Mill Prong House was built about 1795 by John Gilchrist, Sr., an educated, well-to-do Scottish immigrant who settled in Bladen (now Hoke) County, became a Tory in the Revolution and then later became a North Carolina state senator. Mill Prong House survived the decades due largely to the good care and watchful eye of Mr. W.R. Bullock, Sr., of Red Springs. Mr. Bullock was a descendant of an owner subsequent to Gilchrist, Col. Archibald McEachern, who renovated the house in the 1830's. The house is now restored and open to the public. Amazingly, neither electricity nor plumbing ever were installed and even chandelier hooks remained in the ceilings up to the date of restoration. Tours are given regularly. I recall a tour of the house with some of the Bullock family in the early 1980s, prior to its full restoration, during which Mrs. George Paris noted that her aunt, Miss Mary McEachern, had been born there in the 1880s. Mrs. Paris added that Miss Mary claimed that a major structural change to the second story was made "the year of the night the stars fell in Charleston."