Regional Histories
Where America made its cloth
Textile history is local. Each state below has its own record of mill towns, people, disasters, and legacy. Use the map to see how the industry moved across the country over four centuries.
11 of 14 profiled states active
- Mills operating
- Not yet begun
- Major era ended
The industry moved.
Press play or drag the slider to watch textile manufacturing take root in New England, migrate to the Southern Piedmont, and largely leave the country. Hover or tab to a state to preview its history, and select it to read the full regional record.
- MA · 1643–1955
Massachusetts
The Cradle of American Industry
- RI · 1790–1955
Rhode Island
Where the American Industrial Revolution Began
- NH · 1838–1936
New Hampshire
Manchester and the Amoskeag Empire
- NY · 1827–Present
New York
The Needle Trades Capital
- NJ · 1791–1955
New Jersey
Silk City and the Hamilton Vision
- CT · 1788–1985
Connecticut
Thread, Silk, and the Naugatuck Valley
- PA · 1820–1980s
Pennsylvania
Hosiery, Wool, and the Philadelphia System
- NC · 1813–2017
North Carolina
The New Cotton Kingdom
- SC · 1790–2006
South Carolina
Spindles and the Honea Path Line
- GA · 1793–2005
Georgia
Where the South's Cotton Was Spun
- VA · 1882–2006
Virginia
Dan River and the Tobacco Borderlands
- ME · 1850–2009
Maine
The Mill Cities of the Northeast
- AL · 1897-2006
Alabama
Mill Villages, Child Doffers, and the Summer of 1934
- TN · 1885-1990s
Tennessee
Rayon, Mountain Women, and the Mills of the Valley