Providing housing to retain workers was a common strategy for textile firms in the South. The firm expanded quickly, building four mills in the first decade of operation and creating a mill village, a place for employees to live. Originally, it was called the Riverside Cotton Mills, because of its location on the banks of the Dan River. Dan River Mills Historyĭan River Mills was established by six local men in 1882. Also depicted are the three former Dan River Mills sites featured in this article. A map of Danville with all IDA-owned properties highlighted in orange. This included buying up Dan River Mills properties with the hope that they could be transformed into something new.Īnd now, that investment is starting to pay off.īut before we look at what the Dan River Mills sites are becoming, it’s important to know what they’ve been. Since the mill’s closure in 2006, the city has been trying to bolster the economy again. “And seeing those empty buildings, psychologically, is a reminder of that loss constantly.” “The community sustained massive loss through what happened at Dan River,” she said. “I think it did hurt the psyche of the community,” Larking said, “over the last two decades, seeing Schoolfield with a bunch of rubble and a large old building that was clearly blighted.”Ĭivic self-esteem has been one of the biggest obstacles for the city in its revitalization efforts, said Diana Schwartz, executive director of the River District Association in Danville. And several other sites in Danville bear the physical reminder of what was once a thriving industrial town.

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