The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Feb. 20, 1889 – “A representative of the Cherokee Falls Manufacturing Co., visited, Clark’s Fork, and took 92 bales of cotton for the mill. This mill is situated on the Old Ironworks site on the Broad River.”
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Sept. 4, 1889 – “Work at the Cherokee Falls Cotton Factory has been suspended to allow for a change of water wheels. A new turbine wheel of 100 HP will be installed.”
City Directories and History: R&R has divided the 1939 SCDOT map of Cherokee County into (14) sectional maps. Many of the individually listed schools and churches
Image courtesy of the Moss – Cobb Collection – 2015.
shown on this section are pictured. However, in many cases, the individual site also has its own post on R&R, which often provides added information and image. Be wise and use the search function to locate all of the entries for this and other homeplace listings.
Click this link to view the original SCDOT maps of Cherokee County: SCDOT MAPS
Cherokee Falls was named after the Cherokee Indians, whose hunting grounds included this section of the state. The Post Office was located at the highest point along Broad River to be reached by flat-boats in South Carolina.
The Yorkville Enquirer of May 11, 1892 reported on the death of Mr. John B. Mintz. In 1840 as a young-man he went to the Hurricane Shoals ironwork in Spartanburg Co., as a laborer where he learned the business. He was later employed by the Cherokee Ford Ironworks as one of the bosses. He spent sometime as a farmer but in 1867, with the late J.A. Deal as partner, attempted to revive the manufacture of iron at the old Kings Mountain Ironwork’s on the Broad River where the Cherokee Falls Cotton Mills is now located. That work was soon abandoned.”
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Sept. 4, 1889 – “Work on the Cherokee Cotton Factory will be suspended for a week or two to allow a change in the water wheels. A new and larger turbine wheel of 100 HP will be installed.”
The YV Enquirer reported on Oct. 8, 1890 – “Several new building are under construction at Cherokee Falls. A new boarding house is being built near the old one. The new picker room is being added to the mill and an addition is being made to the Sec. and Treasurer’s house.”
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Feb. 18, 1891 – “A.N. Wood and R.G. Lipscomb of Gaffney City are running a saw mill near Gilkey’s Mountain and are making barrels using their machinery.”
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Oct., 21, 1891 – “The new building at Cherokee Falls will soon be ready for installing equipment. This will add spinning and weaving space for the plant.”
The Enquirer reported on May 11, 1892 – “The stockholders of the Cherokee Manufacturing Co., will hold their annual meeting tomorrow.”
The YV Enquirer reported on Aug. 4, 1892 – “The Cherokee Falls Manf. Co., is having the race below the mill enlarged and deepened to increase power at the plant.”
The Enquirer reported on Nov. 9, 1892 – “Mr. J.C. Plonk has resigned as Supt. of the Cherokee Cotton Mills and has accepted a position at the Swift Mills of Elberton, Ga.”
The Yorkville Enquirer on Oct. 4, 1893 reported, “the work on the Cherokee Falls race and dam is nearly completed and the mill resumed work several days ago.”
On Feb. 7, 1894 the paper reported – “The Cherokee Falls Man. Co., has added 100 looms to its machinery. The secretary and treas., is Mr. R.P. Roberts.”
The YV Enquirer reported on March 7, 1894 – “The CF Manf. Co., is now shipping both yarn and cloth from their mill. The yarn is being shipped to Philadelphia and other points and the cloth is being shipped to New York.”
The YV Enquirer reported on Sept. 19, 1894 – “The Cherokee Cotton Factory burned on Monday. The main building, all the machinery, and the manufactured goods were destroyed. The storeroom and warehouse were no burned. The mill was located about 3.5. miles South of Blacksburg and was the first cotton mill erected in York County. It commenced operations in 1881 with capital stock of $75k and two thousand four hundred and forty eight spindles. A serious drawback is that it was located at an inconvenient distance from rail transport. However, the mill was well managed and made money steadily. Several citizens of Yorkville were stockholders.”
The YV Enquirer reported on Nov. 28, 1894 – “Work is progressing on removing the burned machinery and debt at Cherokee Falls. Brick for the new mill is being made now and construction will begin soon. Mr. J.C. Plunk will be the construction supt., he previously built and managed the mill at Elberton, Georgia.”
The YC Enquirer reported on April 17, 1895 – “Mr. B.F. White of Kings Creek is furnishing the lumber required for the rebuilding of the Cherokee Cotton Mill. He also furnished all the lumber for the original mill.”
On May 31, 1895 the YV Enquirer reported – “New machinery has arrived at the CF’s Manf. Company. Two large Sampson Water Wheels were manufactured by the James Leffel Company of Springfield Ohio. The new building is about six feet higher than the old one.”
R&R HISTORY LINK: the Leffel Manf. Co…
The Yorkville Enquirer on May 11, 1906 reported that the annual meeting of the Cherokee Falls Manufacturing Company was held yesterday. This is one of the best equipped and most successful mills in S.C., and it reported a good profit this year.
The RH Record of Aug 26, 1907 – “A large hotel for the employees has just been completed at Ninety Nine Islands. It is a duplicate of the hotel built at Great Falls Station for the Southern Power Company.”
The RH Record reported on June 29, 1908 – “The 99 Island Project appears to be deserted. Work commenced by the Southern Power Co., about two years ago and stopped around the first of Nov. 1907. The company had spent about $500,00. The Hotel was completed and a few cottages, but now only caretakers are living there. The intentions of the Southern Power Co., are unclear. (Information taken from the Yorkville Enquirer)
The Rock Hill Record reported on Dec. 3, 1908 – “The Southern Power Company has secured rights and options along Fishing Creek and the Catawba River and will construct a third plant in the near future. (This is now known as the Nitrolee Dam). The Rocky Creek plant should be operational around March 1st. Flooding last summer washed away part of the work on that dam and opening has been delayed. Work will then move to 99 Islands, where 10% of development work has been completed. When finished there, work will be commenced at the Fishing Creek location on the Catawba River.
The RH Record also reported the Southern Power Co., has awarded a contract to Mr. B.H. Hardaway of Columbus, Ga., to build the dam at the 99 Island project. It is proposed to have eighteen thousand horsepower. The cost of the dam will be $650,000. and this will be the largest masonry structure in the South.”
The Rock Hill Record reported on Dec. 7, 1908 – “The Southeastern Lime and Cement Company of Charleston has sold four hundred thousand sacks of Portland cement to the Southern Power Company for the 99 Island plant.”
William Henry Drayton of Revolutionary War fame acquired much land in the area. Embodied within his holdings was the community’s most notable landmark, Draytonville Mountain, a boulder strewn eminence standing alone and overlooking the country for miles around. Prior to Drayton’s purchase much of the holdings had belonged to one Samuel Gilkey. The mountain and a lively little creek were first called Gilkey’s. One of the Gilkey family is supposedly buried on the mountain in an unmarked grave. The name of the mountain changed with the advent of the purchase by Drayton but the creek still bears the name Gilkey. Drayton operated formidable iron industries in the area. (Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC)
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