Memories among the rubble

Section by section and piece by piece, the old Marion Manufacturing Co. plant is slowly coming down.

Last year, local businessman Ford Miller, owner of the site, announced he would hire a demolition company to tear down the massive textile mill that once provided thousands of jobs and became the centerpiece of the East Marion community. At the time, Miller said the old 350,000-square-foot brick structure would be demolished because of the cost of its upkeep. The newer buildings on both ends of the old section will remain standing.

J.W. Demolition of Charlotte started working in September to gradually take down the four-story building that has stood there for a century. The workers have so far removed the top floor of the building and are slowly working their way down.

“They have got the roof off and the top floor’s walls off and they are working on the top floor,” said Harmon Strickland, who is the caretaker of the site. “They are going down to the third floor.”

The 175-foot-tall smokestack, with the plant’s name spelled out in brick, was originally scheduled for demolition. It can be seen from the Marion bypass and is a sort of monument to not only the plant but the East Marion community, too. After hearing from local officials and concerned residents, Miller agreed to let it stand.

Strickland said he and Miller still have the old clock that used to sit on top of the big building. It was taken down before the demolition started. Its future has not yet been determined. The city of Marion, the county library and the trade union that represented the workers have all expressed an interest in getting this clock, said Strickland.

Since the work started, tons of old brick and wood have been taken out of the old mill building. Around four to five tractor-trailer loads of brick were trucked out of the site and there is still plenty more to be demolished. Numerous beams and maple flooring have been hauled away. On Tuesday, a load of beams was loaded to be hauled to Louisiana.

The old Marion Manufacturing building should be gone within a year. Strickland said the future of the property still has not been decided.

“There’s been so many people stopping by, wanting a brick and wanting to talk about old memories” he said. “It is sad.”

Started in 1909, Marion Manufacturing Co. was for many years the oldest major industrial plant operating in McDowell County. On April 6, 1909, a group of 35 men met to establish a cotton mill in what became known as East Marion. The actual construction of the plant and the office store was begun that year. In 1910, one shift began its first operation at the new Marion Manufacturing Co. The mill village soon grew around the plant.

By 1929, textile workers were on strike throughout the South. Numerous employees at both Marion and Clinchfield plants took part in the labor movement and protested their working and living conditions.

In the early morning hours of Oct. 2, 1929, workers who had walked out and other employees picketing outside Marion Manufacturing soon found themselves in a deadly conflict with the local sheriff, six of his deputies and seven anti-union employees who had been deputized on the spot.

During the confrontation, tear gas was released and several shots were fired. Three mill workers died immediately and three more died of their wounds over the coming days. Dozens of others were wounded. The events at Marion Manufacturing became front page news across the country and famed author Sinclair Lewis came to town to write about the situation. He produced the book “Cheap and Contented Labor.”

In 2004, local historian Tina Thompson placed a memorial marker in front of the old textile mill to honor those men who were killed in the strike. Last month, Thompson had the marker removed in order to make some changes to it. She said she found out that one of the names engraved on the memorial was incorrect and wanted it changed. The marker is now back in its proper place along Baldwin Avenue.

Others are looking for ways to commemorate the long history of Marion Manufacturing and the East Marion mill village.

Patti Holda is the librarian who operates the genealogy and North Carolina history room at the county library in Marion. Before the demolition started, she had an opportunity to go through the old mill building and get the ledger books, blueprints and machinery schematics.

“I grabbed as much paper and stuff as I could,” said Holda. “I just grabbed stuff and put them in boxes.”

The oldest ledger she found dated back to 1911, a year after the building was completed and in operation. The old materials, many covered with mold and mildew, are now in a storage unit waiting to be cleaned and preserved. The records have information about money collected from the tenants in the mill village, the company store and pasture land that was available for East Marion folks, she said.

Holda plans to get them cleaned and put on display. The exhibit could be ready around the anniversary of the Oct. 2, 1929 massacre of the striking workers.

Michael DeBruhl Blankenship of Asheville said he is leading an effort to commemorate the 1929 strike and present its history for future generations. His grandfather was dispatched to Marion in 1929 by the Central Labor Union of Asheville to investigate the labor conflict. Blankenship recently brought forward a scrapbook that he said was compiled by historians and sisters Mary, Ruth and Nina Greenlee. It contains articles and press photos published during 1929 in newspapers from across the region that had not been seen in decades.

Blankenship plans to hold a meeting on Wednesday, June 29 at the MACA auditorium in Marion from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Blankenship said he is inviting numerous civic leaders, historians, educators and local officials to participate in this meeting. He also wants relatives of the striking workers to be included.

The meeting is part of an ongoing effort to commemorate the 1929 strikes in Marion, said Blankenship. This could include an exhibit, a video documentary, tours and dramatic recreations of the event.