The Lindale Mill is located in the small community of

Lindale, Georgia Lindale is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Floyd County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Rome, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,191 at the 2010 census. History A post office ...

, just outside the larger town of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Floyd County, Georgia Floyd County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 98,584. The county seat is Rome. Floyd County comprises the Rome, GA metropolitan statistical area. ...

History

In 1896, Massachusetts Mills opened a new

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

in Lindale,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The mill produced 1/7 of all textiles in Georgia. 1,393 people were employed by the mill in 1903. In 1926, the mill was sold to Pepperell Manufacturing Company, giving the community and school the name Pepperell. At the time, the country was in the middle of a debate on

child labor Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...

. Children as young as twelve (some say nine) were working with the same

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

and

spinning machine Spinning is a twisting technique to form yarn from fibers. The fiber intended is drawn out, twisted, and wound onto a bobbin. A few popular fibers that are spun into yarn other than cotton, which is the most popular, are viscose (the most common ...

s as adults and under the same conditions. Many people disagreed with child labor, bringing laws which regulated the age of employees. In 1931 during the Great Depression a few mill employees built a wooden star as a sign of HOPE, lined with lights to hang between the two smoke stacks at Christmas, starting an annual tradition in Lindale. The star has been hung between the two smoke stacks almost every year during the Christmas Holidays.

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

pitcher and Taylorsville native Willard Nixon worked at the mill in the winter months during his 9-year major league career (1950 - 1958). 1953 Topps baseball card #30

Closing of the mill

After 105 years of manufacturing, the mill closed on September 24, 2001. It couldn't compete as the textiles moved overseas. The closure dealt a huge blow to the economy of Floyd County, and to the community of Lindale. In 2004 a 70-year-old tradition of hanging a Christmas star between the smoke stacks also briefly ended. As the Mill gave way to demolition and reclaiming of the heart pine lumber and antique bricks, the community of Lindale sat in quiet darkness for the next 9 years. In 2010, the Lindale Mill was purchased by the Silva family out of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. In 2013, the new owners began working with the Lindale community trying to clean up the Mill area and surrounding Silver Creek, bringing pride to Lindale. In 2013, Restoration Lindale working with the new owners, restored the Christmas Star hanging tradition, bringing thousands of families and past employees back to Lindale for an annual Star Lighting ceremony. The ceremony is held in November. The Lindale Mill is currently being used for small to large movie production filming, photography location and a wedding and events venue. The site offers 23 acres existing old brick buildings, large open spaces with bridges, dams, a running creek, large metal industrial windows, and the existing boiler building, which is held up by some of Andrew Carnegie Steel dates back to 1893. In 1903 Carnegie Steel Co was Sold to J.P Morgan for 480 Million US Dollars. The old mill has a new honor of being considered by Movie Locators who have expressed their opinion there are few similar authentic locations still existing in Georgia. It has become a highly sought after location for the filming production industry within Georgia, once again bringing pride and service to the hometown it honors.

References

{{coord missing, Georgia (U.S. state) Buildings and structures in Floyd County, Georgia