The photo, courtesy of the National Canal Museum, is of the interior of the Read and Lovatt Manufacturing Co. throwing mill in Weatherly, Carbon County, Pa., circa 1910. The throwing mill in Wadesboro operated from 1888 to 1927.
The author, Steve Bailey, is outreach coordinator at the Anson County Historical Society.
The first silk mill in the Southern states was started in Wadesboro in May 1888. Singleton Silk Manufacturing Co. was located on Carr’s Mountain, which is today known as Sikes Avenue and a housing development is located where the silk mill once stood.
A look at county records reveals a deed of Dec. 29, 1890, which transferred the Carr’s Mountain property from James Bradley, trustee, to George Singleton of Dover, N.J., Ebenezer Rose of Passaic, N.J., and Russell Murray of New York. George Singleton and his brother Robert were silk producers in New Jersey. Robert came to Wadesboro to be the mill’s first superintendent.
This was the first textile mill in Anson County as well as being the first of its kind in the South. The Singletons later started a silk mill in Augusta, Ga., similar to the Wadesboro mill. It is thought that John T. Patrick, a great promoter of Anson County at that time – he also promoted Southern Pines and Pinehurst – had something to do with influencing the Singletons to start a mill in Wadesboro.
The Singleton company employed between 200 and 300 people. The mill was known as a “throwing” mill. Raw silk was shipped to Wadesboro from China and Japan and processed for weaving. Offices were maintained in New York City and the payroll was made up there and sent to Wadesboro.
For a period of time business was so good that the mill on the mount, which employed white workers only, could not meet its orders. Another mill or addition was built at the foot of the hill which employed around 50 to 70 African American employees. One girl’s job was dragging a firehose around all day, spraying moisture around the room where the silk was kept.
A home for the superintendent was maintained on the mill grounds as well as some houses for the employees. Children as young as 6 years old were put to work. The average take-home pay was $20 per month. Charles Uren of New Jersey came to Wadesboro in 1905 to be the mill’s superintendent. His wife was the bookkeeper. Charles stayed with the silk mill until its decline in 1927.
The mill’s decline was due to several reasons. The Northern owners got old and died. The machinery was badly worn and difficult to replace. World War One interfered with trade. A tuberculosis scare spread among the workers as several came down with the disease and died. This was not attributed to working conditions, but it was thought that some of the workers were carriers.
The site of the old silk mill has an interesting history. Before it was used as a mill, it was the county fairgrounds with a racetrack nearby. The fair was operated for several years by the Dixie Agricultural and Mechanical Association. It was sold in 1879 from the door of the courthouse to a group of businessmen. James Bradley, acting as trustee for these men, eventually sold the property to the Singletons.