In the late 1800s, South Carolina evolved from a largely agricultural state to an industrial center for textile production. Cotton was readily available and grown in its fertile soil and climate. Greenville County’s first textile mills sprung up on streams and rivers in the surrounding area in the 1820s including Hutchings’s Mill on the Enoree River and Weaver & Slack’s Factory on Beaverdam Creek. The most successful antebellum mills both came in the 1833 with William Bates’ Mill on Rocky Creek and Vardry McBee’s Reedy River Factory at Conestee. These mills produced basic yarns and were by no means large operations. The real explosion of bigger production mills came in the 1870s with Piedmont Mfg. and the Camperdown Mills. By the early 1900s, Greenville was called the “Textile Center of the South” and after mid-century was soon called the “Textile Center of the World.”
The mills mentioned here are only a fraction of those that were part of the textile legacy in Greenville County. Surrounding Upstate counties also had scores of mills on their rivers, streams, and country sides. Though the industry here largely left for foreign countries beginning in the 1970s, many of its buildings remain and have seen new life as apartments, condos, co-op workspaces, and businesses.
Antebellum Mills
c.1820 The Buena Vista Factory opened on the Enoree River but soon became Hutchings’s Mill under Thomas Hutchings. After changing names and ownership over the years, it closed in 1935 as Pelham Mills and the buildings burned in 1941.
c.1820 Weaver & Slack’s Factory (a.k.a. McCool’s Shoals Factory) was started by John Weaver and Thomas Slack on McCool’s Shoals (Beaverdam Creek). It closed after the civil war as Whilden’s Factory.
1833 William Bates and Company started under William Bates on Rocky Creek. After several owners, it closed in 1918 as Batesville Manufacturing Company.
1833 McBee’s Factory was started by Vardry McBee on the Reedy River at Conestee. For many years it was known as the Reedy River Factory and, later, Conestee Mills, but closed for good in 1971.
Reconstruction-1899 Era Mills
1870 Fork Shoals Cotton Mills was started by Hewlitt Sullivan (a.k.a. Sullivan’s Mill) at the confluence of Huff Creek and the Reedy River and continued in operation until 1978.
1874 Samson and Hall was started by Boston investors, Oscar Samson and George Hall, on the Reedy River at the lower Reedy Falls. It was the first textile mill in the downtown Greenville area and was later known as Camperdown No.1 Mill, and, later the Vardry Mill. The structure burned down in 1941, but some ruins of it can still be seen opposite the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Falls Park.
1876 Camperdown No. 2 Mill began under Oscar Sampson and George Hall on the upper falls of the Reedy River. This building was an iconic fixture in downtown Greenville for generations, but closed in 1956 and was torn down in 1958.
1882 Huguenot Mill started under former Charlestonian, Charles H. Lanneau, Jr., and Charles E. Graham on the Reedy River between downtown Greenville’s River Street and Main Street bridges. It was the first plaid factory in the city, but closed in 1908 and soon became Nuckasee Manufacturing, which made men’s and children’s clothing as the first garment factory in Greenville. After changing ownership and names a few more times, it ceased operation in 1980.
1888 Lanneau Manufacturing was a short-lived factory started by Huguenot Mill owner, Charles Lanneau, in what is now the Alta Vista neighborhood area. The building burned c1896 and was never re-built.
1895 Sampson Mill started under the former Camperdown mill partner, Oscar Sampson, but soon expanded and became known as American Spinning Company. It enjoyed a long run of operation and ultimately closed in 1990. Today it is being developed into loft apartments.
1895 Poe Manufacturing opened under hardware mogul, Francis Winslow Poe, the same year and just across the railroad track from American Spinning. It was the only mill in Greenville County to ever have two smokestacks, making it easily identifiable. It ceased operation in 1977 and burned down in 2003 in one of the city’s worst fires.
1897 Mills Manufacturing Company began under Otis Prentiss Mills and his son-in- law, Walter Moore, on land formerly used as part of O.P. Mills’ Millsdale dairy farm. It ceased operation in 1978, but many of the original mill homes, the company store, and churches are still standing. In 1997, it was the first mill in Greenville County to be converted into residential lofts.
1897 Fountain Inn Cotton Mill began under Graham family members next to the Charleston and Western Carolina railroad on the way to Greenville. It closed in 1983 and the buildings were torn down in 2002.
Twentieth-Century Mills
1900 Carolina Mills began under G.A. and Joseph Norwood on the hill overlooking “the meadow,” which is now Unity Park. In 1916 it was re-organized and re-named Poinsett Mill. It ceased operation in 1981 but two years later was bought by Reynolds Co. to be adapted as an adhesives factory.
1900 Franklin Mill began under William W. Burgiss in Greer. It later was known as McCall Manufacturing and before it burned down in 1976 manufactured carpets as Heritage Manufacturing.
1901 Brandon Mill started under the leadership of John Irving Westervelt in Greenville’s West Side and was originally called Quentin mill. Some of the early employees were Pickens transplants, George and Martha Jackson. Their young teenage son, Joseph, also worked at the mill and soon joined its textile league baseball team. He acquired his nickname, “Shoeless Joe,” in 1908 and went on to become one of baseball’s greatest hitters. The mill closed in 1977 and was turned into loft apartments in 2016.
1901 Monaghan Mill began under cousins Lewis W. and Thomas F. Parker in the midst of many mills being built and expanded. They implemented innovative amenities to create a model mill village with a golf course, YMCA program, community pool, a large landscaped park, a mountain campground, and other perks. In 1911, they formed a large conglomerate of mills and controlled 11% of the state’s textile industry. It lasted for a century, closing in 2001 and five years later turned into loft apartments.
1902 Union Bleachery began with the investment of James B. Duke, B.N. Duke, and J.B. Duggan and other northern investors for bleaching, dying, and finishing services for regional fabric mills. It later thrived under the leadership of John Arrington and continued in operation until 2003 when it suffered a major fire.
1903 McGee Manufacturing started under Henry P. McGee near Washington St and Laurens Rd making yarn and blankets. It changed name and ownership multiple times over the years and ultimately closed in 1979 as Westboro Mill.
1905 Greenville Country Club golf course was organized by Mill President Capt. Ellison A. Smyth
1908 Simpsonville Manufacturing Company started under Edward and John T. Woodside in Simpsonville.
1908 Joe Jackson acquired his nickname, “Shoeless Joe,” after running bases in his socks when blisters caused him to remove his cleats.
1910 Mill operatives accounted for 1 out of every 3 people in the Greenville area.
1912 Judson Mill began under John I. Westervelt (owner of nearby Brandon Mill) and was known as Westervelt Mill. However, it was soon taken over by Bennette E. Geer as president and re-named for his mentor, Charles H. Judson. It produced handkerchiefs, silk blend products and innovated over the years with production of synthetic fibers. It closed in 2015 as one of the longest-running mills in Greenville history and is now a thriving new loft community.
1912 Dunean Mill opened under the leadership of Ellison Adger Smyth and was referred to as the “million-dollar mill.” It was the first Southern mill and village to be completely electrified. Village homes were on spacious lots and it was the first mill village to have paved streets and sidewalks. Innovative fabrics were produced here over the years including the fabric used by the famous artist, Christo, for his iconic Running Fence environmental sculpture.
1915 The Southern Textile Exposition made its debut in Greenville at the P&N railroad warehouses on W. Washington St. By now, 43 mill presidents lived in Greenville and 10% of the supplies for the entire American textile industry were bought here.
1916 Saluda Manufacturing Company opened in the Woodside village at the end of 9th St.
1918 Okeh Manufacturing opened Cedar Lane Road north of Monaghan
1922 Southern Franklin Process Mills opened under the leadership of Bennette E. Geer located between Dunean and Mills Mill
1922 By now, Greenville’s Chamber of Commerce touted the city as the Textile Center of the South with 22 mills in the county. If all the fabric produced here in a year was sewn end to end, it would circle the earth at the equator more than 5 times. Greenville has twice as many spindles than any other Southern city except one.
1922 Brandon Duck Mill opens next to Brandon Mill
1924 Southern Worsted Corporation opened in the Paris Mountain area next to the P&N Railroad.
1924 Southern Bleachery Company opened on the Enoree River in Taylors
1924 River Mills opened on top of the Reedy River near the Main Street bridge in downtown Greenville
1924 Southern Weaving opened on W. Bramlett Road
1926 Piedmont Plush Mill opened on Easley Bridge Road
1927 Enoree Converting Company opened on the Enoree River at Pelham
1928 Piedmont Shirt Company opened under Shepherd Saltzman on W. North St.
1928 Piedmont Print Works opened in Taylors
1928 St. John Manufacturing Company opened on Rutherford Road
1928 Southern Pile Fabric Company opened in City View
1928 Slater Mill opened north of Travelers Rest
1928 Renfew Bleachery opens as a part of Brandon Corporation in Travelers Rest
1929 The Great Depression hurts all American industries, including Southern textile mills
1934 The General Textile Strike disrupted mill life and work for over 3 weeks not only in Greenville but in mills stretching from Maine to Alabama.
1941 Demands from World War II caused significant contracts and production of military fabrics for the American government.
1948 Maxon Shirt Company opens under the leadership of Max Heller.
1955 Greenville starts to be referred to as the Textile Center of the World
1973 Textile jobs numbered 2.4 million in America, but by 2012, only 383,600 textile jobs survived. Foreign imports, protective tariffs, and an economic recession began to erode the American textile industry.
1992 Passing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) severely caused a further decline in American textile production
2025 The textile tradition continues in Greenville with niche and specialty thread, garment, and fabric manufacturers with such companies like KM Fabrics, Sage Automotive Interiors, Billiam Jeans, Thermotex Industries, Hav-A-Hank, Safety Components Inc., and more
