Answer Man: What's the backstory of ‘French Broad Hospital’ off Hilliard Avenue?

Andrew Jones, Asheville Citizen Times
·4 min read
Original lettering on the building at 53 French Broad Ave. shows the building's original use as a hospital.
Original lettering on the building at 53 French Broad Ave. shows the building's original use as a hospital.

ASHEVILLE - Old buildings always harbor a sense of mystery, especially if there are indications on the exterior that they once housed something completely different than they do today. Asheville is no stranger to historical buildings and today’s question helps solve a small mystery.

Got a question for Answer Man or Answer Woman? Email Interim Executive Editor Karen Chávez at KChavez@citizentimes.com and your question could appear in an upcoming column.

Andrew Jones is an investigations reporter for the Citizen Times.
Andrew Jones is an investigations reporter for the Citizen Times.

Question: On Hilliard Avenue just past the juncture of South French Broad Avenue and Hilliard Avenue there is a building that is currently referred to as the Aston Center. On the Hilliard Avenue side of the building there is stone or cement signage above the doorway that says "French Broad Hospital 1927." What is the story of that hospital? How long did it serve the Asheville community? Was it the only hospital in town at that time? Did they specialize in any services? I'm curious to know what that facility was about.

Answer: The official address of this building and the lots surrounding it is 53 South French Broad Ave., just across Hilliard Avenue from Aston Park.

But it still bears the ornate if somewhat time-worn lettering on the portion of the building facing Hilliard naming the original use of the building “French Broad Hospital” and that helpful “1927,” the year the hospital was opened.

Related:Answer Man: Do developers pay for road upgrades, sidewalks, water system?

Related:Answer Woman: Are the Merrimon Avenue bike lanes open? If not, when?

Once the French Broad Hospital, the building at 53 French Broad Ave. became the "Aston Park Hospital" in the 1940s.
Once the French Broad Hospital, the building at 53 French Broad Ave. became the "Aston Park Hospital" in the 1940s.

Later its name was changed to Aston Park Hospital in the 1940s, according to Aston Park Health Care Center, which, even though it has a different location today, grew out of Aston Park Hospital.

At various times the “French Broad Hospital” lettering was actually covered up by “Aston Park Hospital” signage.

“It had a grand sum of 45 beds in its heyday,” Aston Park Health Care Center notes on its website.

Operating room at Aston Park Hospital in 1927. Photo by Ewart M. Ball.
Operating room at Aston Park Hospital in 1927. Photo by Ewart M. Ball.

Where French Broad was more of a traditional though small hospital — other facilities in those days included Mission Hospital with 134 beds, St Joseph’s with 95, Biltmore Hospital with 50, Norburn Hospital with 120 and the Asheville Colored Hospital with 35 beds, according to historical research published in the Citizen Times — its shift to Aston Park gradually transformed it into a home centered on elder care.

We know a few other things about the hospital before it changed names and services. For instance, one of the French Broad Hospital’s founders was Dr. Frank Roberts, a local physician and a member of the Board of Directors at the Bank of the French Broad.

More:Answer Woman: Does Town Mountain exist? Is it same as Grove Park Inn's Sunset Mountain?

The former hospital building at 53 French Broad Ave. once was named after the street it was building on: French Broad Hospital.
The former hospital building at 53 French Broad Ave. once was named after the street it was building on: French Broad Hospital.

There also was indication from Inez Daugherty, a Black Mountain resident and civic leader who passed away in 2007 at age 95, that the hospital "was established in Asheville for black people,” according to Anne Chesky Smith’s recounting of Daughtery’s oral history, which is archived at the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center.

Related:Mission Health is growing in Western NC. Here are 5 big projects it has in next 2 years

We also know from lawsuits and a few photos that the hospital offered surgical operations to patients. One lawsuit filed in 1930 called “Penland v. French Broad Hospital, Inc.” sees a family suing the trial for an appendicitis surgery allegedly gone very bad.

“(T)he defendant, with gross negligence and carelessness, unnaturally mutilated the wife of the plaintiff, cutting or allowing the instrument to penetrate and injure some of the most important or vital organs of his said wife, and with gross negligence and carelessness allowed packing to remain in her wounds,” that lawsuit states, claiming the botched surgery caused Bessie Penland “causing permanent injury and complete destruction of her health.”

What was once the French Broad Hospital and then the Aston Park Hospital is now 53 Aston Park Center.
What was once the French Broad Hospital and then the Aston Park Hospital is now 53 Aston Park Center.

A judge in that case noted “The owner of a hospital, whether an individual, firm or corporation, is not liable for damages resulting from a surgical operation,” and ordered the case to a new trial.

Today this building is occupied by a handful of businesses — Providence Imaging Center and Jewish Family Services Healing Solutions Counseling — and is called “53 Aston Park Center.”

Andrew Jones is an investigative reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at 828-226-6203 or arjones@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Answer Man: What was the ‘French Broad Hospital’ off Hilliard Avenue?