Prior to 1985
Fayetteville Fire
Glen Coal Mine
Selma Explosion
Highland Hospital
Mt. Airy School
Winston-Salem Armory Explosion
Highland Hospital Fire
Shortly after the turn of the century,,several small, private clinics and hospitals for tuberculosis and other ailments were established in Asheville near the Montford Avenue neighborhood. Best known of these was Highland Hospital, originally known as "Dr. Carroll's Sanatorium" but renamed in 1912, 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. 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.
