many small North Carolina mill towns with most
houses in town built and
owned by the mill and
rented to employees. In
the early part of the 20th
century the mill paid
employees in scrip redeemable for rent or for
merchandise at the company-owned store; however this process had been
abandoned by the mid
20th century.
The work environment
in the mills was noisy
and dusty and the air was
filled with floating dust
and cotton fibers. The
machine clatter of hundreds of working looms
was deafening, as many
employees were to learn
in their later years. There
was no OSHA, and standards for air quality or
noise levels were nonexistent, as were hearing
and respiratory protec-
Then and now: The heyday of the
mill was in the mid-20th century; by
the 1980s, change arrived, and by the
1990s, most of the mills were closed.
tive devices. Inhalation
of cotton fibers resulted
in a respiratory disease
called byssinosis ("brown
lung disease") for many
in their later years.
Most mills ran 24 hours
a day with eight-hour
shifts beginning at 8 a.m.,
4 p.m. and 12 a.m., and
many operated six or sevMore
March/April 2016 49