Carolina Mills history

In 1934, the company inaugurated one of the first hospital insurance plans for employees.

In 1938 the company was able to acquire the Catawba Cotton Mills in Newton at which time its old machinery was liquidated and a new operation begun when machinery and equipment of Kauga Manufacturing Company in Lexington was acquired and moved to the Newton mill.

Moretz managed the company until his death in August 1942 when the job was taken over by his son and assistant for 13 years, Leonard Moretz.

Three years later in 1950 Anchor Mills Company in Huntersville was purchased by J. W. Abernethy who offered the enterprise to Carolina Mills at his purchase price.

Carolina Mills continued to expand and in April 1961 bought Trenton Mills which had locations in Gastonia and Statesville and in December purchased Carolina Fine Fabrics in Hickory.

A profit sharing plan was begun in 1964.

In 1967 one of the most modern textile plants in existence was constructed off Highway 321 near Maiden.

The final certification from the patent office was received in February, 1970.

A Credit Union was chartered in 1974.

The large tailrace opening; a three centered stone arch was still intact as of 1978.

Moving into the 1980's, Carolina Mills ventured into two basic product lines: textiles and furniture.

In 1998 Carolina Mills acquired Rhyne Mills from Lincolnton NC and several Burlington Mills plants in St Pauls NC. The acquisitions added several specialty brands to the Carolina Mills product line-up - most notably Cool Max, Hydrotec and Hydropur.

As a side note, the Carolina Mills Employee Credit Union separated from the company in 2006 and merged with Financial Partners Credit Union.

In 2009, Financial Partners Credit Union merged with United Services Credit Union.