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    Burlington
    Burlington
    Burlington
    Ebook123 pages30 minutes

    Burlington

    By Don Bolden

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    About this ebook

    Burlington originated as a railroad town but gained worldwide fame as the home of Burlington Industries, once the largest textile maker in the world. Now a city of 50,000 people, it is the national headquarters of Laboratory Corporation of America, the second largest medical testing laboratory in the nation.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateOct 25, 2010
    ISBN9781439626474
    Burlington
    Author

    Don Bolden

    Don Bolden is editor emeritus of the Times-News, and this is his third book for Arcadia. He has written eight other books on Alamance County history. Photographs for this book came from his personal files, the museum, the Burlington Times-News, and from a number of residents--past and present--of the village.

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      Book preview

      Burlington - Don Bolden

      effort.

      INTRODUCTION

      The ability of a community to respond to the demands of change determines in great part its survivability and growth.

      Burlington is a good example of a city that has met change, sometimes sudden, in many ways since its beginnings in the 1850s as home to a railroad company’s repair and maintenance facilities. The industrial base of the city, the retail community, and the ethnic and cultural makeup of the city have all experienced change over the years.The North Carolina Railroad built its repair and maintenance shops here near the halfway point of its Goldsboro-to-Charlotte line and began operations in 1856. For many years, the railroad was the lifeblood of Company Shops. But in 1886, the railroad announced it was moving its operations away from Company Shops, and the little town either had to close up or find a new basis for the economy.

      The next year, the town became known as Burlington, though not officially chartered until 1893. There were some cotton mills in operation in the area, and there were other small businesses, including a coffin factory. People in the community turned to those industries, and near the end of the century, a new industry, hosiery manufacturing, had been born.

      The railroad faded into Burlington’s history as the 20th century began, and the little community experienced prosperity and growth on the back of textiles and hosiery. Hosiery was extremely popular, as huge plants were not required. Of some 80 hosiery mills in the community in the first few decades of the century, some were nothing more than a couple of looms in a garage behind the family home. Most, in fact, were small, family operations.

      There were the big ones, however, such as May Hosiery and McEwen Hosiery, and much of the working population here found jobs in the industry. In the early part of the 20th century, Burlington was known over the nation as The Hosiery Center of the South.

      Numerous cotton mills were in operation in the area by 1923, when J. Spencer Love of Gastonia and a group of local businessmen formed Burlington Mills. Soon after beginning operations, the cotton industry was hit by recession, and the new mill was faced with a major problem—adapt or face bankruptcy.

      Love adapted and chose something new—rayon, the first man-made fiber. And that decision sent Burlington Mills on the path to becoming the world’s largest producer of textiles. It did so under a new name, Burlington Industries (B-I). For many years, B-I would be the area’s major employer.

      Love made the move to rayon just before the Great Depression hit, but while other mills failed, Love was able to expand his company. Many workers became unemployed, but Burlington Mills workers actually received pay increases in the Depression

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