In 1816 a pair of Rhode Island brothers stopped their wagons along South Carolina's Tyger River, cleared away trees and chinquapin thickets, and began construction on a rustic spinning factory. From those humble beginnings arose one of the nation's mightiest textile communities, a place that by the end of the 19th century became known as "the Lowell of the South." Over the course of nearly two centuries more than 100,000 people labored in the red brick cotton mills and modern textile factories of Spartanburg County, South Carolina. 'Textile Town' is their story. One part historical narrative, one part scrapbook, one part encyclopedia, this illustrated volume presents the voices of scholars and blue-collar workers side by side in an exploration of this complex and compelling saga. Working in libraries and mill villages, more than 40 writers and historians--many of them sons, daughters, and grandchildren of textile workers--contributed to this engaging history. From the great migration from the mountains in the 1880s, to the labor conflict of the 1930s, to the wartime camaraderie of the 1940s and beyond, 'Textile Town' tells a seminal Southern story, one that readers won't soon forget.