Site Histories

Site 44PY178

In 1880, this area including this site was part of Jesse H. Keen’s North Danville property. With the establishment of Riverside Cotton Mills in 1882, the need for housing precipitated the growth of North Danville. In response to demand, Riverside Cotton Mills (later Riverside and Dan River Cotton Mills, Inc., in 1909, and Dan River Mills, Incorporated in 1949) acquired Keen’s parcel in two parts between 1883 and 1890. By the end of the 1890s, the continued growth of the mill industry had created the need for company housing to accommodate their growing workforce (Wuellner et al. 1993:8). By providing subsidized housing for their workers, Dan River Mills was able to save working capital, which allowed a lower total wage bill and lower circulating cash needs (McHugh 1988:19). Insurance maps of the Sanborn Map and Publishing Company show that the existing house on the corner of Front Street South and North Main Street and a larger two-story dwelling located adjacent to it were present by 1894 (Sanborn Map and Publishing Company [Sanborn] 1894).

By 1895 this parcel had been remapped and organized into a single lot containing five houses and encompassing the land south of Front Street between North Main and Keen streets, all within easy walking distance to several of Riverside’s cotton mills. Land book property assessments for that year list the value of this lot at $10.00 and the buildings on it at $35.00 (City of Danville [CD] Land Book North Side [LBNS] 1895–1900:24). By 1899, the existing structure’s layout had taken on a split symmetrical floor plan to support multiple households, a design intended to attract large families with several older children to the mills (McHugh 1988:79). It is also at this time that a pair of small, rectangular two-story dwellings appear to the southwest of these lots (Sanborn 1899). Danville annexed North Danville in 1896, but there appear to have been few, if any, changes made to the property between 1899 and 1910. However, in 1910, Sanborn maps indicate that the larger of the dwellings facing Front Street was a confirmed boarding house, while the easternmost of the small, rectangular dwellings had fallen into a state of disrepair, and was described simply as dilapidated (Sanborn 1910).

By 1915, the Sanborn maps indicate that the dilapidated, rectangular dwelling had been vacated, the boarding house torn down, and the lot left open (Sanborn 1915). These changes were also reflected in the property assessments for the year 1916, when building values on the lot had depreciated to $31.50 (CD LBNS 1916–1920:34). Inflation following World War I boosted Riverside and Dan River Mills' sales to record highs in 1920, corresponding to a dramatic increase in the value of the lot from $10.00 to $18.75 and its associated buildings from $31.50 to $36.00 that year (CD LBNS 1916–1920:34). The Sanborn maps from 1920 also indicate that by this time the rectangular buildings south of this lot had ceased to exist (Sanborn 1920). Land book property values remained at these levels throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. By 1932, the steady decline in the consumption of textiles that began in the early 1920s, coupled with the beginning of the Great Depression and frequent shortages of electric power in the City of Danville, led to a major decline in the mill industry and subsequently the surrounding community. During these "lean years," average annual net earnings plummeted to only $500,000, less than half of the industry's average yearly earnings from the 1920s (Smith 1960:328–329; Wuellner et al. 1993:23). Net income from the rental of company housing also fell sharply during this time, falling from $83,382 in 1932 to $46,386 in 1937 (Smith 1960:409). Assessments of the Front Street South property from this time illustrate this decline, with the lot and associated buildings valued at $27.00 and $8.75, respectively (CD LBNS 1931–1934, 1935–1938, 1939–1942). The entrance of the United States into World War II economically rejuvenated the company as government contracts for various fabrics began pouring in (Smith 1960:434). The Front Street South lot and building values also rose during the wartime phase of Dan River Mills, increasing to $11.00 and $54.00, respectively, in 1943 (CD LBNS 1943–1945:43).

Hampered by the persistent and escalating costs of modernizing and maintaining its company housing, the directors of Dan River Mills elected to sell most of their housing beginning in the fall of 1949. As historian Broadus Mitchell (1968:vii) stated, “mill owners have found that it is difficult enough to be efficient manufacturers without the additional burdens of operating a real estate business and supervising the living conditions of their workers.” Appraised by an independent realty company, 94 houses were sold to employee-occupants in October and November of 1949 alone, amounting to $308,800 (Smith 1960:520). That year, the Front Street South lot and its dwellings were remapped as Dan River Mills Subdivision No. 8 and divided into five individual lots for later sale (CD DB 237:441). Land book assessments reflect this reorganization, with each lot appraised at $2.20 and each building at $12.00 (CD LBNS 1948–1949:52–54). Included within 44PY178 are Lots 63–65, and portions of Lot 66 (Sanborn 1949).

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Site 44PY181

Site 44PY181 is concentrated in the backyards of two residences on Front Street North, Lots 48 and 49, and the northeastern corner of the property currently owned by The Salvation Army, Lot 47. This area originally lay within the portion of Ann M. Keen’s North Danville property conveyed to Thomas J. Lee and others in 1880, which was then purchased by T. B. Fitzgerald for later conveyance to Riverside Cotton Mills, Inc. Sanborn maps show that the existing corner house, which is identical to its counterpart on the corner of North Main Street and Front Street South, was present by 1894, and in 1895 was remapped and organized into a single lot containing five houses, mirroring the lot situated on South Front Street in appearance and value (CD LBNS 1895–1900:24; Sanborn 1894). By 1899, both structures’ layouts had taken on their current floor plan, identical to those across the street. It is also at this time that a small, rectangular one-story dwelling first appears to the north of these lots (Sanborn 1899).

Through the 1910s and 1920s, property assessments for this lot remained identical to its counterpart on Front Street South, echoing the same periods of prosperity following World Wars I and II and decline during the 1930s (CD LBNS 1916–1920:34, 1931–1934, 1935–1938, 1939–1942). During the “lean years” (1932–1939), average annual net earnings dropped to half their pre-Depression levels, forcing numerous cutbacks and layoffs as the company struggled to stay solvent (Smith 1960:328–329; Wuellner et al. 1993:23). During World War II, some semblance of economic stability returned to Dan River Mills, Inc., stimulated by government contracts (Smith 1960:434).

Despite the relative prosperity the company enjoyed during the 1940s, it was apparently not enough to offset the rising costs of modernizing and maintaining their company housing. Beginning in the fall of 1949, the Front Street North lot and its dwellings were remapped and organized into five individual lots, each with its own home, designated part of Dan River Mills Subdivision No. 8 (CD DB 237:44). Land book assessments from 1949 reflect this reconfiguration, with lot and building values reduced to $2.20 and $12.00, respectively (CD LBNS 1948–1949:52–54). Sanborn maps produced prior to the sale of these lots also show that the small, one-story rectangular dwelling behind this lot had been torn down and the lot left open. Contained within 44PY181 were Lots 48, 49, and a portion of 47.

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