Last Updated:  09/08/08

Photos from the archives of the University of North Carolina, at Asheville public domain.  All photos are from the Ball Collection and are also found at the Heritage of Western NC Website.

Shortly after the turn of the century, several clinics and medical services buildings were constructed in Asheville near the Montford Avenue neighborhood.  A hospital, previously located in downtown Asheville also was relocated there and named the Highland Hospital in 1912.

"Several small, private clinics and hospitals for tuberculosis and other ailments were also established. Best known of these was Highland Hospital, originally known as "Dr. Carroll's Sanatorium," founded by Dr. Robert S. Carroll, a distinguished psychiatrist. His program of treatment for mental and nervous disorders and addictions was based on exercise, diet and occupational therapy, and attracted patients from all over the country."

The campus included landscaped grounds for patients to recover through means of "diversion" and "productive occupation." A variety of buildings built in Georgian Colonial, Norman and Arts and Crafts styles housed the patients and the facilities, most of which still stand today including Highland Hall. The campus also included Dr. Carroll's home at 19 Zillicoa Street, known as Homewood. In 1939, Dr. Carroll entrusted the hospital to the Neuropsychiatric Department of Duke University. It was during this time that on the night of March 10, 1948, a deadly fire broke out in the main building and took the lives of nine women. Among the victims was author Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald."

News accounts vary regarding the number of injured but the event was one of the most tragic involving a hospital in the history of North Carolina.

This site was last updated 02/29/08