This town began as a gold-mining community but soon made its way into the textile industry with a cotton mill and a hosiery mill.
The city of Dallas started as a gold rush town, but quickly expanded into housing a textile industry. This community boasted both Dallas Hosiery Mills and Dallas Cotton Mills.
Visit
Things to Do
- Paulding County Historical Society, 296 North Johnston Street: Visit Dallas’ local museum to learn more about the city’s history!
- Liberty Cotton Mill/Paulding County Cotton Manufacturing Company Mill and Mill Village, 398 West Memorial Drive: Come shop in a piece of Paulding County’s textile history! The Liberty Cotton Mill/Paulding County Cotton Manufacturing Company site is now home to Old Mill Antiques. Two new buildings have been built around it, but the original mill building still stands. The mill village, clustered mostly along Memorial Drive in front of the mill and Victory Drive behind it, were built by the mill to house its employees. They are good examples of traditional mill village architecture.
Places to See
The following properties are not open to the public, but you can view them from the exterior to learn more about the buildings that supported the textile industry here.
- Dallas Hosiery Mill and Mill Village, 493 Main Street: The mill has been demolished and a new structure built in its place, but the village still exists. This mill village is a little scattered and has likely been partially demolished and replaced with newer buildings. Mill houses can be viewed from the street heading south on S. Johnston Street and East on S. Main Street.
History
Dallas, the seat of Paulding County, began as a gold-rush town with its incorporation in 1854. By the early 1880s, both the railroad and the textile industry came to Paulding County, bringing with it a new wave of economic prosperity.
The community’s first textile mill, Paulding County Cotton Manufacturing Company, opened in 1900 with the erection of both a cotton factory producing soft hosiery yarns and a cottonseed oil mill. This company initially operated 3,100 ring spindles and employed 50 people; the number of spindles increased to 5,040 in 1907 and doubled to 10,140 only three years later. The mill was sold and the name changed to Liberty Cotton Mills in 1917.
Not long after beginning operations, the Liberty Cotton Mills ran into contracting issues. On November 27, 1918, the company sent a telegram to the United States War Department concerned about the cancellation of a subcontract with the Signal Corps it held through a Boston firm. The owners of the mill noted that their entire company was on this contract, and its abrupt cancellation would put many people out of work. The war department responded noting that it was impossible for them to intervene in such subcontracts.
Despite this setback, Liberty Cotton Mills was able to continue operations until 1927, when the mill was yet again sold. The Dalla-Noval Yarn Mill purchased the mill and operated 7,300 spindles by 175 employees. Sometime between 1936 and 1942, the mill was sold for the third time to A. D. Juilliard and Company, which was based in New York, to be the Dallas division of the company. By 1948, they had completely vacated their mill here.
The Whitfield Spinning Company, incorporated in 1946, purchased the mill in 1950. This company made shade covers for the tobacco industry through the 1970s when they were forced to close down due to foreign competition.
The second textile mill established in this community was the Dallas Hosiery Mill, which began operations in 1905. By 1910, the mill was producing cotton seamless hosiery with 107 knitting machines, 19 ribbing machines, 28 looping machines, and three sewing machines operated by 100 workers. The Douglasville Hosiery Mill purchased controlling interest in the mill by April of 1920. The mill kept its name but became an adjunct to the mill in Douglasville. The Douglas County Sentinel reported that the Douglasville Hosiery Mills had plans to enlarge the Dallas plant and add more machinery.
Dallas Hosiery Mill moved to Cedartown in the early 1960s. The mill was struggling by 1965 and was seized and losing workers due to a failure to pay $60,000 in back-employee payroll deductions. If the mill did not pay the money, it would be put up for sale. According to textile directories, it was around this time the mill shut down for good.
Charter Trail Members
- Paulding County Chamber of Commerce
- Paulding County Genealogical Society
- Paulding County Historical Society
Resources to Explore
Click on the following links to learn more about this region.
- Facts for Kids
- Digital Library of Georgia
- Georgia Archives Virtual Vault
- Georgia Historical Society
- Paulding County, New Georgia Encyclopedia
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