The economics of Mount Holly
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Then:
Gaston county's big economic contribution were textiles. In 1874 two brothers, A.P. and D.E. Rhyne, decided to open the county's fourth cotton mill in partnership with Ambrose Costner. (Griffin, 1994) The mill was named Mount Holly Cotton Mills. The mill is what started the commercial growth of the town. It brought in many jobs and had people moving into the town to work. Textile mills continued to be built during this time. Textiles are the backbone of the town and highly contributed to its ultimate growth. In 1905 the Duke brothers decided to opened up the Southern Power company, which is now known as Duke Power. They opened up a Mount Holly Steam Station that was powered by coal. (Beatty, 1994) The Duke brothers decided that the town needed its own railroad and railroad station to get the coal quickly and efficiently. So in 1910 the Duke brothers started another company, Piedmont and Northern Railways (P&N). (Beatty, 1994) The Mount Holly P&N station was build in 1911. (Beatty 1994) The railroad was and still is known for its coal trafficking to the Mount Holly Steam Station. This railway also took the textile goods from both Mount Holly and Gaston County and shipped them across the entire nation. (Beatty, 1994) The town train station become known and it was the main station for shipping goods in the piedmont region of the Carolinas. In July 1930 American Yarn and Processing Company was made--it was seven combined mills. (Beatty, 1994) It brought even more jobs to the town because the company housed 53,000 spindles. (Beatty, 1994) It was able to employee over 1,000 people. The town become known for its textiles and the economy was doing well. What once was a small town that was just a mill grew into so much more.
Now:
Mount Holly has grown economically in the past century. The downtown area exposes visitors to a variety of small businesses. There are local boutiques, a bakery, hair salon's, a wine shop, a coffee shop, a pet store, two dance studios, a florist shop, and so much more. The small businesses in the town contribute to a lot of the town's taxes. It is no longer a town known for only its textile industry. Although the company American Yarn and Processing Company now is named American and Efrid is the world's second largest thread maker and has over 980 employees at it's plant in Mount Holly. (Mount Holly, 2014) "Other textile companies [still in] the city include a denim mill run by Burlington Industries and a textile dyestuff plant operated by Clariant." (Mount Holly, 2014) The town's cotton mill is no longer used for its textile purposes but it still stands and is the last one in the county that is still standing. The Mount Holly Cotton Mill served as the back bone of the economic growth of the town. The building is now a historical part of the town. Train's are still constantly passing through the town, but the train station is now longer used as a train station. It now serves as a historical building and houses shops. The Duke power Mount Holly River Steam Station, now called Riverbend Steam Station, is still running but is slowly shutting down. My grandfather, Ernest Koone, worked and retired from there after thirty-eight years. In 1990 the company Freightliner Truck Manufacturing Plant made it's way into the city. (Mount Holly, 2007) The business has brought so much commercial growth to the town. It contributed to many new jobs and was recently almost shut down but made a turn around and business is booming. The newest addition to the towns economy is going to be the new CaroMont Health Emergency center. It is a 24 million dollar project. (CaroMont Health, 2013) Construction on the center began in late 2013. The center is expected to open in 2015 in late spring or early summer. They will hire approximately sixty doctors, nurses, and staff members. (Orr, 2014) The medical center has estimated that almost 20,000 people will be served by the center. This construction had brought vast attention to the town of Mount Holly and will contribute to even more economic growth.