Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers (Part 2)

Reinventing Charlotte and the Carolina Piedmont in the New South (Explore how the Piedmont became the largest cotton manufacturing region in the US.)

Baskets of CottonLevine Museum of the New South

Bring Mills to the Cotton, 1880s - 1930s

In Part 2, we discuss how railways expanded the cotton

industry across the Carolina Piedmont and shaped a region. The opening of textile mills and mill villages drew many

farmers from the field to the factory, where they hoped for better

wages. Children worked in the mills, often completing the same

jobs as adults. In many cases, Jim Crow laws prevented African

Americans from working the same jobs as whites.

Replica of the railroadLevine Museum of the New South

This is a model representing the important role trains and the railroad system played in bringing cotton from the farms to the mills.

Cotton MillLevine Museum of the New South

Once the cotton reached the mill by train, it would go through a carding machine that would separate the fibers so the cotton could be spun into thread and woven into clothe.

Mill Child LaborLevine Museum of the New South

Entire families worked in the mills, just as they had on the farm. Children as young as 6 years old would work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Education often came secondary to work.

Mill Village HomeLevine Museum of the New South

Mill villages were developed with mill hand houses for families who worked in the mills to live.

Mill Village PhotographLevine Museum of the New South

Most mill workers were white and were like a family - living together in the mill village and working in the mills.

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Charlotte: Kick Into High Gear in the Queen City
A Crown Jewel of the American South
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