Cotton Mill, Washington, UT

On January 7th Dixie Paranormal had the opportunity to investigate the Cotton Mill in Washington, Utah. It was a fantastic investigation with many personal experiences. We will be going over the evidence in the next week in order to show it to the great people at Star Nursery (current owners of the Cotton Mill). We will be posting the evidence to our Facebook page and Youtube channels as soon as we can.

HISTORY

Brigham Young, sensing there would be a disruption in the cotton markets resulting from the U.S. Civil War, sent people down to southern Utah to a Cotton Mission. They started experimenting with raising cotton in Utah's "Dixie". The first extensive manufacture of cotton cloth was begun in 1865 when a cooperative cotton factory was organized under the direction of Brigham Young. This meant the cotton lint would not need to be baled and sent to others to produce cloth. Appleton M. Harmon was selected to supervise the building of a mill and the installation of the necessary machinery. The Washington site was selected because of nearby water power from the Virgin River. The building of the mill was started in 1866 and the first story was occupied in 1867. Local farmers began growing more cotton. The building was raised to two and one half stories in the fall of 1870. At that time, it was the largest factory west of the Mississippi. New equipment was shipped in from Missouri that permitted wool as well as cotton to be made into cloth. It was always known as the Cotton Factory, not the Cotton Mill, since Snow's Gristmill, built in 1866, was located about 2-300 yards south of the Factory and was known as the Mill. For a short while the cotton industry flourished, partly due to the Civil War and its interference with growers in the southern U.S. A manufacturing company was organized in 1871 with capital stock of $100,000. Other Mormon communities that were growing cotton and sending it to the Washington factory were Toquerville and Santa Clara. The end of the Civil War resulted in a softening of the cotton market which made it difficult for the Washington factory to compete. So the factory never was much of a money maker but it did much to hold the pioneers here in "Dixie." It gave them work and an income which they could not get in any other way. It also supplied cloth that reduced the amount of work required in the home to produce clothing. In April 1890 the Washington Cotton Factory was leased by Thomas Judd for five years. Under his management the mill employed 70-80 people and operated at a profit forthe first time in the history of the mill. To keep the factory producing, wool as well as cotton was woven into cloth. Silk was also tried but most of the cloth made from silk was spun and woven at home. A. Karl Larson writes of the importance of the cotton factory to the economy of Utah's Dixie in the following manner: "The importance of the Factory to the people of Dixie during the time of the Judd lease would indeed be hard to overestimate. At a time when the total money supply was scarcely sufficient to pay taxes, the Factory stood 'like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land,' helping the people to meet their needs. It gave employment to quite a large number; it took the produce of the farm and the herd in exchange for the goods it produced; its manager, David H. Morris, sent many tons of cotton batting to Z.C.M.I, at Salt Lake City and received in exchange for this commodity store goods which were traded to the people for the general products of the area without the use of specie. The Factory issued, as it had done in the past, its due bills, and these, with tithing scrip, the scrip issued by Woolley, Lund and Judd, and the scrip of the Cannaan Cooperative Stock Company, served and circulated freely as money. The advertisement of the Rio Virgin Mills, as the Factory was now referred to, in the Southern Utah Star for July 20,1895, states that the mills 'have on hand a general stock of Blankets, Flannels, Linseys, Woolen and Cotton shirts and underwear, Table cloth, Towels, Towelling, Ginghams, Cotton shirting, etc., which they will exchange for Wool, Cotton, Flour, Wheat, Barley, Oats, Pork, Butter, Cheese, and The General Products of the Country. Giving the Highest Market Price.'" The depression of the 1890's served the interests of the local cotton industry well. However, the return of prosperity in the late 1890's found the factory unable to compete with the cheaper and more attractive goods produced outside of Utah, and as business declined, Judd was forced to cancel his lease.

The factory closed in 1904 and the machinery was removed in 1910. It deteriorated until part of the roof fell in. Starting in September of 1935, it served as a temporary CCC camp. It was put on the National Register of Historic Places (#1971000864) on April 16, 1971. Walter Clever of Washington bought the factory with the intent of refurbishing it. The long process of restoring the cotton factory and returning it to community use began in 1985 when Norma Cannizzaro adopted the old factory as her personal crusade. She purchased the building and invested a considerable sum in repairing the exterior and renovating the interior as an events center. After nearly a decade of pursuing the factory's preservation, however, Norma Cannizzaro could no longer support the project. Hyrum and Gail Smith stepped up in 1993 to carry the project forward. They purchased the factory with hopes of creating a historical village around it. This plan, however, encountered difficulties and the Smiths were forced to put the factory up for sale. In 1998, Star Nursery picked up the torch when it purchased the cotton factory to house its second St. George area store. Star nursery carefully adapted the main floor of the building to house its garden shop while preserving the cotton factory's pioneer era construction. The exterior and upper floors of the factory remain unchanged. A community-minded organization, Star Nursery makes the second floor available for public use and tours. This area also contains many artifacts associated with the history of the cotton factory. Star Nursery remains as the owner of the Washington Cotton Factory.