textile mills in the south

Why did the textile workers union in the southern United States spread so rapidly? The textile industry was, at one time, one of the largest industries in the south. Starting in the late 1800’s with small local looms and spreading to become corporations controlling the south and whose influence stretched internationally. One of the south’s first textile corporations originated in Gaston County, North Carolina, and its huge success led to the opening of mills …

…of Danville, Virginia’s Textile Mills During Their First 50 Years. Richmond, Virginia: William Byrd Press, 1979. Rhyne, Jennings J. Some Southern Cotton Mill Workers and Their Villages. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press, 1980. Smith, Robert Sidney. Mill on the Dan: A History of dan River Mills, 1882-1950. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1960. Salmond, John A. The Story of the Loray Mill Strike: Gastonia 1929. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1995.