Inherent in the life of historical southern Georgia are the textile mills. In the early history the mills accepted the cotton from the farms and cleaned and carded the wool, producing a ball of cotton ready for home spinning. Eventually, through technological changes, the mills would simply produce the fabric itself. Recent years have seen a decline in the southern mills as the competition from cheaper over seas labor becomes too much for the early companies that helped build the South.
Troup county had many mills within its borders and this section is meant to highlight what we know about the history of each. Some are brief, others more in depth. It all depends on the available sources for each.
- Robertson Woolen Mill
- Troup Factory
- Lagrange Mills
- Dixie Cotton Mills
- Hogansville Manufacturing Company
- Unity Cotton Mills
- Elm City Cotton Mills
- Unity Spinning Mills
- Dunson Mills
- Hillside Cotton Mills
- Stark Mills
- Valley Waste Mills
- Valway Rug Mills
- Rockweave Mills
- Oakleaf Mills
- The Callaway Mills
- West Point Manufacturing Company
The county of Troup ranks well in the total of the textile plants, the total spindles of each plant is given below:
Calumet, LaGrange | 9,984 |
Calumet, Hogansville | 12,096 |
Dixie Cotton | 23,936 |
Elm City Plant | 11,664 |
Dunson Cotton Mills | 41,000 |
Hillside Plant | 31,680 |
Oakleaf Plant | 3,168 |
Stark Mills | 35,560 |
Unity Plant | 12,960 |
Unity Spinning | 15,552 |
Total Number of Spindles | 197,600 |