Graniteville Specialty Fabrics traces is roots back to 1845,
when William Gregg built the South's first cotton mill in
the town of Graniteville, SC, naming the company after the
town. This town had 90 homes, several boarding houses, six
stores, two churches, and a school for the mill workers and
their families. The community got its name because most of
its buildings were constructed of blue granite.
Over the years, Graniteville became the home office and central
location for a collection of textile plants in South Carolina
and Georgia, known as The Graniteville Company. In 1947, the
company started its Specialty Fabrics Division. In1996, Avondale
Mills, one of the largest denim manufacturers in the United
States, purchased The Graniteville Company.
Nine years later, Graniteville experienced the most tragic
events in its history. On January 6, 2005, a train derailment
released deadly chlorine gas into the air. Lives were lost.
Business was lost. With the textile industry struggling to
compete in open markets, this was the kind of event that should
have spelled complete disaster. However, through the perseverance
of community members and the dedication of many Avondale employees,
Avondale’s Woodhead Plant was able to reopen two months
later. Unfortunately, this success was short-lived, as Avondale
was unable to keep any of its Graniteville plants in operation.
Luckily, for the Woodhead plant and the Graniteville community,
this was not the end. Thanks to the business foresight of
the Woodhead, LLC partners (who purchased the Woodhead coating
plant in August 2006) the Woodhead Plant has now been reborn
as Graniteville Specialty Fabrics. This allowed employees
to keep their jobs, thus creating a positive economic impact
on the community and demonstrating to the community, customers,
and competitors alike that Woodhead is still a viable manufacturing
facility and will continue to service the industrial fabrics
marketplace. |
