A second industrial revolution for local Greensboro mill

Being familiar with the story of the Cone brothers, Moses and Ceasar and how they transformed the city of Greensboro into a major textile production center of the south in the early 20th century, as well as knowing people that work at the mill today, it seems Revolution Mills would be a special place for me. In the early 1890’s Greensboro began to catch a glimpse of the Cone brothers vision of a textile empire that could bring life to the rural south. The Cone brothers brought there dream to Ashville North Carolina in 1887 but quickly realized that in order to compete with the mills of the north they would need to be located closer to the farms and transportation. This decision brought the brothers to Greensboro where they soon built several mills and finishing facilities. Revolution Mill was built to become the first modern flannel mill in the south and it later became the largest exclusive flannel producer in the world. Operation of Revolution Mill continued until 1982 under the Cone Mills name. Afterwards the mill changed hands several times until early 2003 when Revolution Studios, LLC, purchased the facility. The renovation of the mill has since expanded to a $40 million project including office and residential spaces.

My friend of several years Christine Chapman is a project designer for Revolution Mill Studios and has worked closely with this project for a little over a year now. She is also my roommate so I get to here all of the latest news about what is going on at the mill on a daily basis, (I feel this is about to come in real handy). Also my brother works at the mill on one of the construction teams, so I get to here the story from both sides. He has told me several stories of his time at the mill and about the rich history within this space.

I look forward to having conversations with these two about our upcoming studio work and about what is going on at the mill. I feel that the Cone brothers, who gave so much to the city of Greensboro in the early 1900’s, would be proud to know that their dream was still alive a century later at Revolution Mill.