Mount Vernon Mills history

The company expanded in 1853 with the construction of Mill No.

In 1899, area mills merged to form the Mount Vernon-Woodberry Cotton Duck Company, at the time the world’s foremost manufacturer of cotton duck, with mills from South Carolina to Connecticut, and a board of directors based out of New York City.

At the same time, the Tallassee, Alabama facility, which became part of Mount Vernon in 1900, produced cloth for uniforms and carbine rifles for the Confederate Army.

The Company finally reorganized in 1915 as Mount Vernon-Woodbury Mills.

Net sales in 1946 were about $34 million.

Mount Vernon’s fortunes took a giant step forward in May 1982, when the Company was acquired by R. B. Pamplin Corporation.

Likely the most important acquisition was the September 1985 purchase of Riegel Textile Corporation, another prominent textile company in the Greenville area.

In December 1991, Mount Vernon purchased the manufacturing facilities of Harmony Grove Mills, Inc., a significant supplier of unfinished bottom weight fabric to the Company’s Apparel Fabrics Division.

In January 1993, Mount Vernon sold its paper making felt business, a strategic move enabling the Company to focus more on its core markets in apparel fabrics, home furnishings, and consumer products.

To help sharpen this focus, Mount Vernon acquired the Brenham and Cuero facilities of Brentex Mills, Inc. in February 1994.

In September 2008, Mount Vernon bought key assets of CPC Chemical Holdings, adding significant wet chemical processing capabilities with plants in North Carolina and Alabama.