Charles Albert Cannon (November 29, 1892 – April 2, 1971) was the son of

Cannon Mills Company The Cannon Mills Company was an American textile manufacturing company based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, that mainly produced towels and bed sheets. Founded in 1887 by James William Cannon, by 1914 the company was the largest towel and shee ...

founder

James William Cannon James William Cannon (born Mecklenburg County, North Carolina April 25, 1852 – December 21, 1921) was an American industrialist, and founder of the Cannon Mills Corporation and the City of Kannapolis, North Carolina. He was the maker of the ...

and president of the firm from the 1920s to the 1960s. He was born, lived and died in

Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the cit ...

With Cannon Mills

Cannon Mills manufacturing plants were located mainly in and around

and particularly in nearby

Kannapolis, North Carolina Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...

, a company-owned town created and named after the Cannon family. Kannapolis was the largest unincorporated town in the nation for many years. Due to the support of the Cannon family the YMCA in Kannapolis enjoyed one of the highest memberships in the nation and had excellent facilities. Cannon Mills headquarters was in Concord, and the family mansion in downtown Concord is now part of the First Presbyterian Church complex. There were multiple plants employing thousands of people during this time, running three shifts and producing sheets and towels. Cannon was a great industrialist and involved in philanthropy in the community which included churches, schools, hospitals and libraries. Many of the families that worked in the mill lived in company houses generally of clapboard with 2-3 bedrooms and one bath and rented to the employees by the company at very cheap rates. The downtown of Kannapolis was constructed in the Colonial style, mostly brick and very elegant and directly because of the Cannon family. While there were no unions in any of the operations, work was generally good during this era, and many people from other communities flocked to Kannapolis during the Great Depression because of jobs. The mill was the prominent employer in the area and there were no other significant manufacturing operations during that time. His grandson,

Robin Hayes Robert Cannon "Robin" Hayes (born August 14, 1945) is an American politician and businessman from North Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, he represented North Carolina's 8th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 19 ...

, was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

congressman from North Carolina.

External links

Charles Albert Cannon
at the North Carolina Business History website {{DEFAULTSORT:Cannon, Charles Albert 1892 births 1971 deaths American textile industry businesspeople Businesspeople from North Carolina People from Concord, North Carolina 20th-century American businesspeople