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 and who soon became a state legislator. Mill Prong House survived the decades due largely to the good care and watchful eye of Mr. W.R. Bullock, Sr., of Red Springs, a descendant of one of its previous owners, Col. Archibald McEachern. The house is now restored and open to the public. Amazingly, neither electricity nor plumbing ever were installed, and chandelier hooks remained in the ceilings up to the date of restoration. The house is well worth the visit. I recall a tour of the house with some of the Bullock family just prior to its restoration in the early 1980s during which Mrs. George Paris noted that their 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."