In March of 2018, the Textile Trail opened a new trail spur in Bowdon, Georgia. This new walking trail is clustered in the historic downtown corridor along City Hall Avenue and features three large wayside panels, ten wall-mounted plaques, and rack card.
Map of the Bowden Spur Trail. Photo courtesy of UWG Pub & Print.
This permanent outdoor exhibit shares Bowdon’s apparel industry history, from the 1930s to contemporary era, and is located in the heart of that industrial district that was once home to five apparel companies. The opening event included commemorative remarks and ribbon untying, as well as a guided walking tour of the panel exhibit. The event had around fifty people in attendance, among them: City officials Mayor Jim Chaffin and City Manager Gary Bullock; representatives from the Sewell family, including Robin Sewell Worley; members of the Bowdon Area Historical Society, including Tom Upchurch, Mignon Wessinger, and Judy Rowell; UWG History and Art faculty; and former apparel industry employees of Bowdon.
Bowden Spur Trail Marker. “Expanding the Sewell Family Legacy.” Photo courtesy of UWG Center for Public History.
Following the opening ceremony and remarks, UWG Department of History public history graduate student Chanell Lowery led a guided walking tour of the historic district. Chanell’s tour highlighted the lasting impact of the apparel industry in Bowdon, including the Sewell and Plunkett families and their influence on Bowdon. Contextualizing Bowdon’s Bremen-Bowdon Investment Company (BBI or BBIC) and LaMar Manufacturing Company into the larger narrative of the U.S. textile industry were points of emphasis during her tour. Additionally, Chanell’s tour, which serves as her Master’s thesis project, highlighted unionized and nonunionized plants and both women and African Americans in the textile industry workforce.
Chanell Lowery, pausing for a picture during her docent tour of the Bowden Spur Trail. Photo courtesy of UWG Center for Public History.
The Bowdon Spur of the West Georgia Textile Heritage Trail is free and open to the public during daylight hours. We encourage visitors to stop in the stores along City Hall Avenue that now occupy buildings that once housed LaMar Manufacturing’s shops and departments. Find out more about Bowdon’s textile past by visiting our community page: http://westgatextiletrail.com/bowdon/ Rack cards and brochures may be picked up at City Hall or the Bowdon Area Historical Society.
This project was generously funded by the Warren P. and Ava F. Sewell Foundation, Georgia Humanities, the UWG Center for Public History, the Carrollton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Bowdon Area Historical Society, and the City of Bowdon.
Take a self-guided tour of Bowdon’s history following wayside signs in Bowdon Station. View or download the rack card below or pick one up at City Hall or the Bowdon Area Historical Society. Find out more about Bowdon’s textile past by visiting our community page: http://westgatextiletrail.com/bowdon/.
These wayside signs share Bowdon’s apparel industry history, from the 1930s to the contemporary era, and are located in the heart of the historical industrial district that was once home to five apparel companies. Look for the wayside signs along City Hall Avenue and Commerce Street and wall signs when shopping at businesses on City Hall Avenue n Bowdon (see map below).
Map of the Bowdon Spur Trail. Photo courtesy of UWG Center for Public History. Map created by UWG Print Services.
Opening the Bowdon Spur Exhibit
In March of 2018, the Textile Trail opened a new trail spur in Bowdon, Georgia. This new walking trail is clustered in the historic downtown corridor along City Hall Avenue and features three large wayside panels, ten wall-mounted plaques, and a rack card.
The opening event included commemorative remarks and ribbon untying, as well as a guided walking tour of the panel exhibit. The event had around fifty people in attendance, among them: City officials Mayor Jim Chaffin and City Manager Gary Bullock; representatives from the Sewell family, including Robin Sewell Worley; members of the Bowdon Area Historical Society, including Tom Upchurch, Mignon Wessinger, and Judy Rowell; UWG History and Art faculty; and former apparel industry employees of Bowdon.
Bowdon Spur Trail Marker. “Expanding the Sewell Family Legacy.” Photo courtesy of UWG Center for Public History.
Following the opening ceremony and remarks, UWG Department of History public history graduate student Chanell Lowery led a guided walking tour of the historic district. Chanell’s tour highlighted the lasting impact of the apparel industry in Bowdon, including the Sewell and Plunkett families and their influence on Bowdon. Contextualizing Bowdon’s Bremen-Bowdon Investment Company (BBI or BBIC) and LaMar Manufacturing Company into the larger narrative of the U.S. textile industry were points of emphasis during her tour. Additionally, Chanell’s tour, which serves as her Master’s thesis project, highlighted unionized and nonunionized plants and both women and African Americans in the textile industry workforce.
Chanell Lowery, pausing for a picture during her docent tour of the Bowden Spur Trail. Photo courtesy of UWG Center for Public History.
This project was generously funded by the Warren P. and Ava F. Sewell Foundation, Georgia Humanities, the UWG Center for Public History, the Carrollton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Bowdon Area Historical Society, and the City of Bowdon.
For many southerners, the history of the region’s textile past is a very personal and familial story. During the late-1800s to mid-1900s, Carrollton experienced the ebb and flow of the industrializing South from several vantage points. Carroll County’s farmers grew cotton as a cash crop then carted their harvests into town for market. Cotton and hosiery mills processed the cotton into textile products while creating new domestic and labor settings for many rural folk. The rail lines connected Carrollton to a larger southern network and transported the city’s textile goods. This industry powered economic development in Carrollton, producing immense change and growth during the twentieth century. We invite you to discover this history through the Carrollton Spur of the West Georgia Textile Heritage Trail. The brochure includes a trail map with signage locations and additional sites to see along the way.
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[expand title=”Introductory and Cotton Sign: “]In the early 1900s, cotton was king in Carrollton. Even during industrialization, the city maintained much of its farming tradition. Historic Adamson Square was the site of busy cotton markets where farmers would sell their crops to textile factories and merchants. The introductory sign of the Carrollton trail is located in the southeast quadrant of Adamson Square.[/expand]
[expand title=”The Knitted Road: “]Carrollton’s textile industry diversified during the 1920s and 30s as new hosiery mills began sharing Bradley Street with the older warehouses vital to the local cotton market. Located between Adamson Square and the Train Depot, Bradley Street became an important industrial sector, adding finished goods to the textile products made in the city. The Bradley Street sign is located in the parking lot of the Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum. [/expand]
[expand title=”The Bustling Depot:“]
The train depot proved instrumental in the growth of the local industry by connecting Carrollton to a larger network of southern cities and towns. From the mid-1870s through the early-1900s, this depot served as both a transportation hub and a cotton goods warehouse. Today, the Norfolk Southern Corporation’s freight lines continue to pass by the depot. The trail sign is located at the train depot, on the southern end of Bradley Street.
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[expand title=”The Textile Industry Comes to Carrollton:“]Cotton mills built the New South. Large cotton mills and mill villages, like the ones here, were sites in which many farm families adapted to new industrial settings and denser living conditions. The Mandeville Mills Historic District contains the surviving mill no.1 factory and mill village, with historic mill homes and street layouts that have changed little over the past century. The trail sign is located on Lovvorn Road, in front of the factory’s old smoke stack.[/expand]
[expand title=”The Road to Industrialism:“]Three of the Mandeville Mills’ founders, and early catalysts of change in Carrollton, called this portion of Maple Street home. Textile mill owners played a complex role in the industrializing South. Today, little is known of how the Mandeville Mills’ owners exactly used their positions and resources, and visitors are encouraged to draw their own conclusions. The trail sign at the Maple Street railroad crossing tells this story. [/expand]
Related Sites:
[expand title=”1. The Cotton Farmer: Newnan Street “]Carrollton’s late “sculptor-in-residence,” Henry Setter, completed The Cotton Farmer in 1997 with the hope of educating citizens about the region’s agricultural past. In his mid-sixties, Setter carved the cotton bale out of a 3,000-pound block of granite which had to be craned into City Hall Park.[/expand]
[expand title=”2. Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum: 306 Bradley Street“]Located in the old Carroll Mills warehouse, the Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum promotes the preservation of quilting and local textile heritage. Along with rotating exhibits and displays of prizewinning quilts, the museum provides additional quilting programs and classes taught by instructors in their areas of expertise. Visit southeasternquiltmuseum.com for more information.[/expand]
[expand title=”3. Lawler Hosiery Mill: Bradley Street“] The Lawler Hosiery Mill opened on the ground floor of Carroll Mills in 1927. In 1934, operations moved to the historic building you see today. Like other mills on Bradley Street, Lawler made finished products, primarily socks. The passing of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) ended Lawler’s operations a year later, but, the historic building continues to serve Carrollton as loft apartments. [/expand]
[expand title=”4. Carroll Mills: 202 Bradley Street “]In 1924, Carroll Mills became the first of many Bradley Street textile operations. Unlike the Mandeville Mills, Carrollton’s first textile factory, Carroll Mills produced finished products such as shoe strings and cotton meat packaging. As diversification of the textile industry grew on Bradley Street, Carroll Mills housed newer operations, like Lawler Hosiery Mill and Caroline Mills, until these enterprises could construct their own buildings[/expand]
[expand title=”5. Railroad Spur Lines: 455 Bradley Street“]You may have noticed short rail lines branching from the main line here at the depot. These shorter rails, called spur lines, were important for textile businesses like the Mandeville Mills. By connecting textile operations to main routes, spur lines allowed mills to receive cotton and ship their products.
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[expand title=”6. H.O. Lovvorn Home: 113 East College Street, Bowdon, Ga“]Reared in nearby Bowdon, Georgia, Henry Lovvorn served as the Mandeville Mills’ first secretary and treasurer. A successful business man, Lovvorn was also a local civic, political, and industrial leader. He built this elaborate Greek Revival-style home right outside the mill village in 1907.[/expand]
[expand title=” 7. Maple Street School:“]The first Maple Street School was constructed on this site in 1917, but was destroyed by fire in 1947. Mill children could not enroll here without paying tuition because the village rested just outside city limits. This fee would have been difficult for mill families to afford. The tuition problem was a reason the mill owners constructed the Westview Grammar School in the mill village around the same time. In 1922, the school board voted to allow mill children into the Maple Street School.
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[expand title=”8. BlueWater Ropes: 209 Lovvorn Rd“] BlueWater Ropes began as a hobby to supplement the founder’s caving activities. Now an international company, it is one of two operational textile-related mills in Carrollton. The company represents several generations of textile production, reaching back to one of the Mandeville Mill’s founders, Leroy Mandeville. [/expand]
[expand title=”9. First Home Constructed in Mill Village:“] Built in 1900, the home on the corner of Lovvorn Road and Burson Avenue was the site of Carrollton’s first mill house. The house-type is called a “saltbox house” because the pitch of the roof resembles a New England saltbox house when viewed from its side. This particular mill house is common in northern states, and is found in other southern textile towns. Salt-box mill houses migrated to the region with the New England textile industry.[/expand]
[expand title=”10. Former Mill Church:“]Constructed for mill workers around 1900, this building was once called Westview Church. In the early 1900s, the building housed a union church where different denominations would rotate services weekly.[/expand]
[expand title=”11. Mandeville Mill no. 2 (Water Tower):“]In 2006, a fire destroyed the original site of Mandeville Mill no. 2, leaving the old water tower as one of the sole standing structures. Carrollton is still rich with textile related sites, but, this surviving tower continues to remind us of the importance of historic preservation and the memory which may be lost when cultural resources are not managed and protected.
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[expand title=”12. 506 Maple Street:“] This odd-shaped building tells us about Carrollton’s economy over the past century. Constructed around 1911, the building served as a cotton and guano warehouse, replacing older warehouses at this point along the rail line. In the 1950s, Maryon Hosiery Mill moved here. Now, local businesses occupy it, one of which still deals in textiles.[/expand]
[expand title=”13. Joseph Aycock House: 408 Maple Street“]Joseph Aycock, the first manager of the Mandeville Mills, is a significant figure in the industrialization of Carrollton. Considered by contemporaries as a man of many talents, he is the architect, designer, and engineer of most buildings within the Mandeville Mills Historic District. He also designed many of Carrollton’s other notable buildings and the city’s first modern cotton ginnery. His pyramidal house may not look as impressive as Mandeville’s or Lovvorn’s homes, but it was built roughly 40 years earlier around 1862 and is much larger and ornate than similar pyramidal homes in the mill village.
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[expand title=”14. Leroy Mandeville Mansion: 401 Maple Street“]Born in Carrollton to New England parents, Leroy Mandeville was very active in several areas of the city’s development around the turn-of-the-twentieth-century. He was a merchant, banker, and served as the Mandeville Mill’s first president. Mandeville was also active in local government and helped bring the 4th District A&M School, now the site of the University of West Georgia, to the city. Around 1900, he built this ornate Queen Anne home, a very popular house-style during the period. It is said to have been the first house in the city to carry running water, electricity, and a telephone line.[/expand]
Email the Trail at wgtht@westga.edu or call UWG Center for Public History at 678-839-6141 for more information.
[expand title=”1. “Take me out to the Ballgame:” The Fullerville Ball Field”]Start your journey around Fullerville at the ball fields. America’s favorite pastime helped Fullerville’s mill workers let off steam and relax after grinding shifts on the mill floor. Mill companies formed teams and their players competed against those from other mills from across the region. Mill teams were a source of pride and entertainment. Fullerville’s workers celebrated their team’s athletic achievements, especially when they defeated local rival Mandeville Mills in Carrollton. [/expand]
[expand title=”2. Ain’t Misbehavin’! The Fullerville Jail”]Work at the mill was hard. The work days were long and the pay was typically low. As in most towns, violence and unlawful behavior occasionally occurred. This one-room building was used as a holding cell, sometimes called the “drunk tank” by locals. Similar jail buildings can be found in many small towns throughout the United States.[/expand]
[expand title=”3. Getting the Goods to Market: The Railroad Spur”]Look for the remnants of an old switch track railroad spur between the cotton and hosiery mills. This portion of the railroad is no longer operational, but you can still see evidence of its path between the mill and the old jail. The track was originally built to connect an old sulphur mine in northern Carroll County to the Georgia Pacific Railroad, (which still runs along U.S. Highway 78 in downtown Villa Rica). This spur line allowed the Fullerville mills to connect to the main railroad line running through Villa Rica and thus ship and receive goods to and from distant locations.[/expand]
[expand title=”4. Spinning Cotton: The Villa Rica Cotton Mill”]In 1901, Judson T. Fuller settled in Villa Rica and purchased 60 acres of land five miles north of the city. Five years later, he opened the Villa Rica Cotton Mill here to process raw cotton into yarn. Openers and pickers opened giant burlap bales of cotton and removed the debris before sending it to other employees called carders, spinners, and spoolers for processing it into yarn. Sometimes entire families worked in the mill to earn enough money to pay for their housing, food, and other necessities. Even with everyone pitching in, most families still struggled to make ends meet. t[/expand]
[expand title=”5. Where is the Water? Water Towers, Outhouses, and Wells”]Cotton mills were a fire hazard, as the raw cotton was extremely flammable. Like most rural southern communities, Fullerville did not have running water, so the company built this water tower to provide a water supply and protect the mill against fire.[/expand]
[expand title=”6. Readin’, Writin’, and ‘Rithmetic: The Mill School”]In 1912, the mill company opened a school for the children of its workers. Most mills provided a school for residents in their mill villages, even though many of the children also worked in mills. Prior to the Great Depression, mills throughout west Georgia frequently employed child workers under the age of 14 so many children only received a few years of formal education. Mill owners and Georgia leaders alike believed that mill children only needed enough schooling to teach them to read and do basic addition and subtraction. [/expand]
[expand title=”7. Knitting Socks: The Villa Rica Hosiery Mill”]This hosiery mill was the Fuller family’s most profitable enterprise. Established in 1911, the company produced seamless socks of cotton. At this time, hosiery mills produced unisex socks of cotton, silk, and rayon with a ribbed top that could be worn by men, women, children, and infants. In the early years, the majority of the company employees were women.
In 1980, Pam Bruce, daughter of company president E.T. Doyal, acquired this mill building and operated the Villa Rica Knitters, which produced a variety of knitted items including scarves, hats, and slippers, but this company has also closed.
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[expand title=”8. Serving the Community: The Fullerville Baptist Church”]For several generations, Fullerville’s churches, including the Fullerville Baptist Church, have served as the focal point of the community’s spiritual life. Known for its homecoming activities and traditional services, Fullerville Baptist Church has held services here since 1933. [/expand]
Be on the lookout for these different mill houses throughout Fullerville:
[expand title=”1. Pyramidal Cottage “]The Pyramidal Cottage is one of the first house types built near the cotton mill in the early 1900s, and there are 15 of these remaining. They are one-story, wood-frame homes with pyramidal roofs, a central chimney, and a full front porch. All of these duplexes had two front doors, each leading into a two-room deep unit. Some have been enlarged over the last 100 years. See if you can spot some of the remaining outhouses.[/expand]
[expand title=”2. Saddlebag House Type”]There are seven examples of the Saddlebag house type scattered throughout the village. These houses feature a one-room deep plan with a gable roof, central chimney, full front porch, and two front doors. Many also have a kitchen ell.[/expand]
[expand title=”3. Double Shotgun House”]The Double Shotgun plan is particularly common around the hosiery mill. There are at least 18 examples of these found along Rockmart Road in front of the hosiery mill and others on Pate Road. They are one-story, wood-frame structures with the gable end facing the road. As with other mill houses, they have a full front porch and a central chimney. These are also duplexes, with two front doors.[/expand]
Email the Trail at wgtht@westga.edu or call UWG Center for Public History at 678-839-6141 for more information.
From Cotton to Suits: Carroll County’s Textile Stories
Sites to Visit Along the Trail
[expand title=”1. Temple”]Temple’s local boosters encouraged Sewell Manufacturing to build an apparel plant here, investing in a new water system, donating 8.5 acres, and paving the streets. Sewell Manufacturing Company’s plant #2 opened on Sewell Street, off West Johnson Street, in 1953. While the plant has been demolished, the water tower, which the city used to attract the company still remains, on 911 Sewell Street off West Johnson Street/Highway 113. Discover more: http://westgatextiletrail.com/temple/
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[expand title=”2. Villa Rica”]Industry developed in this historic railroad town at the turn of the twentieth century, after the arrival of the railroad in 1882.In 1906, Judson Fuller established a cotton mill and his sons added a hosiery mill in 1911 on the west side of Villa Rica, creating a company town called Fullerville. The old mill and much of the company housing still survives, illustrating a variety of plan types. Following the walking trail of Fullerville, beginning your tour at the Fullerville Soccer Complex, 121 Ball Park Dr., Villa Rica.
Several mills and cotton warehouses filled what is now the North Villa Rica Historic District, north of the railroad track. Rica-Tex Hosiery Mill (1927) and Golden City Hosiery Mills (1929) were producing 1.8 million socks each week by the 1950s. The Mill, a downtown amphitheater, is at the location of the Golden City Hosiery Mills. The city had six warehouses which stored cotton bales until they could be shipped at the train depot, now gone, including the Pope Brothers Warehouse at 301-319 Temple Street. Follow the trail at: http://westgatextiletrail.com/fullerville-trail/
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[expand title=”3. Banning”]Banning was a thriving industrial community in the 1800s. The first cotton mill here was a small wooden building which burned around 1851. The current three-story brick mill reflects the architecture of the New South cotton industry in the late 1800s. Entrepreneur Arthur Hutcheson, who acquired the property in 1878, modernized the mill and its equipment, added steam power, and established a company town complete with company houses, store, school, and church.
Today, visitors can take a half-hour hike from Banning Lodge at 205 Horseshoe Dam Rd, Whitesburg to see the brick mill, where scenes from the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes” were filmed. Banning Lodge has a display of historic photographs from the Banning community. Discover more: http://westgatextiletrail.com/banning/
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[expand title=”4. Whitesburg”]Whitesburg became a booming railroad town in southern Carroll County with the arrival of the Central of Georgia Railroad in 1873. The ca. 1885 railroad depot, which still survives at 717 Main Street, Whitesburg, served cotton farmers throughout the region. Drive across the tracks to get the best view of the depot. Look for the brick wall on the north end of the depot.This is the only remaining wall from the Virginia Manufacturing Company built in the late 1940s to spin yarn and produced braided cord for venetian blinds. After the mill burned, stockholders sold the company to Wellington Technical Industries, which built a new facility north of town, off Wellington Mill Rd. Discover more: http://westgatextiletrail.com/whitesburg/
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[expand title=”5. Lowell”]Fashion Star opened here in 1972 to produce high-end uniforms and business suits for women. The company acquired the former Lowell High School at 67 Liberty Church Rd, Carrollton, and added several buildings as production grew. Its primary customers were small, independent banks. The company closed in 2010. This building is not open to the public.
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[expand title=”6. Bowdon”]Follow the bowdon Spur Walking Tour in the historic industrial center of Bowdon. Park and begin at the Old City Hall at 126 City Hall Avenue, and follow the signs to learn more about the apparel industry in this community. The trail features three wayside signs and individual plaques on buildings along City Hall Avenue that interpret the processes of the apparel industry that took place here. You can also view the exhibit at: http://westgatextiletrail.com/bowdon-trail/
Contact the Bowdon Area Historical Society to visit the museum and see an exhibit on the city’s apparel industry at 105 College View Street.
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[expand title=”7. Carrollton”]Carrollton was a hive of textile activity in the twentieth century. Visit historic Adamson Square, which was the center of cotton trade, Bradley Street with its hosiery mills and cotton warehouses, the railroad depot that provided essential transportation for the cotton and manufacturing trade, and Mandeville Mills and mill village. Explore the downtown walking trail at: http://westgatextiletrail.com/carrollton/
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[expand title=”8. Mt. Zion”]The Ray Sewell company built a pants manufacturing plant here in 1955. The building still remains here at 4455 Mt, Zion Rd, Mt. Zion, repurposed by the City as a public library and city office building. Visitors can see historic photos of the plant in operation in the library. Discover more: http://westgatextiletrail.com/mt-zion/
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[expand title=”9. Bowdon Junction (or Mandeville)”]Sewell Manufacturing Company built Plant #5 here in 1960 at 3743 US-27, Carrollton. Employees at this plant cut coat and pants pieces and matched patterns. This brick industrial-style buildings is typical of the architecture of this company during its expansion after World War II. The plant closed and the building has been repurposed for other businesses.
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Email the Trail at wgtht@westga.edu or call UWG Center for Public History at 678-839-6141 for more information.
This town’s manufacturing plant was a small division of a larger Georgia company.
Starting in 1928, the Sewell brothers began operating Sewell Manufacturing Company in Mount Zion. The building that housed this company is now the Mount Zion Public Library.
Visit
Things to Do
Mt. Zion Public Library, 4455 Mount Zion Road: The city converted the Ray Sewell Manufacturing facility into a public library after the company shut down in the 1980s. Visit the library to see historic photos of the site and to view an example of mid-century industrial architecture!
History
The Ray Sewell Company (Courtesy of Sharon Sewell)
The production of men’s apparel was unique to central west Georgia. In 1919, brothers Robert, Roy, and Warren Sewell operated a “jobbing” company in Atlanta, contracting men’s clothing in New York and selling those clothes under their own labels here in Georgia. Headquartered in Bremen, Georgia, by 1928, their Sewell Manufacturing Company began manufacturing men’s suits and coats themselves. As the Sewell’s company grew, it expanded operations several times in the west Georgia region. Eventually, each Sewell brother created his own manufacturing company.
Entrepreneur Ray Sewell Sr., nephew of Roy and Warren Sewell, opened his own clothing company, The Ray Sewell Company, in 1955 in his home when he filled a contract order for men’s pants with a Louisiana company. The Ray Sewell Company soon opened small manufacturing plants in Mount Zion and Buchanan, Georgia, and Wedowee, Alabama.
Though the Ray Sewell Company experienced success and expansion through the 1960s and 1970s, including in other area cities, the company closed its doors in 1988 due to increased foreign competition that preceded the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994.
The Ray Sewell Company’s Mount Zion location is now the home of the community’s local library and senior center. Today you can see photographs of this former manufacturing company within the library.
Men’s apparel was the major product of this small textile town.
Visit
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.
Sewell Manufacturing Company Plant No. 2, 911 Sewell Street: Temple’s local boosters encouraged Sewell Manufacturing Company to lay claim to the city. While the plant has since been demolished, the water tower, which the town used to attract the company, is still standing.
History
Newspaper cutout of all done by the residents and city of Temple, Georgia, to draw textile manufacturing to their town. Courtesy Harold Brock Family
Women sew zippers in men's slacks at the Sewell Manufacturing Company plant in Temple, Georgia, in the summer of 1954. Courtesy Harold Brock Family
Warren Sewell Clothing Company advertisement. Courtesy Robin Sewell Worley
The production of men’s apparel was unique to central west Georgia. In 1919, brothers Robert, Roy, and Warren Sewell operated a “jobbing” company in Atlanta, contracting men’s clothing in New York and selling those clothes under their own labels here in Georgia. By 1928, their Sewell Manufacturing Company was headquartered in Bremen, Georgia, and was now manufacturing men’s suits and coats themselves. As the Sewell’s company grew, they expanded operations several times in the west Georgia region, including plant #2 in Temple, Georgia.
West Georgia was already home to a variety of textile industries, but men’s apparel brought new success and jobs to several small cities in the countryside, including Temple. The city of Temple, along with local boosters, made great efforts to attract Sewell Manufacturing Company to build a new plant in the city. As seen in one of the photographs above, the city spent $40,000 to create a new water system. In addition to the city’s contribution, a Temple resident donated 8.5 acres of land and the Temple Improvement Club donated more than $8,000 to pave the street and parking lot designated for a possible Sewell plant.
The improvements made in the city paid off and Sewell Manufacturing plant #2 opened its doors on December 7, 1953. This plant, or “shop,” manufactured men’s pants that would be paired with suit coats made at the Bremen facility. Unlike some older hosiery mills operating in nearby Carrollton at the time, Sewell plant #2 was equipped with air conditioning. During the 1950s, it employed 250 people and produced 2,000 pairs of pants per week. Sewell’s Temple location was demolished in the mid-2000s, but the impact of the company lives on through the memory of many area residents.
This community’s lone mill operated for 130 years before finally shutting down.
Visit
Things to Do
Historic Banning Mill, 205 Horseshoe Dam Road: Visit the historic Banning Mill situated on Snake Creek. This site was home to textile manufacturing for 130 years before finally shutting down in the 1970s. The remote site can be accessed via hiking trails after paying a small fee to the Historic Banning Mills resort.
McIntosh Reserve Park, 1046 West McIntosh Circle: The McIntosh Reserve Park is 527 acres packed with history, trails, a splash water park, pavilions, and sweeping frontage on the Chattahoochee River. The park is a favorite of hikers and equestrian riders.
History
Photo courtesy: CPH Collection
Photo courtesy: CPH Collection
Banning Mill view with bridge. Photo courtesy: CPH Collection
In 1849, Bowen Mill started manufacturing along Snake Creek in Whitesburg. The mill manufactured skeins of coarse yarn used in osnaburg, grain sacks. When the mill burned down, in 1851, the Bowen brothers sold their assets to William Amis who reopened the mill in 1866 under the name of Carroll Manufacturing.
In 1880, the mill changed hands again and became Hutcheson Mill, which manufactured cotton sheeting and shirting fabric. Hutcheson Mill, over the next fifteen years, became an innovative enterprise powered by electricity. By 1895, Hutcheson’s textile mill had 5,000 spindles, 240 employees, and 1,300 acres.
Sold in 1921, the mill took on the name Banning Mill. Between the 1930s and 40s, during the Great Depression through World War II, Banning Mill closed and reopened many times. By the 1950s, Banning Mill made yarn for carpet but despite their effort to become innovative, the mill closed in 1971, after 130 years of operation.
In the late 1940s, A.L. Fuller and Charlie Goodroe established a cotton mill, called Virginia Manufacturing Company, to spin yarn in downtown Whitesburg. One of the most common jobs for women working in cotton mills during this time was operating the spinning frame. A former spinner recalls, “My dad didn’t want me to spin, because he said it was too hard. And spinning was hard, but I loved it.”
James Briggs eventually bought the company to add to his franchise, which included mills in Tallapoosa and Columbus, Georgia. He added a braid mill and started manufacturing cords for Venetian blinds, shipping the completed cords to the Tallapoosa plant for assembly. Later, Briggs sold his company to Gibson LaFoy, Ralph Hart, and Martha Arnold who continued cord manufacturing under the name West Georgia Mills, Inc. After the mill burned down, the three stockholders sold their company to Willington Technical Industries, who went through a series of name variations. Willington rebuilt the mill, moving it from its original location downtown to Willington Mill road.
This community’s textile industry started later than most, but it grew rapidly and eventually created suits for President Carter!
This small town served a big name within the United States in that President Carter’s suits were crafted here. While it’s textile industry began a bit later than in other communities, it is currently still dominant within the town of Bowdon.
Visit
Things to Do
Bowdon Area Historical Society, 105 Collegeview Street: Located behind Bowdon High School, the Bowdon Area Historical Society is home to the Heritage Walk, Whatley Memorial Park, and Shelnutt House Museum. Their mission statement is “to preserve the heritage of the Bowdon area and instill an appreciation of the past in both present and future generations.” While you’re here, you are able to view clothing worn by President Carter. The Shelnutt House Museum, where the Bowdown Area Historical Society has its headquarters, is open to the public by appointment only.
Copeland Hall, 103 Barr Avenue: This location is Bowdon’s Cultural Arts Center, where concerts, plays, educational shows, and more are offered.
Warren Sewell Memorial Library, 450 West Avenue: This library is named after the founder of the Warren Sewell Clothing Company, Warren P. Sewell.
Bowdon Station, 140 City Hall Avenue: These original LaMar Manufacturing Company buildings are now used as stores along Commerce St. and City Hall Ave. in downtown Bowdon. As these businesses are owned independently, their hours of operation may vary.
Sewell Bowdon Location, 152 City Hall Avenue: This men’s clothing store can be contacted at (770)258-5567 for hours of operation and pricing.
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.
Bremen-Bowdon Investment Co., 141 Commerce Street: This business is privately owned and is not open to the public. The historic Bremen-Bowdon Investment Company is still in operation producing garments for the United States military. Originally, this company was opened by Warren Sewell as the manufacturing arm of his company; however, these two companies split in 2008.
Ava Sewell Hall, 504 West College Street: The old Bowdon High School gym was built entirely with local donations and labor in 1955 and dedicated to Ava Sewell. It can be seen on the left off College View and is still used for community events.
History
Outside for lunch at Sewell Mill. Photo courtesy: CPH Collection
Woman at work. Photo courtesy: CPH Collection
Plunkett and President Carter. Photo courtesy: CPH Collection
Outside picture of Sewell Mill. Photo courtesy: CPH Collection
Bowdon’s apparel industry began during the Depression years, after brothers Robert, Roy, and Warren Sewell moved their small clothing business from Atlanta to Bremenin 1928. In 1934, the Sewell Manufacturing Company built the first apparel plant in Bowdon.
After World War II, when Warren Sewell split from Sewell Manufacturing to establish the Warren Sewell Clothing Company, he acquired the Bowdon plant and opened the manufacturing arm of his company, the Bremen-Bowdon Investment Company (BBIC). Warren Sewell’s success greatly expanded apparel manufacturing in Bowdon. While not a traditional “company town,” the apparel industry dominated the community through the second half of the twentieth century until its peak in the 1980s.
The Sewell family controlled the west Georgia region’s apparel industry through the 1990s with their many business expansions, partnerships, and new companies. Warren Sewell’s son-in-law and daughter, Lamar and Frances Sewell Plunkett, founded LaMar Manufacturing Company in Bowdon around 1955. This company made suits for President Jimmy Carter for twenty years, from his time on the Georgia senate through his presidency in the 1970s. Each of the president’s suits were made with care and lined with fabric embellished with Carter’s initials.
The apparel industry is still active in Bowdon. In 2008, BBIC and the Warren Sewell Clothing Company split. Although many of BBIC’s original buildings are now gone, the company maintains manufacturing operations on the original site, producing garments for the U.S. military. Today, you can visit the Bowdon Area Historical Society to view a blazer worn by Carter and original apparel company photographs and documents, as well as visit many of LaMar Manufacturing’s original buildings that are now home to locally owned businesses in Bowdon Station.
