With over 330 original mill houses, the Bullhole and dam at RiverPark and the old cotton mill still standing along the banks of the South Yadkin River, Cooleemee is perhaps the best preserved Southern mill village of the post civil-war industrial age. Cooleemee’s mill, built in 1900 at the height of the South’s mill building era, closed in 1969.
Preserved as private homes, most of the mill houses are still in excellent architectural condition. The work on RiverPark at Cooleemee Falls has breathed new life into the banks of the river and the dam which provided power for the mill. The cotton mill is still intact and ready to take on new life as a new economic engine.
This important and historically relevant collection of buildings and geographic features provides the backdrop for the work of the Cooleemee Historical Association which was founded in 1989. Since its founding, the CHA has established a museum at its Textile Heritage Center and a Mill House Museum one block away. The CHA also played a key role in the establishment of RiverPark at Cooleemee Falls. They continue to host educational tours for school classes. Over 4,000 people visit Cooleemee each year to explore the history of Southern mill town culture.
You Can Help!
Cooleemee’s Textile Heritage Center is in danger of losing its only full-time staff person. To help prevent this and to keep Davie County’s only two museums open, a new fund-raising promotional product is available for purchase: the Cooleemee Historical Association T-Shirt with full color images of the Bullhole, the Trestle, Zachary House, Cooleemee Elementary School and the mill.
The promotional shirt was conceived by Cooleemee native Ron Bivins and designed by Davie graphic artist Eric Grooms. It is available in black or grey adult sizes S-3X and Kids sizes medium and large for a $16 donation (add $4 s/h for mail orders). They are available at the Red Pig (Greasy Corner), Village Service Station (formerly Osborne Service in Cooleemee), Davie Discount Drugs and the Zachary House. They are also available at the Greasy Corner Barber Shop and the Davie County Chamber of Commerce in Mocksville.
For more information, please contact the Cooleemee Historical Association at 336-284-6040, via email to blinky1@yadtel.net or write to them at CHA, PO Box 667, Cooleemee, NC 27014.