Site of the 1839 Mill and the 1882 Mill

Site of the 1839 Mill and the 1882 Mill. . 1839 Mill - The 1839 Mill was a three-story brick structure, measuring 88 feet by 48 feet. It was destroyed by Union soldiers in 1864 and was never rebuilt. All that remains are portions of a rock wall that served as part of the tailrace and foundation wall., 1882 Mill - During the 1880s, the State of Georgia encouraged the growth of the cotton textile industry. It was also during this time that a number of cotton expositions took place in Atlanta. In 1882, the Roswell Manufacturing Company expanded its operation by building an additional factory that stood two-stories high, measured 152 feet by 77 feet, and featured an office in the front. It is the only extant cotton textile mill on the site., Power for the new mill was provided by extending the raceway from the 1853 Mill. At the site of the original 1839 factory, a large turbine connected to a long cable, which ran underground to a six foot pully beneath the building and the up through the floors of the factory to drive the power shaft and the machinery. The factory contained 5,000 spindles to provide additional yard for the weaving operations housed in the 1853 mill. The building was expanded in 1926 after the 1853 mill burned to the ground., In 1947, Southern Mills, Inc. purchased the factory and produced laundry netting and carpet backing. The houses in the mill village were put up for sale., As new technology developed and foreign competition increased, mills began to close throughout the South. By the 1970s, only 90 people were employed at Southern Mills. At that time, the mill was producing Jamaica cloth, homespun, thermal blankets, drapery fabric, flannel cloth, and laundry cloth. The mill ceased operations in 1975., (captions) , Conjectured Outlie of the 1839 Mill, Archeological Testing of the Location of the First Roswell Cotton Factory, by Karen G. Wood of Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc., 1991 , Courtesy of the Roswell Historical Society, Frozen Raceway, Roswell Manufacturing Company, ca. 1900 , Courtesy of the Roswell Historical Society, Visual Arts Collection, Bales of Cotton, Southern Mills, Inc., ca. 1950s , Courtesy of Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center, Southern Mills, Inc., ca. 1970s , Courtesy of the Roswell Manufacturing Company, Visual Arts Collection, Mrs. Dora Pruitt Operates Machine Which Makes Thread , Roswell Neighbor, April 27, 1972, Drawing Process, Southern Mills, Inc. , Photograph by Roy Wood, Automatic blowers, looking like giant arms from some space monster, travel overhead tracks, blowing their forceful breath on looms, spindles, spinning machines ad workers alike. The tremendous lint formation must be kept from building up on the moving machinery, or it will interfere with its operation. Workers find themselves with white, wooly hair and coated nostrils from the free-flying fibers. , The Old Story of a Piece of New Cloth , By Ada Biehl, The Roswell Herald, February 21, 1967