In 1900 Mr. E. D. King was contracted to build The Bank of Marlinton, located on blocks 21, 22 and part of 23 at the corner of Eighth Street and Third Avenue. King was elected Mayor of Marlinton in 1901 and again in 1902. He was a local contractor with a track record and an interesting biography.
Edwin Dorsey King was born on January 7, 1850 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His father was Henry Padget Fletcher King, a Methodist Protestant minister. At the age of 14 Edwin served in the Civil War as a scout for Col. C. V. Mosby, the commander of Mosby’s raiders. In 1869 the family moved to northern W. Va. Edwin married Mary Margaret Vandervort in Fairmont on November 26, 1874. In 1880 Mr. and Mrs. King moved to Linwood in Pocahontas County, taking up residence with her father, William Vandervort.
Edwin pursued his trade as a carpenter. In 1894 E.D. King was named general superintendent for the construction of the new courthouse at Marlinton and soon built a home for his family two blocks from the new job.
History is a funny thing!
King builds the Bank of Marlinton in 1900. In 1902 The Pocahontas Bank burns to the ground and they move into the Bank of Marlinton building. They convert to First National Bank of Marlinton and hire E. D. King to build a new building on the adjacent corner.
In 1906 King completes the construction of Marlinton Grade School and Marlinton Hospital. In 1922, just two years before his death, he is contracted to build an addition and do needed repairs to the hospital. That building was destroyed by fire on December 20, 1930, and his son, Frank P. King, was contracted for the new building.
Pocahontas Memorial Hospital opened in 1932 with the name King on yet another cornerstone in the Town of Marlinton.
Edwin Dorsey King died November 18, 1924 and is buried in Marlinton.
He and his sons, Frank and Blake, will be remembered for the many fine homes and public buildings they built in the town.
Photo Courtesy of Susie McLaughlin Landis, ID: PHP000682
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