Roswell Manufacturing Company-The Early Years

The Roswell Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1839 and was located on the banks of Vickery Creek.  Several dams on the creek provided power to the mills.  Barrington King, son of Roswell King, was its first president.

By 1854, two cotton mills built of brick with rock foundations were in operation.  The first mill was only three stories high and measured 88 feet by 48 feet. The second one was much larger: four stories high and measured 140 feet by 53 feet.  Each of the buildings was equipped with machinery for carding cotton, spinning yarn, and weaving cloth.

The mills produced yarn, cotton rope, and cotton cloth.  Orders for the products were shipped to northern markets in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Newark.   Southern markets included Alabama, Tennessee, and the Carolinas.

The Roswell Manufacturing Company purchased local cotton that was hauled to the factory in wagons by area farmers.   The bales of cotton, weighing an average of 500 pounds, were stored in the cotton warehouse. 

There were 300 millworkers employed in the 1850s. It was not uncommon for entire families, including children, to make up the textile labor force. The operatives worked long hours, six days a week.  According to a report in the minutes of the stockholders’ meetings, dated 30 October 1854:

… we began at five o’clock and ended at seven and on Saturday stopping at five o’clock.

That sure sounds like a lot of hard work!

Wages of the mill workers were low and dependent on their skill level.  Work conditions were poor and the mill buildings were not ventilated.  The workers often suffered from lung disease from breathing the lint fibers for long periods of time.

This is the mill around 1900, when I got lost in town. To find out more about my adventure in the city, check out my book, Rucker The Lost Country Dog.

Until next time!