{"nrhp_refnum":"98000546","name":"Saxapahaw Spinning Mill, Former","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1647 Saxapahaw Bethlehem Church Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Saxapahaw","county":"Alamance County","state":"NC","lat":35.946713344000045,"lon":-79.32086908799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-05-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick and heavy-timber textile spinning mill on the bank of the Haw River in the village of Saxapahaw, southern Alamance County, North Carolina. It is the most historic portion of a larger mill complex, with construction spanning the 1880s to the late 1930s.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the mill was a major employer and driver of economic development in a rural area, operating for roughly 150 years. It is presented as a good surviving example of the classic rural cotton mill, built with slow-burn construction and open-plan layout. Its owners, the Newlin, Holt and Jordan families, were prominent in Alamance County, and B. Everett Jordan later became a U.S. Senator.","narrative":"Beside the Haw River in the village of Saxapahaw, a three-story brick and heavy-timber spinning mill rises from the water's edge. Its oldest sections date from 1906 to 1938, when Holt, White and Williamson and later Sellers Manufacturing Company built the east and west wings on earlier mill foundations. The east wing has segmental arch windows about five by ten feet, eighteen-inch brick walls and maple floors laid over heavy timber posts. The mill operated for nearly 150 years, making gingham and later mercerized hosiery yarns, and was the most reliable employer in the community apart from farming. Its owners included the Newlin, Holt and Jordan families, the last of whom produced U.S. Senator B. Everett Jordan. The building is regarded as an outstanding example of the rural cotton mill type, with its open plan, fire-separated functions and river-powered origins. It closed after a 1994 tornado, and a 1996 flood damaged the first floor.","period_of_significance":"1906-1948","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Closed in 1994 after tornado damage; stabilization and planned rehabilitation for apartments, shops and restaurant were underway.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:41.852026-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/98/7188/47718898/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/98000546.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718898","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_Saxapahaw_Spinning_Mill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17560716"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/alamance-county/saxapahaw-spinning-mill-former-98000546/"}