Posted on 11/28/2005 10:01:36 AM PST by Rebelbase
A group concerned about preserving the South’s textile past wants to establish an expansive National Heritage Corridor, which would run through the heart of the Triad.
Called the Southern Textile Heritage Corridor, the area would stretch some 700 miles from Richmond, Va., to Montgomery, Ala., along Interstate 85.
If successful, organizers say, the corridor would encourage the preservation of everything from textile memories to old mills; spur the development of historic sites, scenic byways and museums; and attract tourists to communities devastated by plant closings and job losses.
“The beaches have their thing that attracts tourists; the mountains have the natural beauty,” said Gail Knauff, a founding member of the Haw River Historical Association. “The Piedmont area needs something. The thing that connects the area together is the textile industry.”
Establishing a heritage corridor — 27 already exist across the country with others under consideration — won’t happen quickly. The designation requires detailed study and congressional approval. Organizers hope to win federal designation in four years.
“We are just at the very beginning,” said Lynn Rumley, director of the Textile Heritage Center in Cooleemee. “We want to take our time. We want to inspire mill people to save their stories and places and historic record. That is the first step.”
The corridor would run through the heart of the South’s textile region — Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama — and would extend an hour’s drive on either side of I-85. A spur would follow U.S. 29 North to Danville, Va.
“It’s vast,” Rumley said of the region. “It looks like it will be the most comprehensive and probably the largest.”
Competition for that honor could come from a proposed heritage corridor along the Mississippi River.
These corridors are areas where residents, businesses, nonprofits, private partners and governments join together to preserve and promote their heritage, culture and natural resources with the help of the National Park Service.
Heritage areas can receive federal funds and guidance from the Park Service but are not federally owned or controlled.
That’s left to local oversight groups.
The program has been in existence for 20 years, but has become extremely popular in the past five.
North Carolina already has the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and another proposed for the northeastern part of the state.
Rumley and others want to use the heritage corridor concept to help preserve the stories of the South’s cotton mill people, as well as the places where they lived and worked.
This effort would include saving artifacts large and small — ranging from mills and mill villages to letters and photos.
“Ours is the story of another South — one that many people are unfamiliar with,” Rumley said. “These communities had a vibrant culture that encompassed not only hard work and ingenuity but their own unique music, food, a rich spiritual life and fiercely competitive sports like baseball and car racing.”
In the Piedmont Triad, the corridor might link sites such as Glencoe Mill Village near Burlington, Washington Mill in Mayodan, Oakdale Cotton Mill in Jamestown and Erlanger Mill and Village in Lexington.
The corridor might produce promotional materials and maps and have joint advertising budgets.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Kathy Barry, secretary-treasurer of the Textile Heritage Museum at Glencoe said of the concept. “Every town has a mill or a mill village or had one.”
In the past nine years, North Carolina has seen nearly 140 textile plants close. Others have been torn down.
The corridor also would encourage communities to establish textile museums and related attractions.
“We want to get them thinking,” Rumley said. “If we were to make a (textile site) map today, it would have very few dots on it. But we think that is going to change. We see this as a project that will stir people at the grass-roots level.”
“I think this is a really great, great thing that could happen,” Staci Meyer, chief deputy secretary of North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, said of the corridor concept. “It has the potential to be a very big deal.”
Oceans/Mountains/Textiles..... "Honey where do you want to go for vacation this year, the mountains or the beach?" ...'Gosh, I don't know darling, I was thinking maybe we could go to the textile corridor instead'....
The NC Piedmont is desperate to find it's identity. Decades of talk about regionalism has produced nothing of substance other than the Research Triangle Park.
This area is similar to a collection of Greek city-states at war with each other for economic gain.
NC pinger please.
Snooooooooze.
Actually, I'm interested in industrial history, and wouldn't mind seeing some of the things they suggest, if we happened to be in the area anyway. But forget about spending National Parks money on it!
However when it came to Greek city-states it wasn't always at the expense of the taxpayer. I bet our two 'conservative' Senators will be all for this waste of money
oh great here we go again! Its not that i'm not all for preserving our history but why is this country all about tourism???!! When are we going to start spending our money building industry so that AMERICAN workers can have REAL jobs!?
I've stumbled across several abandoned mills that are classic 19th century textile structures in my travels throughout my area. The problem with mainstreaming these into tourist destinations is they are off the beaten path in economically depressed areas miles from the interstate highway system.
A far as mill towns go there are several living examples today of row after row of identical mill houses in various counties; however, in the smaller towns these houses tend to be in the lower price ranges and are home to people who now have nothing to do with textiles. Some of these hoods have morphed into crack city, which is not your typical tourist fare.
Gee, here's a better idea: WHY NOT KEEP SOME REAL TEXTILE MILLS OPEN THAT REALLY PRODUCE FABRIC AND REALLY EMPLOY REAL, LIVE PEOPLE RATHER THAN SENDING THOSE JOBS TO CHINA AND MEXICO?
Hmmmm, it's not the business of the national government to 'spend our money building industry'. You see? Republicans truly are returning to their roots. American System anyone? D#mn Henry Clay.
Well of curse, bb. That specific "corridor" just happens to be right downtown Salisbury. Wonder whichy Beloved Senator (R-NC) will laud the way? Hurts my mind to try figuring this one out!
I weep for the children forced to visit textile museums in the future.
It's more like STOP spending the peoples' money so small business and private industry can get on with creating real jobs.
bill, we're like twins, but not.
Oink, oink, oink.
If the government would just get out of the way (get rid of onerous taxes and ridiculous regulations) American industry would build itself. When smart and/or lazy people find out it's easier to write grant proposals than to build something worthwhile, then they will write grant proposals.
Ha - freekin - Ha. Sure.
We see this as a project that will stir people at the grass-roots level.
Well then, I'm sure the grassroots folks will fund this thing 100%
Seriously, I love historical sites and these types of museums, but since when did the Fed have to fund them?
But hey, FWIW...
The Honorary Order of the Bobbin & Shuttle
One way to get involved and support the Southwide Textile Heritage Initiative is to enlist in the Order of the Bobbin & Shuttle. Dues are $30 and for joining we will send you a handsome enamel lapel pin. You will receive periodic updates. You will also receive the first issue of The Bobbin and Shuttle magazine.
Some towns have an historical society which is actively working to preserve this proud heritage. In areas where there are no such efforts you may want to consider starting a branch of the Order of the Bobbin & Shuttle.
If our ancestors are going to gain a lasting, honorable place in history it is up to us. The Southwide Textile Heritage is depending on your generosity. Join us.
Add me to the ping list. Remove me from the ping list.
Click Here for information on the Ft.Jackson "Adopt-a-Soldier" program.
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