Valley Rewind: Before the German restaurant

Dr. Ernest J. Anthony's doctor's office is shown in this late 1940s photograph from the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center's archives. He and his wife, Myrtle, purchased the property in September 1945, and by at least June of 1946, Dr. Anthony was serving patients from his practice on the first floor. He and Myrtle resided upstairs. Between 1946 and 1948, Dr. Anthony hosted a Black Mountain health clinic on Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon, offering maternity and infancy and immunization clinics. Dr. Anthony died in mid-1948. Myrtle sold the lots north of the office to George Rankin and Pierre Beeler in 1951, and they built the two adjoining buildings north of the office, which are now Doncaster and part of Tyson Furniture. In 1953, Myrtle sold the building. It changed hands several times and was eventually purchased by Randolph and Willie Pinder, who owned a garden shop in a one-story addition to the building. The building is now home to Berliner Kindl German Restaurant.