Mor-Val Hosiery Mill
Also known as: Morris Mill
Why it's listed
Built in 1936 on a half-acre corner lot in Denton, this one-story brick hosiery mill has a fifty-foot-square manufacturing room with large steel industrial windows and a smaller office wing to the south. Autie Morris and Norman Valentine Johnson, both from prominent Denton families, hired local contractor Carly Cranford to erect it during the Depression. The partners produced seamless knit hosiery, mainly men's argyle socks, and during World War II the mill made knee-high wool socks for the army. Enlargements were completed by 1941, and the building kept its mid-twentieth-century appearance. Its importance lies in its survival: among the small Denton and Davidson County hosiery mills of the 1930s, it is the only one that still conveys the common industrial form of the period. The mill operated until about 1965 and has been vacant since 1986.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the mill is locally significant as the only hosiery mill in the area that survives with architectural integrity to show the industrial building type common to small Piedmont mills in the first half of the twentieth century. It also ties the mill to the small hosiery mills that supported Denton's economy during the Depression.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 01001074, listed October 5, 2001. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | N. Main and E. First Sts., Denton |
|---|---|
| County | Davidson County |
| Listed | October 5, 2001 |
| Reference number | 01001074 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1936-1951 |
| Architect / builder | Cranford, Carly (contractor) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Mill no longer operates and has stood vacant since the death of Kermit Morris in 1986; the building remains architecturally intact from its manufacturing period. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 35.63461, -80.11325 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 01001074.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18391157
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.