Redevelopment of textile mills across the Carolinas has increased in the past decade as local officials have been able to offer state tax credits for properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In Charlotte and across the region, mills have been turned into condos and apartments, senior housing, offices, shopping complexes and restaurants. Examples in Charlotte include Highland Mill in the NoDa neighborhood, Atherton Mill in South End and the Charlotte Cotton Mill uptown.
This gallery features photos from one mill redevelopment already complete, Rock Hill’s Cotton Factory, and two projects just getting underway – Gastonia’s Loray Mill and Rock Hill’s old Bleachery site. While the Loray is Gastonia’s first mill redevelopment project, in Rock Hill a half-dozen former mill buildings have been revived with new uses. Click here to read more about the Gastonia and Rock Hill projects: “Two cities, two mills to be reborn.”
The Cotton Factory in Rock Hill is one of a half-dozen mill redevelopments in the S.C. city. Photo (2010): Nancy PierceThis part of the Loray Mill roof will be a tapas bar. Photo Nancy PierceThe roof will be a residents’ common area, with a view of Crowders Mountain (shown). Photo: Nancy PierceScrap on a middle residential floor, ready to be hauled away by a recycler. Photo: Nancy PierceAn entry to a residential floor in Loray Mill. Photo: Nancy PierceA staircase between residential floors in the Loray Mill. Photo: Nancy PierceWater damage to floor beams will be repaired before this floor is sandblasted. Photo: Nancy PierceA first aid stretcher and fire box, present on every staircase landing, will be preserved. Photo: Nancy PierceThe uppermost residential floor has been cleared and is ready for sandblasting, which will remove all the old paint and residue. Photo: Nancy PierceThis is a hallway near a residential floor. Photo: Nancy PierceThis area inside the Loray shows how apartments will look. This is a typical apartment window configuration with high ceilings. Photo: Nancy PierceThe Firestone sign will be saved as historic display in the Loray renovation. Photo: Nancy PierceOverhead steel structure will stay as arbor, walkway roof or other historic interest item. Photo: Nancy PierceThis area will be cleared for an interior courtyard with two pools and amenities. Plans call for the tanks to be incorporated into the landscape as historic interest items. Photo: Nancy PierceThe Loray Mill basement will be ground-level retail. Photo: Nancy PierceGlass in windows will be replaced but maintain the historic panes. Photo: Nancy PierceExterior of Loray as rennovations begin. Photo: Nancy PierceLoray Mill today: The foreground building here will get a new roof, preserving the dormers, and the tree will stay. The building is designated for a restaurant. Photo: Nancy PierceArtist’s rendering of the proposed redevelopment of Gastonia’s Loray Mill. Image courtesy City of GastoniaGastonia’s Loray Mill in its heyday, one of the most important sites in N.C. labor history. Image courtesy City of GastoniaRock Hill’s Bleachery, today, awaiting redevelopment. Photo: Mae IsraelToday, Rock Hill plans to turn its old Bleachery (shown in 2010) into a high-tech center. Photo: Nancy PierceThe 1881 Ostrow Textile Mill was South Carolina’s first steam-driven mill, and Rock Hill’s first mill. Image: City of Rock Hill
