USA > Georgia > Troup County > History of Troup county > Part 12
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LAGRANGE AND OXFORD (ALA.) RAILROAD. Incorporated March 5, 1856. Five miles were to be built in two years, and the whole to be finished in six years. No evidence of any accomplishment.
LAGRANGE AND BARNESVILLE RAILROAD. Incorporated December 15, 1871, by Jesse Mclendon, F. A. Frost, S. W. Swanson, A. D. Abraham, John N. Cooper, Isaac Wise, George V. Boddie, B. B. Amoss, Thomas S. Bradfield, Thomas C. Miller, B. C. Ferrell, B. H. Bigham, J. H. Fannin, W. O. Tuggle, William C. Jarboe, C. W. Mabry, J. E. Toole, H. R. Harris, M. Reeves, J. E. G. Ferrell, John A. Simonton, James W. Banning, Obediah Warren, J. P. Atkinson, M. B. Lovett, J. Banning, James M. C. Robinson, Thomas C. Leslie, J. R. Broome, Godfrey Kener, John H. Mitchell, David Freeman, William E. Murphey, A. Stafford, and R. J. Powell. No construc- tion.
GRIFFIN, LAGRANGE AND WESTERN RAILROAD. Incorporated December 27, 1886, by W. E. H. Searcy and T. D. Rockwell of Spaulding County; J. W. Sullivan of Meriwether County, and James G. Truitt of Troup County. The name was changed September 22, 1887, to Birmingham and Atlantic Airline Railroad. No construction.
BRUNSWICK, LAGRANGE AND NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD. Chartered De- cember 21, 1893, with the provision that the charter be forfeited unless five miles of road are built within five years. Forfeited.
ATLANTA, BIRMINGHAM AND COAST RAILROAD. The records of incor- poration of the original company, The Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad, were not available. On March 24, 1905, a committee of LaGrange citizens, Hatton Lovejoy, E. B. Clark, F. E. Callaway, J. G. Truitt, and
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Roy Dallis, arranged a banquet to entertain George Dole Wadley, vice- president, and Alex Bonnyman, chief of construction, of the railroad. The purpose of the meeting was to insure the routing of the road through LaGrange to the Birmingham terminus, and the effort succeeded. The road made a direct route to the Alabama coal fields and iron and steel mills, and gave promise of increased trade with our sister state. After the many physical difficulties were overcome, there were financial troubles. All the stations in Troup County are flag stations with the exception of the LaGrange station. The stations are: Big Springs, Knott, LaGrange, Pyne, and Abotts- ford. The LaGrange agent is W. M. Fincher.
CHATTAHOOCHEE VALLEY RAILROAD. This road is located in Alabama with the exception of the passage through the city of West Point. It is a potent factor in the development of the Chattahoochee valley on the Ala- bama side of that stream, and is the outlet for the products of the plants of the West Point Manufacturing Company.
COUNTY HIGHWAYS. Nothing has been more conducive to the growth and development of Troup County than the system of good roads, which has been evolved from the muddy, and sometimes impassable, roads of even fifteen years ago. The Troup County Commissioners have been active in sponsoring good roads, and as a result of this activity, the county now has thirty-seven miles of concrete paving, and one thousand and thirty miles of topsoiled roads. The convicts housed at the model stockade on the road to Chipley, just beyond Long Cane Creek, are used to keep the roads in the most excellent condition. Number 1 Highway which passes through LaGrange from Franklin southeast to Chipley and Columbus, and number 14 Highway from Trimble to West Point are state highways and are main- tained by the state department.
CHAPTER XIV. PUBLIC UTILITIES
ESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH. Telegraphic facilities came to Troup County soon after the establishment and operation of the Atlanta and LaGrange Railroad in the early eighteen fifties.
The location of the office was at first in the old depot, the present freight office, from which place it was removed to the second floor of the Truitt Building and as late as 1908 had only three wire lines in the LaGrange office. It was afterwards moved to the rear of the National Bank Build- ing, and in 1929 moved to the present office on Bull Street.
Among the operators of the LaGrange office are noted the names of Wil- liam Speer, Ed Dansby, Mrs. May Dennis Heard, Miss Ruby Medlock, Mr. Sanford, and the present manager, Mrs. Clyde McLaney Jones, who has held her post since 1908. This station also has a branch office at the Southwest LaGrange community located in the Callaway Mills General Offices under the management of Miss Lucy McLaney.
The West Point office was established at about the same time as the La- Grange office and is under the efficient management of Mrs. Walters.
The Hogansville office established at a later date is under the management of Mrs. Mary John Briscoe. Other communities of the county are reached through telephone, as the railroad operators do not accept commercial mes- sages.
The present wire service (1933) consists of six wire circuits with a total of about twenty available in an emergency, but which merely relay through the LaGrange office and can be switched into active service from that office, and about the same number in the West Point office.
POSTAL TELEGRAPH Co. This company is a newcomer to our county, and opened the LaGrange office on September 24, 1929, under the manage- ment of Olin W. Alexander. This company can furnish typewriter exten- sion to remote points, which automatically receives and transmits messages through the parent office. The only other office of this company in Troup County is located at West Point, where similar facilities are offered, and is under the management of Mrs. Roy Pirkle.
COMMERCIAL TELEPHONE Co. The first commercial telephone of the county was operated by the above company, chartered May 5, 1892, by J. F. Askew, C. V. Truitt and T. C. Lane. The charter specified the line from Newnan to West Point, and was operated as a toll line connecting the intermediate points, but was abandoned after the Southern Bell entered LaGrange.
LAGRANGE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE. This pioneer exchange was built in 1894 by W. W. Milam and his son, W. R. Milam, and commenced operation
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with only twenty-eight subscribers in an office over the old Bank of La- Grange on Main Street. In 1900 the exchange was moved to the residence of W. W. Milam at 203 Greenville Street with two hundred subscribers. In 1906 it was moved to an office over Davis Pharmacy with four hundred twenty-five subscribers. In 1895 a toll line of Southern Bell entered the exchange for the convenience of subscribers in long distance calls. In 1909 the exchange was sold to the Southern Bell by the Milam family. The county and LaGrange in particular are indebted to this family for the effi- cient service they rendered in this pioneer enterprise.
WEST POINT TELEPHONE AND ELECTRIC CO. This exchange was char- tered on November 7, 1896, by W. A. and J. T. Robinson. It furnishes the telephonic communication for the thriving city of West Point and its Ala- bama neighbor of Lanett. This exchange has Southern Bell connections, but continues to remain a separate corporation. It is under the manage- ment of J. Smith Lanier and has been for many years.
HOGANSVILLE TELEPHONE Co. This exchange was chartered on May 6, 1902, by J. C. Wilkinson, M. K. Word and A. R. Arnold, and continued to operate until 1909 when it was purchased by the Southern Bell and made a part of that great system.
BIG SPRINGS TELEPHONE Co. This exchange was built by Eldredge Jones in 1907 and reaches the communities of Mountville, Salem, Odessadale and Stovall. It is owned and operated by Grady Jones with about twenty subscribers since 1915 after the death of Eldredge Jones.
SOUTHERN BELL TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH Co. This great com- pany bought the LaGrange and Hogansville exchanges in 1909 and has oper- ated long distance lines since 1895. It has about sixteen hundred phones in the county and numerous trunk lines for long distance use. Telephones were formerly neighborhood means of communication, but one can now speak to the ends of the world in combination of wired and radio phones.
RAILWAY EXPRESS AGENCY. The original company, which operated in this county for parcel delivery, was the Southern Express Company. It was organized soon after the Civil War, and operated under the same name until July, 1918, when the Federal government assumed control under the title of American Railway Express. In March, 1930, the railroads pur- chased the business, and since that time, the company has operated as the Railway Express Agency. The names of John M. Barnard, Philip G. Awtry, and Ed Dansby are associated with the old Southern Express Company. The present agent of the Railway Express Agency is J. W. Short.
GEORGIA POWER COMPANY. The Columbus Power Company entered LaGrange and West Point in 1911 on 66KVA lines and furnished light and power to LaGrange, West Point, and Hogansville. The city of LaGrange
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operated a municipal electric plant, which they still own, but the power company offered current cheaper than could be produced by the city. A connection was made with the Georgia Power Company, and a shortage of one company was supplemented by the excess of the other. In 1923 the voltage of the transmission lines was raised to 110KVA to the various power stations and there transformed to 11,000 volts, or 11KVA, to be carried to the individual power houses of customers, and there reduced to 550 or 220 volts for power, and 110 volts for lighting purposes. In 1930, on July 1, the Georgia Power Company acquired the properties of the Columbus Power Company, and this county has been very efficiently served by this company since that time. The West Point station is under the jurisdiction of the Alabama Power Company, which serves the valley industrial plants. The LaGrange station has for its efficient master, W. H. Tillery, and the Hogansville station, W. A. Mann. The Maintenance Department is under the supervision of L. L. Estes for the Troup County customers, and the well- kept stations and lines bespeak his knowledge and efficiency. Not least among these genial officials is the foreman of the lines, I. I. West, who has the dangerous task of handling 110KVA lines, sometimes with a full cur- rent flow, or hot as the boys say.
THE RAILROADS. The railroads are classified as Public Utilities, but have been treated in the chapter on Transportation.
CHAPTER XV. TROUP COUNTY TEXTILE INDUSTRY
OBERTSON WOOLEN MILL. Built in 1847; located in land lot 78 of the 4th district. At some time prior to 1847, there came from Scotland to Troup County Robert Robertson, who bought from James O'Neal a site a short distance west of the Smith Mill on the Salem Road, and established thereon the first textile plant of the county, which was known as the Robertson Woolen Mill. From far and near the patrons brought their bags of wool for cleaning and carding. It was returned to them in long rolls or balls ready for the home spinner or weaver. The suc- cess of this mill inspired the next textile venture in a district purely agri- cultural.
TROUP FACTORY. Built in 1845, and adapted to cotton manufacture in 1848; located on land lot 15 of the 4th district. This plant was built by Robertson, Leslie and Company, a firm composed of J. L. C. Robertson, Thomas Leslie, and a Mr. Beaman, as a gristmill in 1845, and was converted into a cotton mill in 1848, being the second such plant in Georgia, and it continued to operate as such for more than a half century. Troup Factory sheetings and homespuns were standards of excellence in a widespread area of Georgia, and their use is within the memory of many present day citizens. Charles H. Griffin was an active factor in the management of this plant in the early nineties. It was originally located on Flat Shoals Creek on the Columbus Road or the Georgia No. 1 Highway, but was moved to Greenville Street in LaGrange in 1902.
The business of the plant was so great that on December 22, 1857, a rail- road was incorporated for the purpose of handling the products, which was called the LaGrange and Troup Factory Railroad. Disturbances due to the impending Civil War prevented its building. The name was changed after the removal of the plant to LaGrange to that of Park Cotton Mills, and its products were limited to yarn. This mill is now one of the things past and gone with only a few of its walls standing to mark the spot.
LAGRANGE MILLS. Built in 1888, and located on land lots 108 and 109 of the 6th district. The LaGrange Oil and Manufacturing Company was chartered on August 6, 1883, and its incorporators numbered most of the business and professional men of the little town of LaGrange: L. J. Render, A. N. Davenport, J. M. Barnard, J. G. Truitt, J. P. Thornton, H. C. Butler, W. O. Tuggle, S. P. Smith, F. M. Longley, M. L. Fleming, J. C. Forbes, T. J. Harwell, H. H. Cary, E. D. Williams, G. A. Speer, Henry Banks, W. V. Gray, A. R. Phillips, T. H. Whitaker, Louis Mayer, J. G. Whitfield, E. R. Bradfield, I. F. Cox, J. R. Broome, James Ellis, T. S. Bradfield, A. P.
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Jones, Enoch Callaway, J. T. Perry, J. W. Harrison, F. M. Ridley, W. C. Yancey, and T. C. Crenshaw.
This plant was erected for the extraction of cotton seed oil, but also operated a large public ginnery. In 1888, the charter was amended so as to include the manufacture of cotton textiles in addition to the oil plant, and the name was changed to LaGrange Mills. The building of the cotton mill plant was a great event in Troup County; the first giant Corliss engine, the curious machines for cotton manipulation, the first electric dynamo for the lighting of the mill, the monumental smokestack, were a succession of marvels to the curious bystanders of that day.
In March of 1890, the charter was again amended so as to permit the LaGrange Mills to construct electric pole lines in the city and to furnish current for the same. There immediately followed the construction of an arc circuit for lighting the city streets, to which was added an incandescent circuit of direct current for the benefit of mercantile establishments. These lines were extended to furnish lights for the Southern and the LaGrange Female colleges in the same year. The use of meters was unknown and the rate was a flat fifty cents per month for each sixteen candle power light. Lighting for residences was not yet accomplished.
The prosperity of LaGrange Mills induced the Consolidated Cotton Duck Corporation to make the stockholders a very tempting offer, which was accepted on November 28, 1905. In 1913, this corporation in turn sold to Lockwood, Green and Company of Boston, who changed the name to International Cotton Mills, LaGrange Mills Division, the corporate name shared by Canadian, New England and the southern plants owned by them. In the regrouping of the above-named plants, the name was again changed to the New England Southern Mills, LaGrange Mills Division.
The financial collapse of the owners and the pressure from the creditor banks of Boston and New York forced the sale of their southern properties, and again LaGrange Mills became the property of local stockholders, and was renamed LaGrange Calumet Mills, and in the year 1932 became a unit of the Callaway Mills in the consolidation of the various corporations under that name. But in the minds, thoughts and speech of the old employes, it is named "The Old Mill." The names of John M. Barnard, manager; George W. Murphy, superintendent; George Mitchell, electrician, will always be associated with the success in the operation of this mill.
Among the superintendents of this plant under the various owners are noted the following names: George W. Murphy, William Reid, John Tur- nipseed, Eugene Stevens, W. H. Dickinson, John A. Baugh, afterwards man- ager; Forest B. Gardner, and B. W. Robinson.
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DIXIE COTTON MILLS. Built in 1895, located on Greenville Street in LaGrange in land lot 107 of the 6th district. This mill was incorporated on September 26, 1895, and the following names appear on the charter: Samuel Hale, James G. Truitt, Blount C. Ferrell, Francis M. Longley, of LaGrange; W. N. Weeks of New York; J. T. Cressey of New Hampshire; Thomas P. Ivey of Atlanta. Many investors of the local commercial world afterwards joined their forces to the above. At first the plant was not an entire success, because of poor equipment, much of which was out of date in cotton manufacture. It is curious to note that in the original plans for buildings and the layouts for machinery no provision was made for a power plant to operate the mill. Provision for this oversight and for the replacement of much of the antiquated machinery placed a handicap on this plant in the form of excessive debt; nevertheless, under the skillful management of O. A. Dunson, it continued to operate until forced to sell by the mortgagor on October 17, 1917, when the plant passed into the possession of Wellington-Sears Company, and at this date is a unit in their chain of mills. This plant is the pioneer in this county for the manufacture of lightweight cotton fabrics, eight ounces to the yard being the heaviest goods made in this plant. Among the names of the superintendents of this plant are noted the following: DeGroat, Magraw, W. S. Dunson, Jack Donaldson, J. J. Ward, A. Culberson, George W. Murphy, Jr., Albert Leh- mann; and the names of Samuel Hale, L. J. Render and O. A. Dunson as the managers of the plant.
HOGANSVILLE MANUFACTURING COMPANY. Built in Hogansville in 1899, and located in land lot 96 of the 11th district. This plant was chartered on July 11, 1899, by E. H. Thornton, and R. J. Lowry of Atlanta; and Frank Word, Judson F. Mobley, and J. F. Askew of Hogansville. The his- tory of this plant from the above date is the same as that of the LaGrange Mills, as it was sold to the same corporation and afterwards was included in every transaction in which LaGrange Mills was concerned, and in those changes suffered the same changes of name and was distinguished as the Hogansville Mills Division of each change. It was purchased by the Consoli- dated Duck Corporation on November 28, 1905; sold in turn by them to Lockwood, Green and Company and called the International Cotton Mills, changed to New England Southern Mills; sold again to LaGrange parties and renamed Hogansville Calumet Mills; consolidated in 1932 as a unit of the Callaway Mills, retaining the name of Hogansville Calumet as a designation. The activities of this plant constituted a commercial barometer of the com- munity of Hogansville until the construction of Stark Mills, which shared the business indicator with the older plant. Among the superintendents and managers are noted the following: George W. Murphy, William Reid, John
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Turnipseed, W. H. Turner, Jr., Oxford, James Mooty, David G. Reid, and John A. Baugh, manager.
UNITY COTTON MILLS. Built in 1900, and located in land lot 141 of the 6th district, on Leman Street in LaGrange. This plant was chartered on May 8, 1900, and the following were the incorporators: J. M. Barnard, C. V. Truitt, J. E. Dunson, F. E. Callaway, S. H. Truitt, S. P. Smith, J. H. Edmondson, G. E. Dallis, W. V. Gray, G. B. Heard, E. G. Hood, T. J. Thornton, F. J. Pike, J. L. Bradfield, H. D. Glanton, T. S. Bradfield, C. D. Hudson, A. H. Nunnally, P. H. Hutchinson, N. R. Hutchinson, F. M. Ridley, J. R. Broome, H. R. Slack. There have been some additions to this plant at intervals, but the greatest expansion was in the form of an entire new plant under the name of Unity Spinning Mills, located in land lot 147 of the 6th district. This was built in 1909 by the parent plant of which it formed an auxiliary. The management of this plant was in the hands of C. V. Truitt up to the time of his retirement, after which it devolved upon Cason J. Callaway. The superintendents of this plant are as follows: George W. Murphy, Sr., William W. Arnold, William H. Turner, Jr., James New- some, Ed Estes, W. Preston Dunson.
The products of Unity Cotton Mills were originally in the form of the cotton ducks, but later became more diversified in character. The plant may be considered as the parent plant of the group of cotton mills now designated as the Callaway Mills.
ELM CITY COTTON MILLS. Built in 1905, located in land lot 142 of the 6th district. The charter bears the date of November 15, 1905, and enlisted a large number of contributors under the leadership of Fuller E. Callaway, Sr., as the directing genius. The following names are recorded in the charter: F. E. Callaway, C. V. Truitt, J. G. Truitt, S. H. Truitt, Roy Dallis, W. A. Holmes, A. T. Dallis, V. E. Dallis, George E. Dallis, Pike Brothers, E. G. Hood, J. H. Edmondson, Henry Banks, Sr., J. W. Johnston, Bradfield Drug Co., F. M. Ridley, H. R. Slack, J. C. Roper, J. M. Barnard, George W. Murphy, P. G. Awtry, J. L. Bradfield, H. D. Glanton, N. E. Marshburn, E. R. Bradfield, Sr., W. V. Gray, L. D. Mitchell, Pope F. Callaway, McCaine and Market, E. B. Clark, F. M. Longley, B. H. Seay, R. L. Adams, J. R. Hall, G. B. Heard, S. P. Smith, W. S. Davis, A. H. Cary, C. Y. Hall, J. R. Broome, W. L. Cleaveland, N. S. McCalley, J. M. Formby, W. J. Hardy, J. F. Market, J. Wid Freeman; Banks and Arnold of Coweta County, H. M. Atkinson, W. D. Brady, George M. Traylor, James Banks, A. E. Thornton, M. Frank, George W. Parrott, George Dole Wadley, S. P. O'Neal, J. H. Lane & Company. Elm City was also a cotton duck plant and has enjoyed a long term of prosperity under the skillful management of the superintend- ents, Ira B. Grimes and H. F. Shuford.
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UNITY SPINNING MILLS. Built in 1909, and located on land lot 146 in the 6th district. No new corporation was formed, but the plant was built by Unity Cotton Mills and formed a part of its properties. The products of this plant were twines, cords and yarns. No weaving was done in this plant in the original layout. The superintendents were S. Y. Austin and Boyd N. Ragsdale. This is also a unit of the Callaway Mills.
DUNSON MILLS. Built in 1910, and located in land lot 87 of the 6th district. The charter was granted on November 19, 1910, and the following names appear on the charter as the promoters of this plant: T. J. Thornton, W. S. Dunson, A. H. Cary, F. M. Ridley, W. A. Reeves, J. M. Barnard, S. H. Dunson, W. E. Morgan, P. H. Hutchinson, F. M. Longley, R. O. Pharr, J. E. Dunson, J. F. Ogletree. The plant was enlarged in 1923, nearly doubling the original capacity of the mill, and varying the production to include the light as well as the heavyweight cotton goods. The management was in the hands of T. J. Thornton in the beginning, and he was succeeded by the present efficient manager, W. S. Dunson. There has always been exercised a liberal conservatism in the management: liberal in attitude towards the churches and schools and sports, yet conservative in the business aspects. The superintendent was W. S. Dunson until his promotion to manager, and he was succeeded by A. C. Dunson as the present superintendent.
HILLSIDE COTTON MILLS. Built in 1915, and located on land lot 143 of the 6th district. The charter was granted on December 5, 1914, to a large number of incorporators: F. E. Callaway, C. V. Truitt, J. G. Truitt, S. H. Truitt, Roy Dallis, A. T. Dallis, V. E. Dallis, Render Dallis, S. Y. Austin, J. H. Edmondson, H. H. Childs, R. O. Pharr, W. S. Davis, T. H. Nimmons, E. R. Callaway, H. W. Callaway, W. A. Holmes, C. J. Callaway, Hatton Lovejoy, W. H. Turner, Jr., R. C. Key, C. Y. Hall, J. R. Hall, James Newsom, I. B. Grimes, Boyd Ragsdale, H. R. Slack, B. H. Seay, L. H. Zachry, Pike Brothers, J. M. Formby, H. T. Wooding, J. D. Hudson, R. L. Render, C. W. Smith, C. N. Shearer, R. K. Colley, G. W. Birdsong, A. H. Thompson, J. J. Milam, McCaine Brothers, H. D. Glanton, C. L. Smith, W. L. Cleaveland, W. G. Cleaveland, Henry Banks, Sr., H. D. Phillips, J. A. Perry, O. D. Grimes, P. G. Awtry, W. E. Johnson, H. H. Tigner, W. J. Hardy, J. W. Bryant, R. W. Bryant, E. C. Lewis, James Banks, J. Carroll Payne, W. D. Brady, C. H. Hutcheson, J. H. Lane and Company, F. Coit Johnson, James W. Lane, E. W. Leseur, Howard L. Marsh, Oliver L. Johnson, Charles T. Newberry, Charles D. Brady, W. H. Tobey, C. M. Pirkleman, W. W. Quinlan. This plant, by reason of the installation of a dye house as a part of the equipment, manufactures the greatest variety of products of any mill located in the county; in weight from the heaviest to comparatively lightweight goods with many color variations. This was
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the parent plant of several lines of manufacture, which were afterwards incorporated as separate entities and some of them removed to other loca- tions. These were Valley Waste Mills, Valway Rug Mills, Rockweave Mills, and Oakleaf Mills. The superintendents of this plant were S. Y. Austin, J. O. Blackmon, and Frank L. Asbury.
STARK MILLS. Built in 1922, and located in land lot 11 of the 12th dis- trict. This plant was not chartered in Troup County, but was built by Lockwood, Green and Company of Boston, the owners at that time of the Hogansville and LaGrange plants of the New England Southern Mills, and sold with them in 1928. It was afterwards sold to the United States Rubber Company and is still in their possession. This mill was adapted to the use of long staple cotton for the manufacture of tire cord. The mill is under the superintendency of H. H. Ocheltree. The managers were John A. Baugh for Lockwood, Green and Company, and H. Gordon Smith for the U. S. Rubber Company.
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