Granite Mill | |
 A print depicting the original mill, published in 1897. | |
| Location | Haw River, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Area | Approximately 31 acres |
| Built | 1844 |
| NRHP reference No. | 100001627 |
| Added to NRHP | September 18, 2017 |
The Granite Mill is a historic building located in Haw River, North Carolina. It is a complex of interconnected and free-standing manufacturing and storage buildings built between 1844 and 1990. The original mill was built in 1884. [1]
In 1837, Edwin Michael Holt and William A. Carrigan established Holt and Carrigan Cotton Factory, with Holt later becoming the sole owner. Holt was one of the first southern cotton manufacturers to manufacture colored cloth on a power loom. His fabrics became known as "Alamance Plaids."
In 1844, Benjamin Trollinger constructed Granite Mill, yet a lack of commerce in Haw River led to its foreclosure and sale. In 1858, Edwin Holt and his son Thomas Holt, who later became the Governor of North Carolina, purchased the Granite Mill.
The Holt family dominated the region's textile industry for most of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The family continued to construct more mills and expand their business. In 1893, the Holt family owned 10 of the 19 cotton mills in the county. By 1919, the Holt family owned 23 out of the county's 27 textiles miles. In 1917, the mill was reorganized with the Holt family's other acquisitions to be Holt-Granite-Puritan Mills Company, a cotton dress goods producer.
In 1927, economic troubles caused the sale of the mill to Proximity Manufacturing Company (later Cone Mills Corporation) for $295,100. The mill began producing corduroy, grey moleskin, and suede. By 1931, a strong community had sprung up around the mill, including homes for workers and company-funded schools. In the late 1970s, Granite Mills generated the world's largest output of corduroy.
Until 1997, the mill maintained chamois and flat cloth dying and finishing operations. In 2004, the property was sold and used as industrial storage. [1] In 2020, the mill and surrounding area was nominated to be recognized by the National Register of Historic Places. [2]
Alamance County is a county in North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 171,415. Its county seat is Graham. Formed in 1849 from Orange County to the east, Alamance County has been the site of significant historical events, textile manufacturing, and agriculture.
Alamance is a village in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 951 at the 2010 census, up from 310 at the 2000 census.
Burlington is a city in Alamance and Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Alamance County, in which most of the city is located, and is a part of the Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, NC Combined Statistical Area. The population was 57,303 at the 2020 census, which makes Burlington the 18th most populous city in North Carolina.
Graham is a city in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census the population was 17,153. It is the county seat of Alamance County.
Haw River is a town in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the population was 2,298.
Saxapahaw is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated area in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,648 at the 2010 census.
Thomas Michael Holt was an American industrialist who served as the 47th governor of North Carolina from 1891 to 1893. Formerly a North Carolina State Senator and Speaker of the House of the North Carolina General Assembly, Holt was instrumental in the founding of North Carolina State University, as well as in establishing several railroads within the state and the state's department of agriculture. Holt was also responsible for the technology behind the family's Holt Mills "Alamance Plaids", the first colored cotton goods produced in the South – a development that revolutionized the Southern textile industry.
The Haw River is a tributary of the Cape Fear River, approximately 110 mi (177 km) long, that is entirely contained in north central North Carolina in the United States. It was first documented as the "Hau River" by John Lawson, an English botanist, in his 1709 book "A New Voyage to Carolina." The name is shortened from Saxapahaw, from the Catawban /sak'yápha:/, "piedmont, foothill", from /sak/, "hill", plus /yápha:/, "step". The river gives its name to a small town that formed on its banks.
Pocasset Manufacturing Company was a cotton textile mill located in Fall River, Massachusetts. It was located just west of Main Street across the second falls of the Quequechan River. It was organized on August 15, 1821, with $100,000 in capital. The mill began operation in 1822, with Samuel Rodman of New Bedford as the principal owner. Oliver Chace, served as the mill's agent until 1837. Nathaniel Briggs Borden was named clerk and treasurer.
Glencoe is an unincorporated community in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States on North Carolina Highway 62, north-northeast of downtown Burlington.
For much of its history, the city of Fall River, Massachusetts has been defined by the rise and fall of its cotton textile industry. From its beginnings as a rural outpost of the Plymouth Colony, the city grew to become the largest textile producing center in the United States during the 19th century, with over one hundred mills in operation by 1920. Even with the demise of local textile productions during the 20th century, there remains a lasting legacy of its impact on the city.
Chace Mills is a historic textile mill complex on Lewiston and Salem Streets in Fall River, Massachusetts. Built in 1872, it is one of the city's most visible historic mills, with a particularly fine Italianate stair tower. The complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Barnard Mills is an historic textile mill at 641-657 Quarry Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. Developed beginning in 1874, it was the first mill to use ring spinners instead of mule spinners, and was a major local employer until its closure in 1939. The complex has been redeveloped as a commercial retail space called Tower Mill. The mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Wampanoag Mills is a historic textile mill complex located at 420 Quequechan Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. Built beginning in 1871, it is a large and well-preserved example of granite textile mill construction. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Old Colony Iron Works-Nemasket Mills Complex is a historic industrial site located on Old Colony Avenue in the East Taunton section of Taunton, Massachusetts, United States, adjacent to the Taunton River at the Raynham town line. The site was first occupied by the Old Colony Iron Company, which had originally been established in the 1820s as Horatio Leonard & Company. The western part of the complex was sold to Nemasket Mills in 1889. The eastern part was acquired by the Standard Oil Cloth Company. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Textile Mill, Chadderton was a cotton spinning mill in Chadderton, Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It was built in 1882 by Potts, Pickup & Dixon for the Textile Mill Co. Ltd, and closed in 1927. It was taken over by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in the late 1940s and passed to Courtaulds in 1964 and used for cotton waste sorting. Half of the building was destroyed by fire on 11 July 1950, but the remaining section continued to be used for cotton waste sorting by W. H. Holt and Son until 1988.
The Fries Cotton Mill was a cotton mill in Salem, North Carolina, first erected in 1840. During the Civil War, the Fries Cotton Mill was an important supplier of wool and cotton goods to the Confederate Army.
Glencoe Mill Village Historic District is a national historic district located at Glencoe, Alamance County, North Carolina. It encompasses 48 contributing buildings and 6 contributing structures built between 1880 and 1882 in Glencoe.
The Oneida Cotton Mills and Scott-Mebane Manufacturing Company Complex, also known as the Scott and Donnell Mill, is a historic hosiery mill building in Graham, Alamance County, North Carolina. It consists of four contributing buildings and one contributing structure. The buildings date from 1882 into the 1940s; all are red-brick except for a small shed-roofed bathroom building from the 1940s. The complex includes the Scott and Donnell Mill, a smokestack (1882), Holt Mill, Scott-Mebane Manufacturing Company, and opener Room.
The Textile Heritage Museum is a history museum located in Glencoe, North Carolina along the Haw River. focused on the textile industry and life in mill towns in North Carolina and the American south. Located within the Glencoe Mill Village Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, the museum is housed in the former management offices and company store built in 1880.