Page 18 - Harnett Life Spring 2022

Enjoy a fresh cup of coffee on the front porch.
(Erwin is the town of “front porch friends” since every mill
house was built with a front porch”)

or two. The mill (which closed in 2000) is within view. Every
night when we sit on the porch having coffee and look at the
sunset behind the mill, we figured that would be a good name
for the coffee company.”

The family reflected, though the love for the house and desire
to leave the city for a smaller town is what prompted their A view of the historic Erwin Mill, previously one of the
move to Erwin, once they got here in the spring of ’19 they largest textile producers in our country.
“saw the town in full bloom and just fell in love with it.”

“From Demin Days and the street dance to the Christmas pa- While those set revitalization efforts are to be determined as
rade to being on a first name basis with the librarian and school the coffee company grows, it is worth looking back at what
resource officer, we have come to love it here. Ava’s lemonade Erwin Mills once was.
has been great; the mayor even came to get lemonade in order
to meet her and welcome us to town. We would have never Erwin Cotton Mills Number 2 began operation in 1904 on a
had these experiences in Wake County even though we are site on the Cape Fear River in Harnett County, N.C. The mill
from there. Wake is almost unrecognizable now; it has grown was owned by the Erwin Cotton Mill Company of Durham,
and changed so much.” N.C. The town that grew up around the mill was originally
named Duke after the Duke family members who were promi-
Seth and Angela like to get to know people and having cof- nent stakeholders in the Erwin Cotton Mill Company. In 1926,
fee with friends is part of their calling card, their hospitality. the town’s name was changed to Erwin. Burlington Industries
In addition to neighbors and new-found friends, the outgoing purchased Erwin Cotton Mills in 1962. In 1987, Burlington
couple have the company of Angela’s parents, Don and Lynn Industries was purchased by Swift Textiles, Inc., of Columbus,
Plessinger, who moved from Cary to Coats, and Angela’s best Ga. Erwin Cotton Mills in Erwin, N.C., closed in 2000.
friend, Tracy O’Shea, who relocated to Dunn after hearing of
all the good things about Harnett County. The facts do not tell the feelings behind the mill’s storied his-
tory in Erwin or the impact its closing had on the small town.
On their website, https://erwinmills.com/, the couple explain In many ways, the closing of the mill and so many other textile
their mission: “Erwin Mills is a project designed to help re- manufacturing facilities across the state and nation marked the
vitalize our old mill town in Erwin, N.C. By using other “lo- end of an era and furthered the demise of small-town Ameri-
cal” vendors across the U.S. and in some non-U.S. locales, we ca. Thankfully downtowns and small towns across the coun-
are providing direct support to other communities which in try, largely through people like the Gundersons putting stakes
turn will help support and revitalize our own. A portion of our down and risking start-ups for the love of all-things local, are
earnings go straight back to the revitalization effort through a making a comeback.
number of different avenues.

Page 17 Page 18 Harnett Life ~ Spring 2022