Of Dentists, Indian Highland, & Silver Lake

My daughter is about to complete her periodontics residency.  She recently asked if she should buy a starter property, then keep it as a rental once she grows out of it.  My first thought (perhaps unfairly) was that “dentists don’t do that.”  They’re more conservative, predictable, compliant, and to some degree risk averse.

Then I stumbled upon a Kingsport dentist who was just the opposite.   

His obituary described Dr. William Yates Hutchins as a “pioneer Kingsport dentist” coming from Marshall, NC (Kingsport Times, 1962).  An advertisement for his services first appeared in the 1916 Kingsport Times – a year before the city was incorporated.

I use his middle name because his son, Dr. William Broughton Hutchins, eventually followed in his footsteps and took over the practice.  

In fact, the Hutchins were a family of dentists. His brother, Dr. James Hutchins, briefly joined him in Kingsport before returning to NC to finish his career, where he served in the NC legislature for 16 years.

Since there were initially two Dr. Hutchins, they were known as “Dr. Will” and “Dr. Jim” (Kingsport Times, 1962).

He was a founding member of the Rotary Club and delivered one of the “able speeches” during the keynote theme: “Boost Kingsport”. (Kingsport Times, 1921)

While reading about Dr. Will, I felt as if I were reading the Wizard of Oz. After all, it would’ve been about the same time. He was a real estate investor, developer, and entrepreneur. Some might say he was eccentric, unlike my earlier description of dentists.

He initially lived at 502 Wanola, but soon moved to 1936 Bristol Highway (sometimes called Bristol Boulevard). Later it became 1936 East Center Street.

He opened Hutch-Wallin Floral Gardens and greenhouses on the site (Kingsport Times, 1928).

He developed Silver Lake ‘pleasure resort’ and trailer camp (Church Hill) as ‘one of the most outstanding places of amusement in the state’ (Kingsport Times, 1935).

He hosted a prayer service for international peace at his home (Kingsport Times, 1939).

He rented rooms in his home. (Kingsport Times, 1939).

He built One Spruce Court apartments and trailer camp on the property (where he also lived), with hundreds of references to advertisements for property rentals (Kingsport Times, 1941-1960). By the way, “Madam Donna” was “a gifted palm reader” who practiced at One Spruce Court (Kingsport Times, 1944)

He sold mobile homes (Kingsport Times, 1946).

He advertised Chinese Elms for sale in the newspaper (Kingsport Times, 1946).

He was selected to the Florida Citrus Growers Association (Tampa Times, 1952)

He developed Citra-Kola, “a miracle aid to your health”, stating “I want it understood that I am not practicing medicine and hope that when the medical profession finds out its real value, they will go all out and prescribe it for the health of their patients.” (Kingsport Times, 1956) A granddaughter informs me it is now marketed as Citracal.

By 1959 he had relocated to Orlando and “made one of his periodic goodwill visits to the county commission” where “to the uninitiated a first visit by Dr. Hutchins is a bit of a shock. He introduced himself with some resounding blows to his ample stomach. And then some pleasant touches about old times, plans for the new, and a commercial. The commercial was about Citra-Kola, a drink he credits with having lifted him almost from the grave to a present state of undeniable vigor. Dr. Hutchins, a retired dentist, used to own Tooth Acres on Forest City Road, just south of Seminole County. The acreage is now part of the subdivision Riverside Acres. In addition to being physically well, Dr. Hutchins is pretty healthy financially, too. He owns a nice chunk of real estate in the path of progress in Kingsport, Tenn.” (Orlando Evening Star, 1959).

Silver Lake was the place my mom met my dad after he returned from World War II. Had there not been a Dr. Hutchins, there might not have been a me.

By 1962, the old Hutchins compound on the corner of Center Street and Eastman Road was being advertised as Maplehurst Apartments.

In 1975, the City purchased Maplehurst for the expansion of the Dobyns-Bennett campus—a place we now know as Indian Highland Park.

Dr. Will Hutchins died in Orlando in 1962 at the age of 75 and is buried there.

Maybe dentists aren’t risk-averse after all.

He joins the long list of ‘everymen’ who left their fingerprints all over modern Kingsport.