Cotton Mill City: The Huntsville Textile Industry, 1880-1989

Cotton฀Mill฀City: The฀Huntsville฀Textile฀Industry, 1880–1989 IN฀THE฀LATE฀NINETEENTH฀CENTURY,฀a฀cotton฀mill฀campaign฀transformed฀ Huntsville฀from฀a฀largely฀agrarian฀community฀into฀one฀of฀the฀largest ฀textile฀cities฀in฀Alabama.฀Inexpensive฀labor,฀tax฀exemptions,฀free฀ water,฀and฀lax฀southern฀labor฀laws฀attracted฀northern฀investors฀who฀ provided฀ capital฀ and฀ technological฀ knowledge฀ for฀ mill฀ endeavors.฀ By฀ fostering฀ manufacturing,฀ financial฀ growth,฀ and฀ demographic฀ change,฀ these฀ mills—despite฀ their฀ numerous฀ reactionary฀ tendencies —are฀excellent฀examples฀of฀southern฀industrialization.฀They฀also฀ shine฀light฀on฀how,฀except฀in฀times฀of฀strike,฀rivalry฀and฀competitiveness ฀fueled฀interaction฀between฀the฀various฀mills฀and฀their฀mill฀ villagers.฀When฀the฀mills฀began฀to฀close,฀Huntsville,฀if฀not฀for฀the฀ opening฀of฀chemical฀and฀ordnance฀plants฀followed฀by฀the฀arrival฀of฀ Wernher฀von฀Braun฀and฀his฀team฀of฀rocket฀scientists,฀would฀probably฀ have฀gone฀the฀way฀of฀so฀many฀textile-mill฀towns฀by฀becoming฀a฀“noindustry ฀ghost฀town.”1 ฀Huntsville฀is฀hailed฀as฀the฀home฀of฀the฀George฀ C.฀Marshall฀Space฀Flight฀Center,฀but฀not฀until฀the฀city’s฀textile฀past฀is฀ given฀just฀attention฀will฀its฀transition฀from฀Cotton฀Mill฀City฀to฀Rocket฀ City฀seem฀all฀the฀more฀remarkable.฀ ฀ The฀area฀that฀became฀known฀as฀Huntsville,฀then฀located฀in฀the฀ Mississippi฀Territory,฀was฀settled฀in฀1805฀by฀John฀Hunt.฀When฀Hunt฀ failed฀to฀register฀the฀land฀properly,฀LeRoy฀Pope฀bought฀the฀area,฀and฀ on฀December฀22,฀1809,฀named฀it฀Twickenham฀after฀the฀birthplace฀ of฀Alexander฀Pope.฀Situated฀in฀Madison฀County,฀which฀had฀formed฀ on฀December฀13,฀1818,฀Twickenham฀attracted฀many฀settlers.฀Not฀unW H I T N E Y ฀ A D R I E N N E ฀ S N O W Whitney฀A.฀Snow฀is฀a฀doctoral฀student฀at฀Mississippi฀State฀University.฀The฀author฀would฀like฀ to฀thank฀Dr.฀Sarah฀Shouse฀and฀Dr.฀Elise฀Stephens฀for฀their฀contributions฀to฀the฀oral฀history฀ interviews฀that฀proved฀invaluable฀to฀this฀work. 1฀ ฀ James฀Cobb,฀“Beyond฀the฀‘Y’all฀Wall’:฀The฀American฀South฀Goes฀Global,”฀in฀Globalization฀ and฀the฀American฀South,฀ed.฀James฀Cobb฀and฀William฀Stueck฀(Athens,฀GA,฀2005),฀4. T H E ฀ A L A B A M A ฀ R E V I E W 244 til฀November฀25,฀1811,฀did฀the฀name฀finally฀change฀to฀Huntsville฀in฀ honor฀of฀Hunt.฀Alabama฀became฀a฀territory฀in฀1817฀and฀then฀a฀state฀ in฀August฀1819;฀Huntsville฀was฀its฀capital฀for฀a฀short฀time.฀In฀its฀early ฀days฀Huntsville฀was฀largely฀plantation฀and฀farm-oriented฀but฀had฀ beer,฀candle,฀plow,฀hardwood,฀brick,฀hat,฀tanning,฀and฀water฀pump฀ factories.฀Despite฀these฀varied฀enterprises,฀cotton฀remained฀the฀foundation ฀of฀Huntsville’s฀nineteenth-century฀industrial฀growth.2 ฀ From฀ 1810฀ to฀ 1860฀ several฀ cotton฀ mills฀ appeared฀ in฀ Madison฀ County฀outside฀of฀Huntsville฀along฀the฀Flint฀River.฀Formed฀by฀Charles฀ Cabaniss฀ sometime฀ between฀ 1809฀ and฀ 1817,฀ the฀ Cabaniss฀ Cotton฀ Spinning฀Factory฀became฀the฀first฀mill฀in฀Madison฀County฀and,฀consequently ,฀in฀Alabama.฀In฀1819฀the฀Horatio฀Jones฀Cotton฀Spinning฀ Factory,฀which฀relied฀on฀slave฀labor,฀began฀operation.฀Years฀later,฀in฀ 1832,฀it฀became฀the฀Bell฀Factory,฀the฀most฀widely฀known฀antebellum฀ mill฀in฀the฀state฀due฀to฀its฀high฀levels฀of฀production.฀Mill฀endeavors฀ did฀not฀stop฀there.฀The฀Flint฀Manufacturing฀Company฀opened฀its฀ doors฀in฀1850,฀and฀the฀McFarland฀Mill฀began฀production฀sometime฀ before฀1860.฀Across฀the฀state฀the฀expansion฀of฀cotton฀mills฀kept฀pace฀ with฀the฀growth฀in฀Madison฀County.3 2฀ Daniel฀S.฀Dupre,฀Transforming฀the฀Cotton฀Frontier:฀Madison฀County,฀Alabama,฀1800–1840฀(Baton ฀Rouge,฀1997),฀38;฀Edward฀Chambers฀Betts,฀Early฀History฀of฀Huntsville,฀Alabama,฀1804– 1870฀(1909;฀repr.,฀Huntsville,฀1998),฀5,11,฀26,฀32,฀35,฀48–49.฀See฀also฀William฀H.฀Brantley,฀ Three฀Capitals:฀A฀Book฀about฀the฀First฀Three฀Capitals฀of฀Alabama:฀St.฀Stephens,฀Huntsville฀&฀Cahawba ฀.฀.฀.฀(Tuscaloosa,฀1947). 3฀ On฀the฀Cabaniss฀factory,฀see฀Cecelia฀Jean฀Thorn,฀“The฀Bell฀Factory:฀Early฀Pride฀of฀Huntsville ,”฀Alabama฀Review฀32฀(January฀1979):฀28;฀Huntsville฀Alabama฀Republican,฀February฀18,฀ 1818;฀Randall฀Martin฀Miller,฀“The฀Cotton฀Mill฀Movement฀in฀Antebellum฀Alabama”฀(PhD฀ diss.,฀Ohio฀State฀University,฀1971),฀11.฀On฀the฀Horatio฀Jones฀Cotton฀Spinning฀Factory,฀see฀ Huntsville฀Alabama฀Republican,฀September฀14,฀1819;฀James฀William฀Bragg,฀“Frontier฀Entrepreneurs ฀of฀Madison฀County,฀Alabama:฀The฀Bell฀Factory฀Enterprise,฀1819–1842”฀(master’s฀ thesis,฀University฀of฀Alabama,฀1958...