When Mr. and Mrs. Post Came to Town

Thank you so very much, Dear Reader, for indulging me while I took some time for family, friends, and little frivolity during the holidays.

I'm looking forward to bringing you many more bits of Douglas County history in 2013.

During our last visit I had begun the story of the very interesting tale of C.C. and Helen Post who entered the Douglasville scene in the late 1880s.

The late Douglas County historian, Fannie Mae Davis used the words visionaries, social reformers and even eccentric to describe the Posts, and it's clear from my research they brought Douglas County to the forefront of a very tumultuous time in Georgia's political history. Personally, I'd like to add the word nefarious as well to the descriptors....

When we last left Mr. and Mrs. Post she had decided to take classes regarding Christian Science with Emma Curtis Hopkins. See my first post regarding the Posts here if you need to refresh your memory or need to catch up on the story.

During the time Helen was taking the classes poor Mr. Post suffered from what has been described by some sources as a weak physique while other sources mention the word "consumption".

In case you are not aware consumption refers to what we know today as tuberculosis.

Helen promptly introduced her future husband to Christian Science doctrine. After their marriage she advised anyone who would listen that she had cured him. Mr. Post agreed with her and encouraged her to share her healing powers with others.

At this point the story shifts from Chicago, Illinois to Douglasville, and if you are like me you have to wonder what prompted the Posts to move from a large city such as Chicago to little old Douglasville. In fact, a Constitution article concerning the background of Mr. and Mrs. Post refers to Douglasville as a mere hamlet, possessing but one grocery store and a blacksmith shop.

Indeed...not exactly a spot where a muckraking political journalist/novelist and a newspaper/healer might end up.

Mrs. Post advises in her book The Search for Freedom concerning the move south saying, "Some three years after my marriage to Mr. Post we came south. We were on a search for conditions. We hardly knew what the conditions would be; but we had worn out the old ones, and ha been worn out in them until a complete change became imperative.

Indeed, Mr. Post was a very sick man. He had worked too hard at the desk, and death threatened him in the shape of consumption. When we left Chicago not one of our friends expected to see him alive again....

...We went to Douglasville, Georgia and there, in a little country hotel, we fought the battle with death, and won the victory. As health began to be established in Mr. Posts' wasted frame...."

However, the Haymarket Riot in Chicago might have prompted their move. The riot occurred in May, 1886....six months before the Posts arrived in Douglasville.

The whole affair started out as a peaceful march by workers demanding an eight hour day. However, when police tried to get the crowd to move along someone threw a bomb into the crowd. After the blast and the gunfire that erupted several policemen and civilians were killed or wounded. The eight organizers for the march were prosecuted and convicted of conspiracy. They were branded as anarchists and sentenced to death. During the eight weeks after the riot a red scare ensued.

The Posts were known supporters of the labor movement, and Mr. Post's co-workers at the paper didn't take kindly to it when they learned Helen Post had sent money to those on trial to help with their legal bills. It could just be that Chicago had gotten a little uncomfortable for Mr. and Mrs. Post.

At any rate...Helen sold her paper...The Woman's World to fund the move. She wrote, "I soon grew tired of the whole matter, especially as it took up my entire time and there was no money of any consequence in it; and we needed money...Mr. Post had been unable for months to earn anything with his pen. It was quite a long time before he recovered his mental vigor sufficiently to enter the field of literature again."

The Posts arrived in Douglasville in January, 1887 with what probably amounted to the clothes on their backs and two hundred dollars between them.

During the move C.C. Post had encouraged Helen to figure out a way to share their experiences with Christian Science and his "cure" with the public. After thinking on it a bit Helen decided she could fashion the philosophy into her own dogma stating in her book, "It's hallmark was the claim that humanity was nourished by an inferior fountain of thought and will which represented one's inner divine power."

She improved upon the "one's inner divine power" principal an became the self-appointed founder of "Mental Science".  Please understand I am in no way discounting Christian Science in any way, and don't wish to make a judgment on it.  The problem has to do with how Helen Wilmans Post perverted the thoughts behind Christian Science and eventually twisted her "Mental Science" to such an extent she was committing fraud.

While in Douglasville...perhaps during their stay at the hotel in town on Strickland Street Helen Post wrote her series of lessons. Between herself and her daughter Ada, Helen handwrote six copies of the lessons, placed an ad in The Woman's World and upon receipt of $25 a copy of the lessons would be mailed to the customer. The customer then produced their own handwritten copy of the lessons and mailed them back to Helen.

Later, Helen was able to print the lessons, and the cost was reduced to $20 for each client.

Apparently the venture was an immediate success and started gaining Helen Post attention as well as a fat bank account. She an Ada began work on their next project....a paper clients could subscribe to called Wilman's Express.

Four years later in a Constitution article dated February 15, 1891 in which Helen was interviewed regarding her business she advised that the paper was printed by the New South in Douglasville and brought in close to twelve to fourteen thousand dollars a year in subscriptions. She advised that the paper had circulation of 30,000, but close to 50,000 were printed each month. During those years when the population hovered around 1,000, I venture to say that Helen Wilmans Post was the number one customer at the Douglasville post office!

By 1891, there were two "Mental Science" courses offered....a beginners and an advanced. Mrs. Post estimated that over 5,000 had been sold. This means that in the four years she had been living in Douglasville Mrs. Post had made close to $100,000 with her course...and let us remember that this was prior to income tax!!!

Fannie Mae Davis advises the Posts were "promptly welcomed into the social and power structure" of Douglasville.

Helen Post advises in her book...."a wild curiosity was manifested to find out what cured [Mr. Post].

It was believed that I possessed some secret power that was denied to others, and I become a marked individual in the community. Especially the Negroes were affected by Mr. Post's cure, and they came to me with their complaints and begged to be cured also."

Some of her words might offend us today, but we need to remember this particular book was written in 1898, and opinions and the manner in which they were expressed were much different.

Helen continues...."but soon there was another class [who came]. Southern society is divided into three classes; the Negroes, the poorer class of white people who are tenants on the land they planted, and the upper classes who are property owners, and in every way superior to the others.

I only had a short experience with the middle class when the more intelligent and refined people began to crowd all the others out."

Apparently, Mr. Post had recovered enough by March, 1887 to get out and about. Helen writes, "....He wished for some ground in which to dig and plant. He had been brought up on a farm, and it was strange to see how he really longed to come into close relationship with old mother earth once more."

Mother Earth was the last thing on C.C. Post's mind...he missed politics and had set about working on his way into making the right friends in Douglasville.

By March, 1887 Mr. Post had become very friendly with Joseph S. James and Dr. T.R. Whitley and was named the president of the Douglasville Canning and Preservation Company. I wrote about it here stating that the goal of the [company] was to provide a market for area farmers plus provide an incentive for the farmers to plant more fruits and berries.

It wasn't just about providing a market. The business was a farmer cooperative and a main tenant of the Farmer's Alliance....a political concern Post was heavily involved with before he ever reached Douglasville, and that eventually would turn the town's political structure upside down.

The Posts eventually bought some land described as "adjoining the town", and "began to improve it."

The land in question happened to be four lots belonging to Dr. T.R. Whitley.  They set about using some of the money Helen had earned from her mail order business building a home....a home Fannie Mae Davis advises was so fine and impressive the street it was on became known as Chicago Avenue.

A Constitution article from 1891 states, "...just on the outskirts of Douglasville....is one of the handsomest residences in the state. There lives Colonel C.C. Post and his wife...The home is one of elegance, unsurpassed by many city palaces."

The home is gone now but this picture taken before the house was torn down in the 1950s clearly shows that Helen Post must have been doing well.

In fact, once the house was built Helen expanded her business. She established the Wilmans Metaphysical College which offered classes leading to diplomas an advertised "Lovely accommodations for a limited number". Tuition was $50 and board cost seven to ten dollars a week. The petition for the "college" was filed by Joseph S. James.

Who knew that such as "college" ever existed in Douglasville?

C.C. Post's name also appears on letter head for the Douglasville Mineral Land and Improvement Company as vice president. Joseph S. James was listed as president and
H.H. LeVan was listed as secretary.

An article in the Constitution dated February 16, 1889 advises a syndicate of northern capitalist had purchased 3,000 acres of land near Winston in the red belt section of Douglas County on the Georgia Pacific railway, and that the land contained large deposits of magnetic iron ore. Joseph S. James, who by that time was an ex-Senator stated they would commence removing the ore within 30 days.

And these northern capitalist? The article states among the purchasers were C.C.Post and Mr. LeVan of Minneapolis who also had moved to Douglasville.

A northern capitalist who had arrived in town nearly dead and with as little as $200.  You have to smile, right?

While I have found no verification to date, Helen Post advises that her husband was elected to the Douglasville town council on two separate occasions while they lived in town.

....and Helen wrote of the people of Douglasville once more after she had a little more money:

"We had money to spend on the effort to assist others. The people about us - though not understanding our ideas in the least - were strongly attracted to us, and we loved them in return."

C.C. Post expanded his growing group of friends and associates to those in Atlanta eventually. By June, 1890 he helped form the Northern Society.  I shared a little about this group here.....

The Northern Society was a group of northern-born folks who made Georgia their home and wanted to promote the benefits of their adoptive home for families and businesses.

C.C. Post was heavily involved with the group and managed to get the city of Douglasville to help him put on the very first convention for the Northern Society attended by hundreds from around the state.

And then by 1891 C.C. Post was a lecturer for the Farmer's Alliance, and that's when things began to get a bit dicey for Mr. and Mrs. Post....for Douglasville.....and the state of Georgia.

Tune in next week!

Go back to Part one here.

Part three can be found here.

Part four can be found here.

Demolition By Neglect

This past week I performed a little experiment. I threw the word "history" out to various people - friends, waitresses, store clerks, even a couple of surprised strangers - and asked them to tell me what immediately popped into their minds.

Various words were thrown back to me - events, dates, maps, wars, battles - and the list goes on.

None of the responses really surprised me, but there are other words to parallel with the word history. Words like preservation, remember, and trust come to mind and unfortunately, the words failure, greed, demolish, surrender, neglect, and ignore are on the flipside as I continue examining the winding path of history our cotton mill in Douglasville has taken.

I shared the story last week regarding how Douglasville ended up with the cotton mill and how important the mill was to our economic health over most of the last century. You can see my column form last week here.

Now I want to share the rest of the story regarding how history can be neglected and forgotten by the very people we trust to preserve it. Sometimes in their attempts to improve the lives of citizens in the here and now they actually betray the trust handed to them by citizens who lived their lives a long time ago. They also end up cheating future generations regarding our historical records.

History can also be used by folks who are just looking for easy outs in business in order to leverage property or satisfy some misguided need to collect historic properties, and then allow them to die a slow death of neglect for some strange reason I simply cannot fathom.

It's a shame that a unique and proud cotton mill with such a rich history ended up as a sad and lonely piece of Douglasville history slated to be sold on the courthouse steps in just a few days.

Construction for the mill began in 1897 and over the years mill housing was built for employees. The mill village also included a company store, athletic fields, and churches. In 1934, the mill was involved in the Textile Worker's Strike of 1934, the larges labor strike in the history of the United States, with over 44,000 mill workers across Georgia on strike regarding various issues of discrimination and evictions. In 1953, sources indicate the cotton mill was Douglasville's largest employer with 3,000 workers or one-fourth of the country's population.

It was during the late 1990s that the Douglasville Historic Preservation Commission and Douglasville City government became involved with the cotton mill property due to a proposed widening project for Bankhead Highway that is still on hold to this day. In case you aren't aware when the Georgia Department of Transportation or GDOT wants to make any changes regarding our roads they have to conduct various studies including one that determines how any historic sites in the proposed area will be impacted by the road changes.

At first all GDOT did was a quick assessment referred to in a later document as a "windshield survey" meaning they didn't even get out of the car. An article published in the Cultural Resource Management magazine presented by the National Parks Service indicates, "Local historians were unaware of the patented design for the mill in...Douglasville, Georgia," and since the windows had been bricked in "the mill in Douglasville was deceptive in appearance causing it to be overlooked [initially] in a [GDOT] survey of historic resources."

On November 13, 1997, the United States Department of the Interior issued a letter to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division noting GDOT had not designated the cotton mill as historic and sited their own research DID indicate the structure had historic value even though it had been "altered on the exterior." The letter further stated, "This mill IS certainly worthy of additional examinations."

Finally, on January 30, 1998 officials with GDOT, the city of Douglasville, as well as officials from the Georgia Historic Preservation Division met and all were in agreement the cotton mill site was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C for its distinctive method of construction.

Now, here is where I need to make a clarification. The agreement between all of the government entities regarding historic status does not mean the property was automatically protected. Anyone can fill out the paperwork and nominate a site for National Register status, but the owner of the property can turn it down.

Yes, it can't be forgotten that during all of the to and fro between all of the governmental agencies and officials the mill property was privately owned. The wrangling over historical status merely had to do with the GDOT project and the hoops they are required to jump through when trying to get a project off the ground. During the initial wrangling over historic status the mill property was owned by Kenneth Farmer and then in August, 1999 the property was transferred to Fellowship Christian Center, Inc.

If the Bankhead widening project had happened the way it was initially proposed the outside wall of the mill would have had to be removed if not the entire structure, so of course the entire structure had to be fully examined. The widening project could have been very beneficial to the property owner as a selling point, but historical status could hinder GDOT with their plans as they were.

Eight months prior to Fellowship Christian taking over the property the Douglasville Historic Preservation Commission prepared a document titled "Report for Nomination: Proposal for Historic Designation Georgia Western Cotton Mill" containing the information noted above. In fact, I've been told the cotton mill was one of the first properties the commission identified formally as a historic site.

Sadly though, I have been advised the City Council pressed the commission to remove the listing a couple of years ago after being convinced by a developer that the historic designation limited development options. Rather than take steps to prevent deterioration an market the property as an asset, the mayor and council for all intents and purposes promoted its demise.

An undated letter from the City of Douglasville to the Douglasville Historic Preservation Commission requests the commission to remove the cotton mill property from the local historic registry. The letter advises "the buildings are in a state of disrepair and it is unlikely they can be returned to a state of historic significance."

I have a problem with that. Historical significance does NOT disappear simply because a site is not in pristine condition.

The letter goes on to state, "The buildings are unsafe to occupy and are a hazard to the community. We need to pursue condemnation procedures and are unable to do so due to its historic affiliation."

First, it bothers me that the letter is not dated. Second, it bothers me that if condemnation was on the city's mind why has the property not been condemned? It seems to me the "historical status" of the property was the hindrance.

Inman Park Properties took ownership of the mill property in 2001, and here is where the ride gets even bumpier.

Let me introduce you to Jeff Notrica, the person at the helm of Inman Park Properties, hereafter referred to as IPP. Do a quick look across the web and you can quickly see several adjectives that describe Notrica - businessman, property developer, landlord, deadbeat, slumlord, scum of the earth, innkeeper, crook, and hoarder.

Under the guise of IPP and various other LLC businesses Notrica spent the 1990s and the first few years of the last decade buying up property after property in Atlanta, Birmingham, and Savannah.

As I continued with my research I noticed a patter. The majority of the properties IPP acquired were interesting or significant in some way. IPP acquired the properties and generally did nothing to improve them even if they had tenants. Apparently IPP charged high rents, but the buildings were in poor shape and remained that way so they could be tax write-offs. In some cases IPP even told prospective tenants THEY had to pay for property upgrades. Then of course, IPP would take out mortgages on each property for up to four times the actual value of the property. The borrowed money would fund the purchase of more properties, and the process would begin anew.

For example, IPP bought the Gordon School property in the East Atlanta Village for $200,000 and then placed more than $4 million in debt against it. Improvements? No, at one point there were trees growing on the second floor of the structure.

There was also a small parking lot in IPP's portfolio bought for $127,000, but was quickly mortgaged for $600,000. Guess there was yet another historic property for IPP to snap up.

The whole business model (if you really want to call it that) harkens to one of those late night infomercials where the announcer repeatedly tells you, "Yes! You too can get rich quick in real estate!"

For our own cotton mill property was purchased by IPP for $195,000 in 2001. In November, 2004 a mortgage was issued from Omni Bank (it has since been assigned to another company) for $1.2 million dollars. Was the money used to improve the mill property? No. You can take a look at my pictures here and determine for yourself.

Of course, during the time IPP has owned the cotton mill property the property taxes have run behind. The last delinquency is for 2008, 2009, and 2010 leading to a sheriff's sale.

The now defunct website for IPP stated the company motto was "Preserving the future by saving the past."

Really?

Sad.

This link discusses IPP's holdings in the East Atlanta Village explaining how many of them were in a state of neglect including huge piles of garbage and tires. This article details IPP's ownership of the Kreigshaber House which you might recognize by the name  Wrecking Bar (now saved by someone else and open), and The Clermont (the lounge is still open of this writing), as well as other very historic Atlanta properties.

This Birmingham News article from 2009 details how IPP began buying up historical properties in Birmingham tying up as much as $10 million with at least 11 properties that were allowed to decay.

More information regarding IPP's tax delinquencies and claims to have invested millions of dollars to improve his holdings can be found here, here, and here.

Of course, foreclosures began to plague IPP around 2008 and 2009, and I would imagine they are continuing to this day. While the current economic downtown did hurt Notrica and IPP, his past history clearly shows today's  commercial real estate climate is not the cause of what can only be termed "a mess."

And through this whole thing one has to wonder where the cities and counties are? Why are they not enforcing their regulations and accountability regarding code enforcement? What about the tax delinquencies?

Yes, there are several reasons why I'd like to kick Notrica, but in an attempt to be fair I would like to mention that at one point he was appointed to the board of The Atlanta Preservation Center. It would seem, however, it was a move by the group's leader just to keep IPP/Notrica close, and it was a very controversial issue among group members.

In 2003, the preservation group placed the Trust Company Bank at Monroe Drive and Fire Station No. 11 on the "Most Endangered Historic Places" list. Both were owned by IPP/Notrica and magically the two historic spots were turned around earning Notrica awards an accolades here. This link also discusses a success with properties in Little Five Points where Front Page News and Tiuana Garage are located.

And today? Notrica lives in Savannah where he promotes himself as an innkeeper at the Dresser Palmer House. The website advises, "Don't be surprised to see him checking you in when you arrive or fixing drinks at the evening social." The bio only mentions he owned a small inn in Atlanta. There isn't a single word about his status as a land developer.

While I do enjoy historic inns somehow I don't see myself every allowing Notrica to pour me a drink.

This article first appeared at Douglasville Patch in August, 2011.

 

Cotton Mill Ends the Doldrums

Over the past three weeks I've taken a look at the New South philosophy that our town fathers adhered to as they developed Douglasville. I first focused on the railroad here and here, and last week I provided a few details about Joseph S. James, Douglasville's first mayor, and the number one cheerleader for New South ideals, here.

The Georgia General Assembly approved Douglasville as our county seat about the same time New South ideals were gaining momentum across the South, so business and political leaders had a unique opportunity to set up each fact of the town to fit the New South image.

The main commercial district was positioned to run parallel along the railroad track so that it could be seen by travelers who might be looking to move to a vibrant city. The railroad was also in close proximity for moving and receiving freight.

Within a few years buildings went from being wooden structures to permanent brick buildings with all types of architectural elements that were innovative and pleasing to the eye not to mention promoting productivity and wealth. Stephanie Ayleworth, Douglasville's Main Street Manager has conducted exhaustive research into the city's New South beginnings and advises Douglasville had sixty-two buildings in 1895 and by 1911 that number had jumped to eighty-four.

So, the town fathers had a growing downtown commercial district and a railroad. The next ingredient they needed was a way to revive the devastated economy following the Civil War and Reconstruction. It is only natural they looked to the cotton fields because they knew cotton was king.

Cotton is king!!!

Isn't that what every student learns about the South as they advance through each level of American History?

Don't worry. I'm certainly not going to lead you down a path pretending some other commodity was on the throne. I'm a history teacher for goodness sake! Prior to the Civil War cotton was the major ingredient to the southern economy.

Cotton was king, but what isn't taught generally is cotton continued to be king and drove the economy for some time. Usually, most of the content that is taught after the Civil War leaves cotton behind overshadowing it with events involving Reconstruction, and moving on to into the Gilded Age. The importance of cotton is rarely mentioned in postbellum studies unless you are sitting in an eighth grade Georgia history classroom with a very content focused educator or you are in an upper level college course.

Just because the Thirteenth Amendment emancipated the slave that doesn't mean the cotton fields went fallow. In fact, one of the tenants of the New South philosophy had everything to do with cotton and reviving the southern economy.

It wasn't just about getting cotton production up. The New South philosophy was all about getting the cotton fields to the cotton mills.

Douglasville's leaders knew they had to have a cotton mill and set about raising the money. In fact, Douglasville wasn't alone in their quest for a cotton mill. Every little town across Georgia and across the South were vying to build their own mill mainly through the investments of Northern manufacturers, but it was also key for citizens of the town to invest in building a mill.

In her history of Douglas County, Fannie Mae Davis writes the town leaders called a meeting to appeal to local citizens to get Douglasville out of what they identified as "the doldrums". They discussed how to best develop the town, and committees were formed to pursue a bank, a hotel, and a cotton mill. Mrs. Davis quotes an article in The Atlanta Constitution describing how several people gave short talks. Joseph S. James concluded with an appeal to the people to open their hearts and purses in giving. One of the items everyone agreed upon at the meeting was a town slogan proclaiming, "People make the town!"

Have you ever heard the saying, "Location, location, location"? If a postbellum town was seeking to build a cotton mill the location was very important. The mill had to be close to the railroad, and it had to be near cotton warehouses.

Back in the early days of Douglasville, Church Street was known as Factory Street per Fannie Mae Davis's county history as well as early insurance maps. By the very name the town fathers hoped Factory Street would indicate to investors that the town recognized industry was important, and it was welcome.

The strategy worked because Douglasville's first cotton mill was Eden Park Mill, and it was located along Factory Street. An article published in The Atlanta Constitution indicates the capital needed to build the factory was $50,000. The majority of the stock was held by a northern investor named Simon Baer and Joseph S. James, Douglasville's first mayor and prime New South booster. The paper also advised, "about 4,000 spindles were operated and more than 100 employees secured work at the mill."

Unfortunately, the Eden Park Mill was consumed by fire around midnight on April 7, 1895, and it was a total loss.The design of the mill turned out to be the culprit.The furnace had been placed directly beneath the spinning rooms and a spark from an engine caused the fire.

The pride of Douglasville was gone.

So, James and his Yankee partner, Baer set about to build another mill. This time they chose a location one-half mile east of the central business district on a parcel of land then totaling fifty acres. This location was actually better since it was parallel to the railroad just like the central business district.

You've seen it.

You've driven past it.

It's still there.

It's the white brick abandoned and dilapidated building along U.S. 78/Bankhead Highway between Courtland and Hagin Streets.

Within two years following the New Eden fire, The New South, a paper published in Douglasville announced a contract for the construction of the Georgia Western Cotton Mill. Later the mill would be known as the New Century Cotton Mill and then the Lois Cotton Mill, named for one of Joseph S. James' daughters. The anticipated completion date for the building was January 1, 1898.

The Cawhern Building Company out of Atlanta would oversee the construction using local labor and bricks that were created right here in Douglas County. The total cost for the building and equipment would be approximately $430,000 and James and Baer anticipated 450 employees.

It would be a major force in the economy of Douglasville and Douglas County as area farmers would have a local source to purchase their cotton and to feed the 20,000 spindles the mill would spin.

The Atlanta Constitution finally announced on November 15,1908 the Douglasville mill had begun operating the day before. It had been ten years since the construction had been announced.

There were several reasons for this. First, James and Baer had not received an insurance settlement for the Eden Park fire. Second, business that supplied the Eden Park machinery had filed a law suit in 1897 indicating they had not been paid. James held off the creditors for awhile by claiming the shipment of equipment had never arrived.

Then to make matters even more complicated Simon Baer severed his business relationship with James. It wasn't until 1907 that James was able to secure a primary investor for the second mill by joining ranks with a South Carolina mill owner by the name of M.E. Geer per an article in The Atlanta Constitution dated October, 1907.

As far as cotton mills built during the New South time period go the mill in Douglasville was and still is very unique. It is only one of five mills built in the South using Charles Praray's innovative design for mills patented under the name "Praray Improved Construction for Mills" and is only one of two where the tale-tell zigzag walls are still standing.

Ayleworth's research indicates according to the patent, "Praray's striking design is best identified by the zigzag appearance of the exterior walls and windows. The mill is an excellent example of Northern architecture adapting to the New South economy. The unique architecture of the mill was a cost saving device.

"The mill was built on two separate foundations. The inner foundation housed the equipment, while the outer foundation and walls were for the vast window casings. This construction technique made the walls cheaper to construct and, in case of fire, they could be more easily removed and less costly to replace. The walls were entirely free from strain. the outer walls allowed for more windows, thus allowing more light and ventilation and facilitating longer hours of operation."

Over the years the windows were removed and bricked over as air conditioning and electric lighting was improved.

By the early 20th century, Douglasville had evolved into a modern town prophesied by New South visionaries such as Henry Grady per Fannie Mae Davis mainly due to the New Century Cotton Mill, and when it opened the mill became the greatest economic success in the history of Douglasville.

Sadly, the 104 year old structure stands abandoned, yet it remains a symbol of Douglasville's pioneering father's vision made manifest per Ayleworth, and I would have to agree with her.

Unfortunately, its unique design gives the building a deceptively modern appearance. This caused the mill to be overlooked for National Register status - a fact I will address in a future column.

Rail Was the Route to Atlanta

Last week I began to examine how the railroad running parallel to Douglasville’s central business district came to be. The railroad was an important ingredient used by town leaders to create a successful business district per the New South creed. The espousal of the New South creed reshaped villages into railroad towns, revitalized local economies and resurrected the cotton mill industry per Stephanie Aylworth, Douglasville’s Main Street Manager.

In his book, The Promise of the New South: Life After Reconstruction, Edward L. Ayers states,The New South era began in the 1880s after the biracial and reformist experiment of Reconstruction had ended and the conservative white Democrats had taken power throughout the Southern states.