunt died on July 20, 1924.

Numerous other cottages were located along the
west end of Probart Street and its side streets.  In contrast to the homes on the east end,
which were larger and mainly inhabited by year-round residents, most of these
houses were small and served as summer residences.

Photographs and information for this column are
provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County
Library.  Visit the NC Room during
regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see
additional photographs.  For more
information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at [email protected] or 828-884-3151 X242.