Brandon Mill

History of Brandon Mill J. Irving Westervelt was the founder and president of the Brandon Mill. The planing to build the mill started on June 20th In January 1900, 7 months later the construction of the Brandon mill began. A year later a village sprang up around the mill. The village was developed to house workers because there was no form of mass transportation. In January of 1901 the Brandon mill was finished and they began to accept workers. On February 8th 1901 the mill produced the first cloth made from cotton. The Brandon mill was originally named Quentin Mill until Captain Smith, the president of Pelzer manufacturing Co suggested the name Brandon. The Old Mill still stands to this day on the west side of Greenville. Life in a Mill Village In a mill village the people had it bad; They had food and a roof, but they had no source of entertainment. The people who worked in the mill had it even worse, the large mill had no air conditioning and was kept like a jail, very unclean. Many people hated to work there but it was the only source of work around. The people in the villages however had nothing to do except sit there so a sport was invented and that sport was mill base ball. Shoeless Joe Jackson Shoeless Joe Jackson was a young kid that lived in the mill village. At the age of six Jackson began to work for the Brandon mill. At this time baseball was invented and little Jackson loved to play so at the age of thirteen he joined the Brandon mill baseball team. He out hit and out pitched every one on his team. A baseball legend was born. He went on to get picked up by the White Sox professional Baseball team.

This is a picture of shoeless Joe Jackson. This is a picture of shoeless Joe Jackson's house. This is a picture of the Brandon mill currently. This is a picture of a typical mill village house. This is a yarn mill.

Brandon Mill