Joseph Jennings Dorn Archives

The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Aug. 17, 1871 – “The Dorn Gold Mine in Abbeville Co., has been purchased by Cyrus H. McCormick of N.Y., for $20,000.”

The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Aug. 7, 1873 – “Dorn’s Gold Mine has been leased from the owner C.H. McCormick of Chicago, by Perrin and Cothran, who intend to begin mining.”

The Rock Hill Herald on Aug. 18, 1881 – “the Dorn Gold Mine in this county is being worked with good results. Improved machinery has been installed.”

The Yorkville Enquier reported on Feb. 9, 1887 – “Col. Stephen Elmore has discovered a gold mine on his plantation near the once famous Dorn Mine in Abbeville Co., (Now McCormick Co.).”

City Directories and History: This fine home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Joseph Jennings Dorn House was built ca. 1917 in the Colonial Revival style and is one of the few early brick homes in McCormick. The house is two stories with the main façade oriented towards Gold Street. The house features a one-story porch with paired Ionic columns, an open port-cochere with extended roof brackets, Flemish bond brick construction, Corinthian motif pilasters, a dentilled cornice, and a terracotta tile roof. At the rear of the house is a one-story brick garage built ca. 1917. The house was built by Joseph Jennings Dorn, a prominent businessman and politician. Around 1917 Dorn commissioned architects J.E. Summer and J.C. Hemphill of Greenwood to design this house in McCormick. Upon its completion the house was one of the largest and most ornate in the community. Dorn was the great-nephew of gold miner William Dorn and owned many large farms in McCormick

At the turn of the 20th century the McCormick County’s lumber business was booming. Images courtesy of the Edmonds Collection.

vicinity in the early 1900s. He was a co-owner of the McCormick Manufacturing Company, Dorn Lumber Company, and president of the Dorn Banking Company. In 1917 Dorn purchased the McCormick cotton seed oil mill along with his brother Martin Gary Dorn and Preston Finley. This mill complex was one of the major industries in the community, and the Dorn brothers operated the mill for many years. In 1930 Jennings Dorn was elected to the state senate and served until 1936 when he was killed in an automobile accident. Listed in the National Register December 12, 1985. [Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History] Also see information on the Caldwell Masonic Lodge built by Wm. B. Dorn.

Further information: The Joseph Jennings Dorn House was built ca. 1917 by Joseph Jennings Dorn, a prominent businessman and politician. Jennings Dorn was a great-nephew of gold miner William Dorn and owned many large farms in the McCormick vicinity in the early 1900s. Dorn was a co-owner of the McCormick Manufacturing Company, Dorn Lumber Company and president of the Dorn Banking Company (.30. Around 1917 Dorn commissioned architects J.E. Summer and J.C. Hemphill of Greenwood to design this house in McCormick. Upon its completion the house was one of the largest and most ornate in the community. In 1917 Dorn purchased the McCormick cotton seed oil mill (NR) along with his brother Martin Gary Dorn and Preston Finley 07). This mill complex was one of the major industries in the community, and the Dorn brothers operated the mill for many years. In 1930 Jennings Dorn was elected to the state senate and served until 1936 when he was killed in an automobile accident. Following his death the property remained in the Dorn family until its purchase and restoration in recent years by the Sexton family. (NR File Data / SC Dept. of Archives and History)

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CONNECTING THE DOTS – OLD ABBEVILLE COUNTY AND MORE

NATIONAL REGISTER – IMAGE(S)

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North Mine Street – “Influenced by industrialist Cylus McCormick”

City Directories and History: The Dorn’s Mill (Dorn Mill), is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Dorn’s Flour and Grist Mills is a two-and-a-half story red brick structure with projecting one-story wings. Constructed ca. 1898 as a cotton gin, the mill is an outstanding example of rural industrial architecture. The dominant feature of the exterior is a three-story brick wall of cross-shaped plan which was built in 1915 to support a water tower tank. The interior of the mill is its most salient feature. The extant steam engines and boilers date from the period when the building was

Bullock, W. P, and Paul L Grier. Official topographical map of Abbeville Co., South Carolina. [S.l.: P.L. Grier, 1894, 1895] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress

used as a cotton gin, but the grist mill equipment dates from the 1920s. At one time many small towns throughout rural America utilized the services of mills similar to Dorn’s Mill. With the development of a more complex mill technology, many of these mills disappeared. Dorn’s Mill is significant as one of only a few such mills still standing—its steam engines, boilers, and most of its machinery still intact. In 1917, the property was conveyed to M.G. Dorn, J.S. Dorn, and Preston Findley who formed the Dorn-Findley Corporation. Its general purpose was to run an oil mill, cotton gin and grist mill. In the mid-1920s the Dorns hired a mill wright to put in the present corn and wheat machinery as well as a hammer mill. The mill operated throughout the years and ground commercial corn meal for sale in local and country stores, flour from wheat for local farmers (not for commercial sale) and chicken and animal feed. The mill closed in the 1940s. Listed in the National Register July 12, 1976. [Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History]

(The Joseph Jennings Dorn House) was built ca. 1917 in the Colonial Revival style and is one of the few early brick homes in McCormick. The house is two stories with the main façade oriented towards Gold Street. The house features a one-story porch with paired Ionic columns, an open port-cochere with extended roof brackets, Flemish bond brick construction, Corinthian motif pilasters, a dentilled cornice, and a terracotta tile roof. At the rear of the house is a one-story brick garage built ca. 1917. The house was built by Joseph Jennings Dorn, a prominent businessman and politician. Around 1917 Dorn commissioned architects J.E. Summer and J.C. Hemphill of Greenwood to design this house in McCormick. Upon its completion the house was one of the largest and most ornate in the community. Dorn was the great-nephew of gold miner William Dorn and owned many large farms in McCormick vicinity in the early 1900s. He was a co-owner of the McCormick Manufacturing Company, Dorn Lumber Company, and president of the Dorn Banking Company. In 1917 Dorn purchased the McCormick cotton seed oil mill along with his brother Martin Gary Dorn and Preston Finley. This mill complex was one of the major industries in the community, and the Dorn brothers operated the mill for many years. In 1930 Jennings Dorn was elected to the state senate and served until 1936 when he was killed in an automobile accident. Listed in the National Register December 12, 1985.

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User comments welcome — post at the bottom of this page.

NATIONAL REGISTER – IMAGE(S)

Please enjoy this structure and all those listed in Roots and Recall. But remember each is private property. So view them from a distance or from a public area such as the sidewalk or public road.

Thanks!

IMAGE GALLERY – SC Dept. of Archives and History

Joseph Jennings Dorn House / Caldwell Masonic Lodge

Dorn’s Mill and the Town of McCormick, S.C.

From the Porch

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