History of King
Trinity Methodist Church was organized in 1873. Also, near this site, H. C. Coe operated a general store and shoe shop.
M. T. Choplin, a dealer in general merchandise, saddles, bridles, etc., operated a large store where Kirby Road comes into East King Street today. This was near the cabin where Charles King and his bride Francers Kiser built in 1826. The land was given to Frances by her father, Harmonius Kiser. This general area was known locally as "King's Cabin".
The village of Five Forks, so named because of the five roads that converged there, was a lively place beginning about 1871 when a post office was established there. Five Forks was on the stage coach road from Bethania to the Hollow Road at Trinity Church and northward.
The Hollow Road came through King, but there was no business activity there until 1880 when John Wesley Spainhour bought 100 acres from W. M. Watts. Mr. Spainhour sold much of this land to Lewis Grabs and sons Lazarus and Virgil who built a large store and manufacturing plant. The King's Cabin Post Office opened in March 1888 and the first train came through in June of 1888. S. R. Slate, first postmaster, named the post office "King's Cabin" because the area had been known by that name for 60 years.
King would only have been a whistle stop on the railroad had it not been for the far sighted planning of the Spainhour, Grabs, Slate and a few other families. They built a depot and sold it to the railroad for $1.00. The railroad changed the name to King and the post office did the same in 1894.
Public spirited citizens and community cooperation have always been an important part of King. Just as the depot was built by local men, so too was the Tabernacle for public meetings. The first school in town was established in 1896. When the County Board of Education granted the request of several citizens for a high school, local men gathered at the two room elementary school and jacked it up and built two rooms beneath it for King's first high school.
These grand old men of a century ago set the example for a town noted for its community spirit and citizen involvement. The citizens of this day have followed in their footsteps.
King is a bustling small city today. We have shopping centers, churches of several denominations, a wide variety of manufacturing facilities, a library, an American Legion Post and county fairground, a new YMCA, several business parks, numerous restaurants, a police department, a fire department, a large recreation center, two medical centers, and just about every establishment that makes for a great place to live.
The same qualities that moved the founders a century ago abound today. The entire city is a progressive and delightful community.