Poe Textile Mill

The Poe Textile Mill was a textile mill that was opened by F. W. Poe from the F. W. Poe Manufacturing Company. The mill was established in 1896 and they started operations in 1897. The Mill is located in Northern Greenville, South Carolina. The building was designed by Joseph E. Sirrine, who was employed under Lockwood, Greene Co., with a design of 238 mill houses and 2 smoke stacks, he also designed a village to go with the Mill. They hired a local Contractor by the name of Jacob O. Cagle to build the mill. They finished construction and started operations in 1896. The textile mill was opened with 10,000 spindles, 300 looms, and 400 workers.

20th Century

About a decade later, the mill grew to 70,000 spindles, 1,700 looms, and 800 workers. Francis Winslow Poe, the owner of the company and mill, died in 1926 so the mill had to be taken over by another company soon. In 1934, the Textile Workers of America went on strike in 1934 because of safety issues all across eastern America. The Poe Mill was no exception, as it's working conditions were bad. They were even known for overexerting their workers. During World War II, the Mill was used to create duck cloth to make tents, with women replacing men in the workforce. After the War, the Mill fell into the hands of Ely & Walker Co. in 1947. Ely & Walker Co. soon sold the village in 1950 and then sold the mill to Burlington Industries in 1954. In 1977 Burlington Industries closed the mill.

21st Century

This photo shows the Poe Mill in late 2024.

In 2002, a fire burnt down a bit of the main building and in 2003, a large fire wiped out the rest of the main building, leaving the 2 smokestacks behind and causing $800,000 of clean-up costs. The area eventually turned into a DIY skating park. In 2019 there was a historical marker put up explaining a little history of Poe Mill. In 2021 Contour Company bought the Poe Mill site for 1 million dollars. They are planning to renovate all 11 acres of it into a more modern place that has 428 residential units, 30,000 square feet of commercial space, and an extension to the Swamp Rabbit Trail. In 2022, a man was shot and killed on A Street (The street right next to the general store and mill.) on July 4th and 3 people were charged and arrested for the crime.

Poe Village

This is a photo of the General Store in late 2024. You can also see the historical marker in the front.

Along with the mill, there is also a village in the area. That village was planned with the mill, as mill villages were gaining popularity at the time. Even if the working conditions were bad at the mill, the village was still very upbeat. Before it was sold in 1950, it had multiple places and activities. There was a church-school, and when it was a church, it would be used alternately between Baptists and Methodists. There was a band and Basketball team. There was a general store where you could get food and supplies that had it's own shop tokens. Even now, the community is pretty active with their own website and association. In 2021, when Contour Company bought the mill, the president, Kwadjo Campbell, did not support it as "It will accelerate gentrification in this community."