Monday, March 14, 2016

The Cotton Mill in Edenton, N. C.

So, I promised I'd tell you about the cotton mill at Edenton. A lot of towns had cotton mills 'back in the day'. I remember the one in my hometown but it's long been torn down. I remember the little village where the workers lived, too.

So, visiting that site on our tour the other day brought back a lot of memories for me.

While the cotton mill that I remembered was a large, square, multi-floor building the one we saw in Edenton was low to the ground, and seemed to 'go on forever'. (the picture below shows only a small portion of the entire building)




 Of course, this mill hasn't been in use in years and it was through the good graces of 'the powers that be' who saved the building from ruin. It now houses a large number of condominiums. What would it be like to live in an old cotton mill? hmmmm. I wonder.

As we drove through the tall pine trees, we came upon the village. Here is one of the houses. There are 51 mill houses which were built between 1899 to 1923.
 They often held two apartments, side by side with two front doors and were occupied by men who were mill workers. Sometimes families lived in the houses. 

This is the Cotton Mill Museum. We did not stop there but it is open to the public on the weekends. 


This house was not part of the cotton mill village but was moved there from another location. The tour guide said that it was the oldest house in North Carolina, dating back to 1718. It was first a tavern built with lumber from an abandoned ship. 


And here is a Sears, Roebuck house. You used to be able to order your home from the Sears, Roebuck catalog. How cool is that?


And, so we leave the cotton mill and it's little village. 

Have a great week.
                                                                                          

2 comments:

  1. It must be a fascinating place to live and very interesting to visit too. In just a very few places in England there are old corrugated iron buildings - churches mostly I think - which came from a catalogue too, very cool hey! xx

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  2. Fantastic post! I love the wonderful history surrounding this cotton mill and village! I'm glad you remember the cotton mill from your childhood, and I am glad they saved this one in Edenton, and that some of the village is still intact as well. I bet the museum is fascinating. You'll have to try to get down there on a weekend some time so you can see it.

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