| World / USA / Virginia / Charlottesville, 4 km from center | Coordinates: 38°1'10"N 78°27'20"W |
Located at on the banks of Moore's Creek where it flows into the Rivanna River, the Charlottesville (Marchant) Woolen Mills has long
been the site of industry in Charlottesville.
Edward Moore built a gristmill there in 1795 that he sold, along with 500 acres, to William D. Meriwether in 1805. Meriwether
expanded the mill to weave cotton and wool, grind flour, and saw lumber, and built a wooden toll bridge in 1826.
John Adams Marchant bought the mill in 1852 when it was making jeans fabric from wool in white or blue that clothed slaves.
Marchant sold the factory to his son, Henry Clay Marchant, in 1864.
While Charlottesville escaped the Civil War relatively unscathed, a month before Appomattox the mill became a casualty when
General Philip Sheridan and General George Custer accidentally destroyed it while trying to burn the railroad.
Marchant rounded up additional capital, and in 1868 incorporated the business as Charlottesville Woolen Mills. While initially
manufacturing an average-grade fabric, he was eventually producing high quality woolens, including cashmere.
When the mill burned a second time in 1882, workers rebuilt it. The company was known as a good employer: It didn't hire workers
younger than 13, rarely laid off anyone, and tried to provide decent housing for its employees, but it was the site of a walkout over
wages in 1918.
The mill grew from 25 looms in 1883 to 50 looms, at its peak employing between 150 to 200 workers. For three years, Jefferson's
grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, was its president, and prominent Charlottesvillians sat on its board.
From 1885 to 1945, the factory's output went to uniform cloth. During World War II, most of the mill's monthly output of 15,000
yards went to the Navy.
The neighborhood surrounding the Woolen Mills factory was a self-contained community providing housing, a school, and a church
for the mill's employees, thanks to Marchant's "benevolent paternalism."
The company installed the town's first telephone in 1878 to connect a downtown office with the factory.
Some believe it was the switch to synthetic fabric that led to the mill's ultimate demise. A November 19, 1963, article in the Daily
Progress headlined "Shortage of Capital Makes Sale Necessary" reports that the mill, long profitable, had been operating in the red
for all but one of the previous 10 years. The Small Business Administration refused to lend the mill $250,000, and the article cites
"unionization" as a big stumbling block for potential buyers.
In July 1964, the mill and land surrounding it were split into parcels and auctioned off. Collett M. Thach bought the old mill, which
today houses Security Storage and Van Lines, run by his son, Presley Thach.
Category: mill
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