Grow, gin, spin, knit. Finish, cut, sew, dye. You know the story of cotton in North Carolina: By 1815, the first cotton textile mill appeared. By the 1920s, on through the 20th century, our state was a leader in textile production. By the turn of the 21st century, the industry had largely migrated overseas. But now, the idea of cotton blooms anew: Many of our once-abandoned mills are alive again, filled not with machinery, but with music, food, and art. Elsewhere, an artist uses cotton to piece together memories, and a family business spins a candy version of the stuff. All around our state, companies work together to bring textile production back home. Grow, gin, spin, knit. Finish, cut, sew, dye. There’s a rhythm to the work, and it’s coming ’round again.
Mill town residents have not forgotten what textile work, and the life they built around it, meant to them.
In Chapel Hill, cotton serves an unexpected purpose.
The story of a Mindful Supply Co. T-Shirt unfolds entirely on Carolina soil.
In the animal kingdom, you don’t have to be cute and cuddly to have a cotton-inspired name. Click the image below to learn more.
By Eleanor Spicer Rice • Illustration by Jessica Roux
An Apex company makes it OK to love spun sugar, the kind of cotton you can eat.
From her picking style to her unlikely path to fame, the folk music heroine from Carrboro always did things her own way.
Durham artist Skylar Gudasz covers “Freight Train” by Libba Cotten.
Calling all North Carolinians! Cast your vote in our monthly match-up.
On a quiet night in 1961, a plane from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base accidentally releases two thermonuclear bombs near Goldsboro. Only later do North Carolinians learn how close they came to the brink of disaster.
A man from Charlotte bought an old Coast Guard light station named Frying Pan Tower. Recently, he’s been exploring what it means to be truly isolated.
Are these legendary spots on your barbecue bucket list?
