Mills Mill

This charming building at the corner of Guess Street and Mills Avenue hides a dark history. This mill was founded in the 1890s by Captain Otis Prentiss Mills with the help of his son-in-law Walter Moore. Construction of the brick building began in 1896 and its location near Brushy Creek was an ideal source of water to generate steam.

At its beginning, Mills Mill had a capital of $371,000 and five thousand spindles. By 1903 Mills Mill had significantly increased revenue with twenty-seven thousand spindles and 740 looms. The capital had grown more than six hundred thousand dollars. And yet, given the poor and rural origin of its workers, it too underpaid its employees substantially. Employees lived in squalor.

After Mr. Mills’ death in 1915, his son-in-law Walter B. Moore took over the reins of the mill and tried to improve the living and working conditions of his employees. Moore, in three years, provided a sewer system and running water for all of the worker's housing. A string of owners tried to keep it like the other mills on the tour, adding a church, schools, stores and recreational facilities to the worker's village.

Even so, Mills Mill workers were being paid roughly 30 percent less than other mill workers in the country. On May 31st, 1929 a new level of unrest was reached when a member of the grievance committee for the labor union of Mills Mill was “mysteriously” dismissed. In June of 1929, 500 workers went on strike demanding a 20 percent raise in pay, fair working conditions, and the promise of nondiscrimination for union members. Workers were dismissed without any valid explanation and Mills Mill closed. Labor workers declared a lockout and voted unanimously to join the United Textile Workers of America.

Nowadays, if you visit "The Lofts at Mills Mill" outside of the building you can see the original machinery and some preserved equipment that was used by the workers during the Cotton Mill Era. Inside the Mills building, you can appreciate the 16-foot ceilings and the beautiful 9-foot translucent windows.

Contemporary Note: In 1982, the Mills Mill Building became part of the National Register of Historic Places; now operated as The Lofts at Mills Mill.

Suggested reading

Judith Bainbridge. "Greenville Roots: Brief History of Mills Mill." The Greenville News. May 02, 2017. Accessed March 17, 2019.

Huff, Archie Vernon. Greenville: The History of the City and County in the South Carolina Piedmont. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1995.

"Mills Mill - Greenville, South Carolina." South Carolina Picture Project. Accessed March 17, 2019.