A Look at the History
A History of Mill Villages in Greenwood and Ninety-Six, South Carolina
At the close of the 19th century, southern cities were facing tremendous pressure to industrialize and maintain pace with the rest of the country. Being a largely agrarian society, much of the south struggled to find their place on the industrial stage. As farmers strove to meet the needs of a growing population, they became increasingly more aware of the importance of controlling their crop and the manufacturing of it. Cotton Mills owned and operated in the south became the most obvious answer to many of the problems challenging the south’s success. As the industry grew, some in the rural population felt the economic need to leave behind failing family farms and join the new urban workforce surrounding the mills. To increase production, draw new workers to the mills, and promote a sense of unity among the workers, many mill owners began to build villages around the mills. These villages became self-contained and eventually established a community all their own. People living on the mill village lived where they worked, interacted with their coworkers as neighbors, and were dependent on the mill for the way of life they had quickly carved out for themselves. The mill villages gave way to a tight-knit community of hard-working and driven people who would shape the cultural landscape of the upstate of South Carolina.
The agrarian structure of the southern economy was crumbling after the end of the Civil War, and it was finally broken by the Great Depression. This saw the influx of a new, factory based economy fueled by workers and their families. In South Carolina, the cotton manufacturing boom began “in the 1880s and . . . the State became the third largest textile producing state in the Union.” The increase of manufacturing spurred infrastructural improvements and propelled South Carolina “toward modernity.” Modernization impacted the society just as much as the economy of the state, bringing the rise of towns built around the new cotton mills. The mill workers came from the small family farms who could no longer keep up with demands following the Civil War. The first generation mill workers had to adjust “to the rhythm of the factory, where they worked for someone else's profit and synchronized their labor to the steady and quick pace of machines.” Greenwood County is one such town that was born out of the industrialization of the south. The first mill in town was the Greenwood Cotton Mill, chartered in 1889 and “built the following year with capital stock at first in the rates of 50[cents] per share per week.” The mill launches with “2,500 spindles, 84 looms, and 75 employees” and it “rapidly expands, adding four other Greenwood-area plants over the next decade.” The mill employed hundreds of families over the years, and when it expanded to Ninety-Six even more workers needed housing and care to keep them nearby. The Greenwood Mill Villages were not all that different from the other mills popping up around South Carolina. There was a baptist church and a methodist church, mill league baseball teams, and company stores where the families would buy their groceries. The houses were one floor, four bedroom, brick houses with the electricity and water provided through the company that operated the mill. That is, once electricity was introduced. The early days of the mills were unelectrified with no indoor plumbing. The economy of Greenwood Mills was controlled by the company, and the expenses the family incurred while living and eating may be taken from their paychecks at the start of each month.
At the age of sixteen, Vernon Burton began working in the cotton mill in Ninety-Six, South Carolina. Born in Royston, Georgia on April 15th, 1947, to Ninety-Six natives, Burton grew up on the farm owned by his family. As a boy of nine, he got his first paper route and would ride his bike for twenty miles early in the morning delivering papers to houses in the mill village. He recalls collecting his money on Fridays and Saturdays, or at least trying to collect, “many people would try to short the paperboy his nickel every week.” Though Dr. Burton never lived in the village, his childhood was full of activities surrounding the village and the children living there. The mill sponsored the local Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, of which he was an active member. “The Den Mother and then later the Boy Scout leaders all worked for the mill” and the Boy Scouts would stay in a log cabin that resided in a park owned by the mill. He recalls,
It was a really nice log cabin owned by the mill. They provided the wood for the fire the
fireplace and all these spindles, we’d burn all the spindles and things would be what we’d use to burn for the fireplace.
Burton’s first job in the mill was working it what was referred to as the “shop.” He remembers his supervisor being impressed with his work ethic on each assignment. He repaired, painted, and dusted the mill which he called a “horrible thing about cleaning.” Burton said, “I’d have to climb through the air conditioning vents sweeping the dust up in front of me.” He remembers “coming out and there would be what must have been close to a half an inch or a quarter inch of dust all over my face.” When asked about the families living in the village he began to describe the stories and recount the lives he came in contact with through the mill. Burton repeatedly uses the work “community” in his recollection of the village. Mill workers were a part of the community built around the village, and he says he is impressed by what “people from the mill have done. . .hardworking people that I grew up with have done remarkably well.” He recalls baseball games and his time as a football player in the local high school as being a part of that community spirit and support. He remembers fondly the musicians who got their start in the churches built by the mill, the most well known being the Swinging Medallions.
Mrs. Sandra Roberts remembers a feeling of community that was born out of the mill villages. Mrs. Roberts was born in a mill house on Kitson Street to a father who later worked as a supervisor in the Ninety-Six Mill. She remembers that her family moved from Kitson street to a home on Draper Street after her father’s promotion. She lived in the house on Draper Street for about twelve years before leaving home. She remembered the home having “three bedrooms, two baths, a living and a dining room, kitchen, and a big front porch.” The home was made of brick with “lifetime tile roofs” and “hardwood floors.” She recalls most of the homes having “tubs, sinks, everything, it was complete to move into. And it was supplied, evidently, by Greenwood Mills.” Roberts said her husband worked for the mill as a young man, and his job was on “a painting crew during the summer. . .they would come around and see if [the homes] needed some paint done.” Sandra attended Cambridge United Methodist as a girl, one of the churches built by the mill for their workers. She remembers the mill store with “clothing on one side or behind it, kind of a one whole side was a food store and you could buy your groceries there.” The charges for the food and clothing would often be put onto the family’s tab and paid through the employee’s paychecks at the end of each month. The mill constructed meeting places for Sunday schools and church groups. Roberts recalled attending the baseball games with friends who would meet her there after school. When asked about her memories of the games, her face lit up with a smile and said, “Oh, the boys.” She remembers meeting friends at the Teenage Canteen in the American Legion building for proms and dances. The girls wore their “poodle skirts” and “gert sweaters” and danced along to a record player with all of the boys from the village, all while supervised by parent chaperones. She remembers fondly the time she spent living across the street from “certain people that I still see and are still friends with. . . everybody seemed to just kind of mix and match and get along.” Roberts calls the mill village a site of “friendship, community, and love,” which had avery positive impact on her childhood and life.
Furman Self is the great-grandson of James C. Self, who came to own Greenwood Mills early in the twentieth century. Mr. Self tells his grandfather’s story of success with great pride and looks at it as a reflection of Greenwood history. James C. Self grew up with Governor Ben Tillman’s son and followed him to Clemson University in search of better opportunities for himself. Lack of funds made him leave Clemson and return to Greenwood where he found a bed in the mercantile store he worked in. He became a cashier at the Bank of Greenwood which funded the opening of the mills in Greenwood. When the mill began to fail, Mr. Self was called in to correct their course and save the mills from going under. He convinced a northern loom manufacturer to loan new looms to the mill so that they could increase quality and production. What started as “nip and tuck” became a successful business ran by James C. Self. When Furman Self was growing up, the mill villages had been standing for some time, but he remembered their construction being a point of pride for his great-grandfather. Mr. Self, “built all the employee housing” and “knew that he could attract the better employees. . . If their houses were nicer, then any other type of industry.” The materials were locally sourced so they could trust if something were to go wrong they would be repaired and handled properly. Mr. Self oversaw the construction of the “first air conditioned hospital in the country,” and he fashioned it after the mill village homes. He wanted his homes and his hospital to “last forever” in a community where the people were invested in its growth. When asked why his great-grandfather was so invested in the mill and the mill villages, he replied that he was not sure, but that he “would have to believe that it was a strong Christian upbringing.” Furman goes on to read from a speech drafted about his great-grandfather that recalled Mr. Self saying “I don’t think much of a man who makes money in a community and then forgets about it.” Furman recalled the importance his great-grandfather placed in helping the community to thrive and to grow. The mill may no longer be the sole industry of Greenwood, South Carolina, but James C. Self’s legacy lives on in three ways. It lives on in the Self Family, the Self Foundation he set up, and in the numerous mill villages house he built that still stand today.
The mill villages of Greenwood and Ninety-Six, South Carolina have stood the test of time. Though the mill that once brought them together no longer operates, the homes those workers lived in still stand. More important than buildings and economy was the community that emerged from the mill villages. Neighbors and friends who have remained close through the years, share memories of a time quite different from the present. Friendship, love, and community has been a part of Greenwood County’s character since long before the days of textile league baseball games and a nickel for a paper. To hold on to those values means remembering the lives and stories of those who built this county and ensuring that these memories of a time long since past never fade from sight.
References
Carlton, David L. Mill and Town in South Carolina, 1880--1920. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1982.
“Our Story – Greenwood Mills.” Accessed February 25, 2019. https://www.greenwoodmills.com/ourstory/.