Woodruff Cotton Mill and Community - Woodruff, S.C.

City Directories and History: “Woodruff was variously known as The Mill, Cross Roads, and Woodruff Tavern until 1876 when it was surveyed and incorporated under its present name. It was named for Thomas Woodruff, who came to Spartanburg County from Yadkin Valley, North Carolina, after the Revolution. He operated the stagecoach stop here in the early 1800’s. Two textile mills are its chief industry.”

Early image of the Woodruff Cotton Mill, ca. 1905 – Courtesy of the Meek Collection (Also known as the Brandon and later Abney Mill)

Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC

Susan Gray commented on FB 10/3/16 – “My Grandmother was the daughter of a sharecropper and his wife in Pendleton, S.C. This was the time period of about 1888 – 1918. She talked briefly about the crops they grew. She said it was a hard life and the only enjoyment was Sundays and during the time of year when they had a break from harvesting. She didn’t like picking cotton because her hands would bleed. Her sister, my Great Aunt, said they ate lots of field peas that they grew. In her elderly years my Great Aunt did not like eating these peas.”

In the 1940s large numbers of rural houses remain in very poor condition. Recorded in the Coleman – Meek Photo Collection as the Frank Wofford Farm at Woodruff, S.C.

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.

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IMAGE GALLERY – Courtesy of the Meek Collection