Revolution Cotton Mill

Revolution Cotton Mill, constructed in 1899, for the Cones and the Sternbergers, is located just off Yanceyville Street.  It was the first cotton flannel mill in the South and grew to be the world's largest flannel production facility by the 1930's. It was sold to Revolution Associates for redevelopment as condominiums, after Cone Mills closed the plant in 1982, but it was determined to not be suitable as condominiums and is now owned by Revolution Studios, LLC.  Present tenants include the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship, a cabinet shop and showroom, a coffee roasting company; various small businesses; and most recently, a medical laboratory and medical offices. 


An important feature of the Cone operations until the late 1940s was the mill village.  The village included a total of 1600 houses, of which 400 were reserved for black workers.  In 1915, families rented 3, 4, or 6 room houses by the month, for a dollar a room and the rent included water and electricity.  In 1923, all the Cone mill villages (a total of 4)  became part of Greensboro when the city expanded its limits.  In 1959, the last remaining houses were sold to employees of the mills.