The Camperdown Mills were established in 1873. The mill property
included what is known today as Falls Park adjacent to Main Street
in downtown Greenville South Carolina.
The Camperdown Mills renovated and enlarged the old Vardry Mill,
known as Camperdown #1, on the south side of the Reedy River
and began producing cotton yarns there in June 1874. Camperdown
#1 burned in November 1943. The foundation of this mill remains today
in the Mill Garden of Falls Park....More
A second larger mill, known as Camperdown #2, was built on
the north side of the Reedy and began operations in January
1875. A metal footbridge was built across the Reedy below the
Falls to connect the two mills. Camperdown Mill #2,
deconstructed in 1960, was located on the present site of the
Bowater building at the east en .d of Liberty Bridge. Remains
of the brick foundation can be easily seen below the overlook on
the east side of the Falls. The footprints of the footbridge can
easily be seen on the large river stones by the Mill Gardens..
In 1893, W.E. Touchstone, a superintendent of the mills, built a home at 615
South Main Street. Later this home was occupied by other Camperdown mill
superintendents and then was rented to Camperdown mill workers. This home,
now known as Falls Cottage, has been renovated and now houses a popular
restaurant.
Circa 1911 The Camperdown Mills Company erected a cotton
storage warehouse on Main Street adjacent to the Main Street
bridge. This building was sold to the Traxler Real Estate
Company in 1941 and housed the Greenville USO Club during
the 1950s. This building has been renovated for office and
restaurant use and is now known as Falls Place.
The mill village at Camperdown consisted of 119 company-owned homes, some designed for
multi-family occupancy, and one boarding house. Several privately owned boarding houses
catering to single mill employees bordered the village. Over the years a number of
Camperdown employees built their own homes adjacent to the mill village......More.
The Camperdown Mills Company supported two churches in
the village - Second Baptist (Riverside) still located at 304
East Camperdown Way (formerly Choice Street) pictured on
right, and Choice Street Methodist pictured on left which was
deconstructed in 1957.
In 1904 The Camperdown Company established Graham School,
named after then current mill president Charles Graham, in the
village in an existing two story house on the mill property and
encouraged employees to send their children to the school. Later
this school was turned over to the Greenville City School system
when school attendance was made mandatory in South Carolina,
The city school district built a new Graham school (pictured). The
site on Camperdown Way is presently occupied by the Greenville
County School District offices.
The Camperdown Mills Company at peak operations employed 365 individuals who supported a community of some 1500
Greenville city residents.
Camperdown was unique in that the mills and village were located adjacent to the downdown Greenville business district
and the mill owners saw no need to make the village self-sufficient with the company stores, YMCAs and other facilities
common to most southern mill communities. Camperdown residents traded with downtown businesses, used the city
YMCA and YWCA, and the children attended Greenville city schools.
The Camperdown Mills ceased operations in 1956, one of the first mills in the upstate to succumb to the increasing import
of cotton and synthetic cloth, as well as ready made garments, from Asia and South America.
From the sound of the first mill whistle in 1874, Camperdown employees formed a cohesive family-oriented and values-based
community with a number of families being employed by the mills for four generations.
Although The Camperdown Mills and the mill village have been gone for over fifty years, former employees, their families
and descendents remain a close family of families.
In 1978, the Camperdown community held its first annual reunion, a tradition which continues today.