The Cannon Mills Company was an American
textile
Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
manufacturing company based in
Kannapolis, North Carolina
Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Cabarrus and Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan Counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord, North Carolina, Concord and northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, ...
, that mainly
produced
towel
A towel () is a piece of absorption (chemistry), absorbent cloth or paper used for drying or wiping a surface. Towels draw moisture through direct contact.
Bathing towels and hand towels are usually made of cotton, linen, bamboo and Microfiber, ...
s and
bed sheet
A bed sheet is a rectangular piece of cloth used either singly or in a pair as bedding, which is larger in length and width than a mattress, and which is placed immediately above a mattress or bed, but below blankets and other bedding (such as ...
s. Founded in 1887 by
James William Cannon
James William Cannon (born Mecklenburg County, North Carolina April 25, 1852 – December 21, 1921) was an American industrialist, and founder of the Cannon Mills Corporation and the City of Kannapolis, North Carolina. He was the maker of the ...
, by 1914 the company was the largest towel and sheets manufacturer in the world.
Cannon remained family-owned until 1982 when it was sold to
David H. Murdock. Murdock sold the company to Fieldcrest in 1985, becoming Fieldcrest-Cannon. The company was sold to
Pillowtex Corporation in 1997, which entered bankruptcy in July 2003. The remaining Cannon brands were purchased by the
Iconix Brand Group
Iconix Brand Group, Inc. is an American brand management company that licenses brands to retailers and manufacturers, primarily in the clothing, apparel, footwear and apparel accessory industries.
History and operations
The company began as ...
.
History
Early years and development
In 1887
James William Cannon
James William Cannon (born Mecklenburg County, North Carolina April 25, 1852 – December 21, 1921) was an American industrialist, and founder of the Cannon Mills Corporation and the City of Kannapolis, North Carolina. He was the maker of the ...
founded the Cannon Manufacturing Company in
Kannapolis, North Carolina
Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Cabarrus and Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan Counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord, North Carolina, Concord and northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, ...
. His goal was to produce a basic textile product instead of yarn or another intermediate material. His company produced
towel
A towel () is a piece of absorption (chemistry), absorbent cloth or paper used for drying or wiping a surface. Towels draw moisture through direct contact.
Bathing towels and hand towels are usually made of cotton, linen, bamboo and Microfiber, ...
s that were sold under the brand name "Cannon Towels". Ten years later, he opened another mill in
Concord, North Carolina
Concord ( ) is the most populous city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 105,240 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Concord is the second-most populous city in the Cha ...
.
In 1905, Jim Cannon designed and purchased of land in northwestern
. The land had formerly been a cotton plantation. He laid out a plan for a small
mill
Mill may refer to:
Science and technology
* Factory
* Mill (grinding)
* Milling (machining)
* Millwork
* Paper mill
* Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel
* Sugarcane mill
* Textile mill
* List of types of mill
* Mill, the arithmetic ...
village with homes for the workers. By 1907, the first mill was completed just west of what was Town Lake. The mill, known as Plant 1, was opened in 1908 after a brief two-year cotton shortage.
By January of 1909 the Cannon Manufacturing Company employed 840 people in its single Kannapolis plant. James William Cannon's company built hundreds of homes for the mill workers, and also built a world-class
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
facility, which had the largest membership in the world at the time. Cannon donated land and money for school construction and education. That year, the first school, McIver was opened. Cannon erected stores, businesses, and churches. He donated funds to
Cabarrus County to improve the main road leading to Kannapolis from Concord. In 1917, James Cannon arranged a life insurance policy for all Cannon employees. This had never before been done for employees of a company.
1921 was an important year for the Cannon Mills Company. A strike occurred in the localized
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
, area, affecting all textile mills in the region. Charles A. Cannon was already in charge of Cannon Mills affairs since his father was in ill health. On June 1, 1921, the members of the
United Textile Workers Union of America went on strike. Although Cannon called the
National Guard
National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
...
to "keep the peace," the strike ended because union officials left town. Cannon Mills did not unionize during this attempt, which left the
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
generation skeptical of labor unions.
J.W. Cannon was elected as chairman of the board in 1921 and his son, Charles, was made president of the Company. Later that year, Jim Cannon developed an unknown winter illness and died on December 21, 1921. He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in downtown Concord. The Cannon Manufacturing Company was left to its president and the youngest son, Charles. By the time of J.W. Cannon's death, the population of Kannapolis was roughly 6,000 citizens and the mill had employed about 15,000 workers.
Golden years

With
Charles Albert Cannon in charge, the Cannon Mills Corporation entered its golden years. In 1924, funds and land for
James William Cannon High School were donated by the company. Later in 1928, Charles Cannon organized nine textile companies into a large corporation, Cannon Mills. 300,000 towels were produced each day, and it soon became the world's largest producer of textile products. Cannon retired in 1962 at the age of seventy and was replaced as president by
Donnell S Holt, moving up to chairman of the board. Sales and profit continued to rise. The one-million-square-foot towel distribution center was built in 1962 and the sheet distribution center was constructed in the early 1970s. Cannon died on April 1, 1971, of a massive stroke. Holt remained president until 1974, helping modernize the management style and fighting hard to combat negative public images of Cannon Mills.
Fieldcrest division of Marshall Field
In 1911,
Marshall Field & Company, the
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
department store, acquired seven mills in
Eden, North Carolina
Eden is a city in Rockingham County, North Carolina, Rockingham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Piedmont Triad, Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area of the Piedmont Triad region. As of the United State ...
(then known as Leaksville, Spray & Draper) from
Benjamin Franklin Mebane, a local entrepreneur who had secured financing from Field's. In 1916, Field's began construction on Fieldcrest Mills in
Fieldale
Fieldale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 879 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Martinsville Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The area was first settled in 1770 by plan ...
, a mill town near
Martinsville, Virginia
Martinsville is an Political subdivisions of Virginia#Independent cities, independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 13, ...
, which was completed in 1919. Field's later purchased more mills to supply its retail and wholesale operation. In 1935, company chairman
James O. McKinsey
James Oscar McKinsey (June 4, 1889 – November 30, 1937) was an American accountant, management consultant, professor of accounting at the University of Chicago, and founder of McKinsey & Company.
Biography
McKinsey was born in 1889 in Gamma, ...
reorganized the firm's 24 textile mills into one manufacturing operation, called Fieldcrest, with headquarters in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. In 1953, Fieldcrest was spun off from Field's into a freestanding business.
Acquisition by Fieldcrest
In 1982,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...
David H. Murdock purchased the Cannon Mills Company and its of surrounding property. Murdock proposed a redevelopment plan to the company and the community which included the renewal of downtown
Kannapolis (now Cannon Village) and the construction of a brand new
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
. On November 6, 1984, the Town of Kannapolis was incorporated as the city of Kannapolis. Also that year the new YMCA opened. The next year, the company was bought by
Eden, North Carolina
Eden is a city in Rockingham County, North Carolina, Rockingham County in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Piedmont Triad, Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area of the Piedmont Triad region. As of the United State ...
-founded Fieldcrest Mills, Incorporated, for somewhat less than $250 million. This became the Fieldcrest-Cannon Corporation. The newer smokestack of Plant One, painted white since its construction in 1950, was repainted
maroon
Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown".
Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...
, also bearing the corporate name. In September, 1997, Fieldcrest-Cannon was sold to the
Pillowtex Corporation for $700 million.
Pillowtex subsequently went bankrupt in 2003 and Murdock's
Castle & Cooke acquired the of land at auction for $6.4 million in December 2004. The Cannon Mills facilities were demolished in 2006.
Legacy
The Cannon family donated funds for projects in the area. Such include:
* The City of
Kannapolis, North Carolina
Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Cabarrus and Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan Counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord, North Carolina, Concord and northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, ...
* The Cannon Memorial
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
* Cannon Hall,
Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University (), or App State, is a Public university, public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a normal school, teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and th ...
*
Cannon School
* Cannon Village
* The Cannon Foundation
* Cannon Reservation, Camp John J. Barnhardt, Central NC Council Boy Scouts of America
*Charles A. Cannon Pool in the Baker Sports Complex at
Davidson College
Davidson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, United States. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after American Revolutiona ...
,
Davidson, North Carolina
Davidson is a suburban town in Mecklenburg, Iredell, and Cabarrus counties, North Carolina, United States. It is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 15,106 at the 2020 census, up from 10,944 in 2010. The town was ...
*J.W. Cannon Dormitory at Davidson College
*
Charlotte Country Day School's Cannon Campus
*
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte's Fieldcrest Cannon Foundation Scholarship
North Carolina Research Campus
The
North Carolina Research Campus
The North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) is a public-private research center in Kannapolis, North Carolina, Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States. The Campus was envisioned by David H. Murdock, owner of Dole Food Company and Castle and Cook ...
(NCRC) was built on the former site of the Cannon Mills Company. Construction began in 2005, and the campus opened in 2008. The NCRC is a private-public venture involving North Carolina's major universities and private investment. The NCRC is a scientific and economic revitalization project that encompasses the former Cannon Mills plant and the entire downtown area of Kannapolis, North Carolina.
See also
*
Kannapolis, North Carolina
Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Cabarrus and Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan Counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord, North Carolina, Concord and northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, ...
*
Kannapolis City Schools
*
*
North Carolina Research Campus
The North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) is a public-private research center in Kannapolis, North Carolina, Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States. The Campus was envisioned by David H. Murdock, owner of Dole Food Company and Castle and Cook ...
References
External links
Company history from FundingUniverse.comGuide to the Fieldcrest Mills architectural plans 1911-1979
{{Iconix Brand Group
1888 establishments in North Carolina
2003 disestablishments in North Carolina
Buildings and structures in Cabarrus County, North Carolina
Kannapolis, North Carolina
Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2003
Manufacturing companies established in 1888
Defunct textile companies of the United States
Defunct manufacturing companies based in North Carolina