The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Dec. 13, 1883 – “Work on the Newberry Factory is progressing and a large part of the machinery has arrived.”
The Rock Hill Herald of Feb. 21, 1884 reported – “The engine for the Newberry Cotton Mill has arrived. It is a 300 HP engine made by Harris – Corliss and it weights 94,640 pounds.”
The Rock Hill Herald reported on Oct. 2, 1884 – “The Newberry Cotton Mill is receiving the finishing touches on the building and should begin operations about Nov. 1, with six thousand spindles.” Later on April 30, 1885 the paper reported – “The Newberry Cotton Mill has a total employment of 182, which includes 62 men, 75 women, 19 boys and 26 girls.”
The Yorkville Enquirer of April 30, 1885 reported – “The Boston Journal of Commerce says that Newberry, S.C. has one of the best cotton mills in either the North or South. The machinery throughout has been selected with great care and has all the latest improvements. The mill employs 182 workers.”
City Directories and History: “For three or four years past the traveler, as he wound slowly around the erratic curves of the Columbia and Greenville Railroad, may have observed when nearing this favored spot a dark cloud hanging over the fair little town. Paradoxical as it might seem, that cloud was in reality a sign of
industrial promise. To use a Westernism, he was only “watching McCaughrin’s smoke” as it poured from the tall chimney of the Newberry Cotton Mills. The factory is an imposing structure, four stories high, located near the depot, and built of the tough salmon- colored brick for which Newberry is famous. The offices are handsome and luxuriously fitted up, and the mills are splendidly equipped and supplied with modern machinery and every appliance conducive to the safety and comfort of the employees. The safeguards against fire are especially complete. Great water tanks are kept constantly filled, and by a system of pipes and sprays every room in the mill can be deluged at a moment’s notice.
The president of the mills is R. L. McCaughrin, and Mr. H. C. Robertson of Charleston is treasurer and general manager. The capital employed is $243,000 and operatives number 250. The mills contain 10,112 spindles and 330 looms (36 by 40 inch). They work full-time and manufacture 5,500 bales of cotton annually into brown shirtings and sheetings. A great deal of their cloth is sent to Northern bleacheries, whence it is sold in its whitened form as interlinings extensively used in the manufacture of linen collars and cuffs. Shipments from these mills have recently been made to China. The company is daily improving its plant, new cottages have recently been built for the operatives, and on the 1st of January last a dividend of 2% per cent was declared, a precursor, we may be sure, of many dividends to follow.”
Reprinted from South Carolina in the 1880s: A Gazetteer by J.H. Moore, Sandlapper Publishing Company – 1989
Reportedly, “C.C. Davis was a native of North Carolina, who came to Newberry in ca. 1884 to build the Newberry Cotton Mill. He went on to build many well-known residences, public buildings and churches in Newberry between 1884 and 1916.” (Euroluxhome.com)
The coming of the Newberry Cotton Mills to the town began making significant changes to the area by not only contracting employees to live in the town but also the economic need to acquire hardware, building materials, etc., as well as the need of the hundreds of families having moved to call Newberry home.
The Boundary Street-Newberry Cotton Mills Historic District exemplifies two distinct types of architecture in Newberry. The district is comprised of a collection of classical and vernacular inspired upper and middle class houses dating from 1857-1898 and a relatively intact late nineteenth century mill village surrounding the ca. 1884 mill. The district is a visual reminder of the importance of the mill to Newberry’s development and the rise of the professional class. Representative architectural styles include Greek Revival, Victorian, Queen Anne, and Bungalow. In addition to the mill and its associated properties (mill village, reservoir, warehouse, superintendent’s house, boarding house, and park) the district also includes commercial, and religious properties. Newberry Cotton Mill was constructed as the first fully steam powered textile factory in South Carolina. The original 1884 brick mill was designed by the renowned Boston engineering firm of Lockwood and Greene. Subsequent additions to the mill occurred in 1895 and 1910. The Newberry Cotton Mill has since been demolished. The mill village includes eighty-one one-story and twenty-six two-story frame mill houses, constructed between 1884 and 1910 by the mill for the factory operatives and their families. The houses were sold by the mill in the 1940s to individual families. Listed in the National Register November 26, 1980. [Courtesy of the SC Dept. of Archives and History]
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The Newberry Cotton Mills was organized May 7th, 1883, with the following Board of Directors: J. N. Martin, R. H. Wright, James McIntosh, W. T. Tarrant, Wm. Langford, James A. Crotwell, George S. Mower, M. A. Renwick, D. H. Wheeler, R. L. McCaughrin, James H. McMullan. R. L. McCaughrin was elected President and Treasurer and Geo. S. Mower Secretary. The handsome and substantial buildings were erected by W. T. Davis & Co., contractors, under the supervision of C. W. Holbrook, the Superintendent of the Mill. The building was completed and the mill began work in January, 1885. Mr. Holbrook was for many years connected with cotton mills both in the United States and Mexico, and was a faithful and efficient officer. He continued in the office of Superintendent until within two years before his death (having resigned on account of sudden loss of health), which occurred on the 8th day of October, 1890. He was a native of New Hampshire.
The mill has at this time (1892) 330 looms, 11,000 spindles, consumes annually 5,500 bales of cotton, and employs 250 hands. It manufactures cloth only. The mill has now: Capital Stock (paid up), $250,000; Surplus Fund, $100,000. The present officers are: R. L. McCaughrin, President; Thos. J. McCrary, Treasurer and General Manager; George S. Mower, Secretary; J. Higgins, Superintendent. George A. Moody, of Massachusetts, succeeded Mr. Holbrook as Superintendent, and tilled the position very acceptably for several years, but in the spring of 1892 he returned to his home at the North.
There has been no change in the Board of Directors since the organization of the mill. Robert D. Wright has been the efficient book-keeper of the mill since it has been running. Mr. Henry C. Robertson came to Newberry from Charleston in 1887 and was Treasurer and General Manager of the Mill from that time until his death on September 9th, 1892. He was a most estimable gentleman, and made many friends during-his residence in Newberry. The houses for the operatives are situated on the western side of the mill, towards Scott’s Creek. The operatives have the advantage of church and school, provided by the company.
(Information from: The Annals of Newberry Co., SC – O’Neall and Chapman, Aull and Houseal Publishers – 1892)
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