Former workers want Knowledge Park nod to Bleachery’s past

Once developers finish all the planned construction in Knowledge Park, the collection of retail shops and residential housing along West White Street will bear little resemblance to the old mill that was once such a recognizable part of Rock Hill’s landscape.

Former employees of the Rock Hill Printing & Finishing Co. hope to keep one element of the area’s history on display. Members of the Bleachery Heritage Steering Committee, representing Rock Hill residents who worked in the downtown plant commonly known as the Bleachery, presented plans to the Rock Hill City Council on Monday for a memorial that would honor the former factory and its employees.

Emile Russett, the former general manager of the company, told the council he wants to honor not only the Bleachery but the Anderson Motor Company and Rock Hill Buggy Company that also occupied the site. The memorial would display a “huge” roller printing machine from the former plant, among other items donated by Bleachery employees.

“In its heyday, there were 4,000 people working there. It was the town’s largest employer,” Russett said. “At one time 10 or 15 years ago, you read the obituaries on any day and it looked like one out of four people who passed away used to work there.”

As part of his presentation to the council, Russett showed an old promotional video for the plant created by Springs Industries during its heyday.

The Rock Hill Printing & Finishing Co. started production in 1929 on the eve of the Great Depression, and continued operations until the plant shut its doors in 1999. Much of the plant burned to the ground in a 2009 fire, and the city along with a private developer have worked to revive the area as part of its Knowledge Park vision – which would turn the former industrial space into a mix of street-level businesses and apartment-style housing.

But members of the heritage committee hope that vision won’t wipe away the area’s history. Former employee Tom “Pookie” Williams remembers when the plant had as many as 36 machines running millions of yards of cloth at a time.

“It was here during the Depression, which really saved Rock Hill,” said Williams, who worked in the plant for 40 years until its closure.

After graduating with a degree in textile chemistry at Clemson University and a short stint in the Army, Williams started work in the Bleachery’s laboratory in 1959, then moved to work in dying and finishing, the decorating department and packing and shipping before he ended his career 40 years later as a department supervisor.

Even if many former employees are now showing up in the obituaries, supporters of a memorial see it as a piece of local history worthy of being remembered even as the area changes.

“It meant a lot to Rock Hill from its inception to when it closed,” Williams said. “I doubt there are many people who’ve lived here long enough that did not have some kin working there at some point.”

While the old rolling machine – “the backbone of the plant,” according to Russett – would be the main Bleachery item on display in Knowledge Park, he told the council former employees and their families could donate other items that could be added to the display.

Russett asked the council to include plans for a future display when drawing up Rock Hill’s own designs for Knowledge Park.

The group still has time to get plans for its display ready. The council voted Monday to defer its approval of the developer’s “master plan” for the Bleachery site because of ongoing contractual negotiations.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Former workers want Knowledge Park nod to Bleachery’s past."