1853 Mill and the Textile Industry

1853 Mill and the Textile Industry. . Manufacturing textiles from raw cotton required many different processes. Each process required the use of specialized machinery., The Roswell Manufacturing Company purchased local cotton that was hauled to the factory n wagons by area farmers. The bales of cotton, weighing an average of 500 pounds, were stored in the cotton warehouse. Cotton bales were slid down a chute from the warehouse to the Picker House where the cotton was cleaned and rolled into blankets called laps., Carding- The laps were taken to the carding room on the third floor of the mill building, where the cotton was combed and carded into soft ropes or slivers. The slivers were stretched and twisted into coarse yarn calling roving, then drawn out and wound onto bobbins., Spinning- In the spinning room on the second floor of the mill, the bobbins were placed on spinning frames where the course yarn was stretched and twisted from two robing bobbins into finished yard. Turning spindles wound the yarn onto spools., Weaving- The weaving process was accomplished on the ground floor level using looms. A warp frame holding yard moved up and down on the weaving loom while a weft thread was slid in a shuttle across the frame. The frame was then lifted and the west thread was shuttled back across a second warp frame. The alternating up and down motion of each of the frames interlaced the yarns creating cloth., Finishing- After weaving, the cloth was wound on a cloth winder to facilitate further processing. The product could then be dyed., During the 1880s, the Roswell mill was known for the manufacturing of sheeting, shirting, checks, and yarns. Finished products were sent to points in Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and as far away as Philadelphia and St. Louis., 1853 Mill- The mill was a four-story brick building that measured 140 feet by 53 feet. During a violent thunderstorm in 1926, lightning started a fire that destroyed the cotton mill, the picker house, and the warehouse. The mill was not rebuilt., (captions) , Cotton Card, Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue of James Smith and Co., ca. 1850. Courtesy of the Roswell Historical Society; King, Baker and Simpson Families Papers, Spinning Frame Throstle, Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue of James Smith and Co., ca. 1850. Courtesy of the Roswell Historical Society; King, Baker and Simpson Families Papers, Loom, Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue of James Smith and Co., ca. 1850. Courtesy of the Roswell Historical Society; King, Baker and Simpson Families Papers, Cloth Winder, Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue of James Smith and Co., ca. 1850. Courtesy of the Roswell Historical Society; King, Baker and Simpson Families Papers, 1853 Cotton Mill, ca. 1920. Courtesy of the Roswell Historical Society, Visual Arts Collection, Drawing of the 1853 Mill, Cover report to the Stockholders, April 27, 1881. Courtesy of the Roswell Historical Society; King, Baker and Simpson Families Papers