Skip to content
Orange County Public Library (opens the library’s website in a new tab)

Businesses, mills and venues

Eno Mill

The Eno Cotton Mill, founded in 1896 by Allen J. Ruffin and James H. Webb Jr. on the north bank of the Eno west of Hillsborough, was the first textile mill in Hillsborough and in present-day Orange County. It became part of Cone Mills in 1952, closed in 1984, and was listed in the National Register in 2011.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

People in its history

People named in events about this site, ordered by number of mentions. Each example links to an entry with a source citation.

Show 3 more

Sites linked through the same people

Indexed works

Books, articles, records, and images about Eno Mill. Each has been reviewed for relevance; materials held at OCPL appear first.

About the site

Shives against Cotton Mills : from Orange : before Long, J., plaintiff appealed.

Shives, W. H., plaintiff · 1909

Court printing from 1909 for an appeal out of Orange County in which W. H. Shives sued the Eno Cotton Mills, a Hillsborough textile mill, for compensation after an accident on the job. Forty two pages, closing with a date of 31 August 1909, with the pleadings in full.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Webb Family of Hillsborough (N.C.) papers, circa 1879-1999

Webb (Family : Hillsborough, N.C.) · 1879

Family papers of the Webbs of Hillsborough, circa 1879 to 1999, about 1,000 items in 4.5 linear feet, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 5532. The papers concern the textile industry through Eno Cotton Mills and Cone Mills Corporation, the Norwood and Hueske families, and registers of enslaved people together with enslavers in Orange County. Materials in English.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

UNC

Eno Cotton Mill, Hillsboro, N.C.

W. A. Hayes Drug Store, Hillsboro, N.C

Eno Cotton Mill at Hillsborough appears on this postcard, with the W. A. Hayes Drug Store of Hillsborough named as its publisher. Topics include the cotton industry, factories and Orange County, so the card documents the town's cotton manufacturing.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

DPLA

Eno Mill: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Undated exterior view of the Eno Mill, a textile mill on the Eno River, from the Chapel Hill Historical Society's photographs of Orange County businesses.

Included because: The site is named in the title, catalog subjects, or description.

CH Historical Society

Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Eno Mill alone: the architectural surveys that cover its town or the county, and maps drawn while it stood. Several of the surveys can be read free online at NC Digital Collections.

Hillsborough architectural survey

Slane, Heather Wagner · 2017 · hmwPreservation

Survey of Hillsborough's historic buildings by Heather Wagner Slane of hmwPreservation, completed in September 2017. The 40-page report covers the town's architecture and history with color illustrations and maps.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

NC Cardinal NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Time in place, place in time : history and sense of place in Hillsborough, North Carolina

Warren, Cheryl Davis · 2005

Cheryl Davis Warren's 2005 study of history and sense of place in Hillsborough, 216 leaves with illustrations, maps and a bibliography. Written as human geography, it treats the town's past alongside its social conditions and the ways residents understand where they live.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

UNC

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Hillsboro, Orange County, North Carolina.

1905

Fire insurance map of Hillsborough, spelled Hillsboro, drawn by the Sanborn Map Company in January 1905 on two sheets, from the Sanborn Maps collection.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

Library of Congress Digital Collections

Birdseye View of Hillsboro, N.C. Looking East

1905 · A. C. Bosselman & Co., New York, N.Y

Bird's-eye view of Hillsborough looking east, with houses and industrial buildings, on a postcard published by A. C. Bosselman & Co. of New York about 1905 to 1915. Card number 11116.

Included because: A survey or map of the town or county where the site stands.

DPLA

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

Start at OCPL

    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Eno Mill, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

    Histories of the town and county

    • Start here · NC 975.656 LLO History of the Town of Hillsborough, 1754-1982 Lloyd, Allen Alexander · 1983

      A 1982 revision of Allen Alexander Lloyd's history of Hillsborough, now written with Pauline O. Lloyd and carried forward from the town's founding in 1754 to 1982. Published in Hillsborough by A. A. Lloyd, 310 pages with illustrations and a bibliography.

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 HOLADAY Hillsborough Holaday, Chris · 2002

      J. Chris Holaday's Images of America volume on Hillsborough (Arcadia, 2002), built mostly from photographs and postcards. Chapters cover homes, churches and schools, business and industry, local people, scenes around town, and sports, entertainment and events.

    • Foundational · 975.656 RYAN Orange County Trio: Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, North Carolina, Histories and Tour Guides Ryan, Elizabeth Shreve · 2004

      Elizabeth Shreve Ryan's combined histories and tour guides for Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the three towns of Orange County, with the University of North Carolina treated alongside Chapel Hill. Each town gets a narrative history and a tour of its streets and buildings. Published by Chapel Hill Press in 2004, 369 pages with illustrations and maps.

    Buildings and surveys

    • Foundational · NC 720.975 BIS A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Bishir, Catherine W. · 2003

      Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern's field guide to the historic buildings of the North Carolina Piedmont, arranged county by county from Wake and Franklin in the east to Mecklenburg and Gaston in the west. The Orange County section takes in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with the rural county, with entries on individual buildings and maps for finding them. Published 2003, 596 pages with illustrations and maps.

    • Foundational · NC 720.975 HILLSBOR Hillsborough Historic District Inventory 2006

      An inventory of the buildings in the Hillsborough Historic District, dated 2006. It concerns historic buildings and the buildings and structures of Hillsborough. Useful for anyone checking a particular property in the town's historic district.

    • Start here · NC 720.975 BEL Photocensus: A Photographic Survey of Buildings in the Hillsborough, N.C. Historic District Built Before 1950 Bellinger, Susan McArtor · 1991

      Susan McArtor Bellinger's photographic survey of the buildings in the Hillsborough Historic District put up before 1950, self-published in Hillsborough in 1991. Arranged as a guidebook, it records houses and other structures in photographs. 142 pages with illustrations.

    Show 3 more
    • Rebecca Wall Collection · 917.565 DUL The Pelican Guide to Hillsborough, Historic Orange County, North Carolina Dula, Lucile Noell · 1989

      Lucile Noell Dula's guidebook to Hillsborough and its historic buildings, published by Pelican in 1989. It pairs a tour of the town with notes on its history, in 128 illustrated pages with a bibliography. Part of the Wall Local History Collection.

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 621.21 HOB Exploring the Old Mills of North Carolina Hobbs, Grimsley T. · 1985

      Grimsley T. Hobbs's oblong guide to the old water mills of North Carolina, with drawings by Kate Russell Forbes, published in 1985 by Provincial Press of Chapel Hill in 80 pages. The same press also published guides to the Piedmont and to the state's country inns.

    • Start here · NC 975.656 BROWNING Valley Of The Eno : Some Of Its Lands - Some Of Its People - Some Of Its Mills Browning, Hugh Conway · 1973

      Hugh Conway Browning's 1973 history of the Eno River valley, subtitled some of its lands, some of its people, some of its mills, treating the tracts, families and water mills along the river in Orange and Durham counties. Among the people it covers is William Andrew Browning, 1835 to 1916.

    Land, family and burial records

    • Foundational · NC 333.3 DUNAWAY Hillsborough, North Carolina History of Town Lots: The Complete Reference Guide Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2013

      Stewart E. Dunaway worked through Hillsborough, N.C., lot by lot, giving each town lot a synopsis of its history, a plat showing where it sits and transcripts of the deeds he could locate for it. The second issue runs to 720 pages with illustrations, maps and facsimiles.

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 333.3 DUNAWAY Hillsborough, North Carolina History of Town Lots: Addendum 2015 Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2015

      Stewart E. Dunaway's 2015 addendum to his history of Hillsborough's town lots, adding deed records arranged by lot number and further town history, with the expansion of the 1890s covered for the first time. Self-published in North Carolina as version 1.0, 446 pages with illustrations, facsimiles and maps. Topics include deeds, court records, land titles and real property in Hillsborough.

    • Foundational · NC 333.3 IND An Index to the Town Lots of Hillsborough: Orange County, North Carolina 1982

      An index to the town lots of Hillsborough, Orange County, compiled in 1982 as a guide to the deeds and court records that trace each lot's ownership.

    In the chronology

    Storyline about this site, with a page of its own:

    1. Allen J. Ruffin and James H. Webb Jr. found the Eno Cotton Mill Ruffin and Webb, both of old Hillsborough families, founded the Eno Cotton Mill on the north bank of the Eno west of town, chartered by special act of the General Assembly in 1896. It was the first textile mill in Hillsborough and in present-day Orange County. People: George A. Durham, James Webb Jr. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Eno Cotton Mill, National Register nomination (OR1300, 2011), section 8, p. 10
    2. Work begins on the Eno Cotton Mills as James Webb Jr. breaks ground for the railroad siding Construction of the Eno Cotton Mills at Hillsborough began when James Webb Jr. broke the first dirt on the mill's railroad siding. The builders meant to keep at it without a stop until the factory was finished and running. People: James Webb Jr. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), April 11, 1896, p. 3
    3. James Webb Jr. lays the first brick of the Eno Cotton Mills James Webb Jr. laid the first brick of the Eno Cotton Mills building at Hillsborough. Henry Richards of Hillsborough, who had overseen the building of several Alamance County mills, took charge of the brickwork. People: James Webb Jr. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), May 23, 1896, p. 3
    4. Eno Cotton Mill's buildings near completion and its first cottages are occupied Work on the Eno Cotton Mill at West Hillsborough was well along: about a million bricks had gone into the two-story main building, some 252 feet long, and several mill cottages were finished and occupied. The company, capitalized at $100,000 with Allen J. Ruffin as president and Thomas H. Webb as superintendent, planned to start with 10,000 spindles and hoped to run by April. People: Allen Jones Ruffin, James Webb Jr., George A. Durham Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), November 26, 1896, p. 3
    5. Eno Cotton Mill begins production Yarn production started late in the year. Eno River Mill — The Mill’s History
    6. The Eno Cotton Mill's engine and boilers arrive The 200-horsepower engine and two boilers for the Eno Cotton Mill arrived at Hillsborough, and the mill's tall smokestack was nearly finished. The mill was expected to be in full operation within a few weeks, and by late April machinists were setting the boilers. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), April 1, 1897, p. 3
    7. County commissioners exempt the Eno Cotton Mills from 1897 taxes On a motion by Commissioner Holden, the Orange County commissioners voted three to two to exempt the Eno Cotton Mills from county taxes for 1897, to encourage new manufacturing. The board reversed the vote the next month. People: A. L. Holden Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), August 5, 1897, p. 3
    8. County commissioners put the Eno Cotton Mill back on the tax list The Orange County commissioners reconsidered their August vote and kept the Eno Cotton Mill on the 1897 tax list at the $50,000 assessment the mill had accepted. Commissioner T. J. Hogan then explained the board's votes in a public letter after taxpayers objected to the exemption. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 30, 1897, p. 2
    9. The Eno Cotton Mill installs more machinery for 5,000 added spindles The proprietors of the Eno Cotton Mill at Hillsborough were putting in more machinery to add 5,000 spindles. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), April 6, 1899, p. 3
    10. Contractor Haywood H. Thompson begins a weave mill and dye house at the Eno Cotton Mill Haywood H. Thompson began making brick for a weave mill and dye house at the Eno Cotton Mill, planned to run about 400 looms and employ 75 to 100 more hands; by early June he was preparing the foundations. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), April 30, 1903, p. 3
    11. Eno Mill adds cloth weaving New looms extended operations beyond spinning yarn. Eno River Mill — The Mill’s History
    12. James Webb, a builder of the Eno Cotton Mills, dies at Hillsboro James Webb, merchant and manufacturer, died at his Hillsboro home on January 28, three days after returning from Texas for his health. With his brother Joseph C. Webb and A. J. Ruffin he had built the Eno Cotton Mills and a flour mill, and he was a director of the Raleigh and Neuse mills at Raleigh; he was buried at St. Matthew's on January 31. People: J. Cheshire Webb, Allen Jones Ruffin Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), February 4, 1904, p. 3
    Show all 47 dated events
    1. The Eno Cotton Mill reopens with James H. Webb as manager The Eno Cotton Mill, shut down for a month or two, resumed work with James H. Webb of Hillsborough, son of the late Thomas Webb, as superintendent and general manager. People: Thomas Webb Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 15, 1904, p. 3
    2. Heavy rain and wind wash out the railroad trestle over the Eno A storm of heavy rain and wind damaged crops across the county, washed away the Southern Railway trestle over the Eno at Occoneechee Mountain, carried off cordwood and damaged the brickyard of the Eno Cotton Mill, drowned one of Julian S. Carr's mules above the town bridge, and wrecked the bridge over New Hope Creek at Robson Station. People: Julian S. Carr Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 22, 1904, p. 3
    3. Durham wins an injunction against the Eno Cotton Mills for fouling the Eno The City of Durham, which drew its drinking water from the Eno, obtained a temporary order in early February barring the Eno Cotton Mills at Hillsboro from running sewage and filth into the river. After arguments at Durham on February 10, Judge G. S. Ferguson continued the injunction to a final hearing but suspended it until April 20 so the mill could put in a purifying system approved by the State Board of Health. People: John W. Graham, Frank Nash, Samuel Mallett Gattis Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), February 22, 1906, p. 3
    4. The state supreme court orders the Eno Cotton Mills to purify its waste or stop dumping it in the Eno On May 29 the North Carolina Supreme Court decided Durham's suit against the Eno Cotton Mills: the mill had to put in a crematory or other purifying plant at its own cost or be enjoined from emptying the sewage and dye refuse of the mill and its workers' houses into the Eno. The court ruled so although the mill stood about seventeen miles above Durham's intake and had been running before the city took water from the river, and mill owners across the state took note. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), June 7, 1906, p. 3
    5. Eno Methodist Church is founded in West Hillsborough Eno Methodist Church began among the Eno Cotton Mill's workers, with services upstairs in the mill's company store, until 1908, when it moved into its own frame church on land Allen Ruffin gave. It had 147 members in 1953. People: Allen Jones Ruffin NC State Historic Preservation Office: Eno Cotton Mill, National Register nomination (OR1300, 2011), section 8 · Also: Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952
    6. The Eno Methodist congregation builds its church on land given by Allen Ruffin The congregation formed for Eno Cotton Mill workers first met in an upper room of a mill building. In 1908 it moved into a simple front-gabled frame church with pointed-arch windows and a small belfry, on land Ruffin donated facing the mill across the railroad tracks. People: Allen Jones Ruffin NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 16
    7. Heavy rains flood Orange County, wrecking bridges and damaging the Eno Cotton Mills A week of heavy rains raised the county's rivers and creeks higher than in many years, ruined bottomland crops and tobacco, and carried away county bridges over New Hope Creek, the Eno above Dimock's mill and Little River, at a loss to the county of at least $2,000. In Hillsborough nearly every town bridge washed out and the county bridge was shifted on its base, while at the Eno Cotton Mills the railroad trestle was lost and floodwater did about $2,000 in damage. Orange County Observer (Hillsborough), September 3, 1908, p. 3
    8. Eno Cotton Mill is enlarged and adds gingham In 1909 the Hillsborough mill was expanded again and began weaving gingham alongside chambray and plaids. Some yarn was still sold unwoven until the First World War. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 276
    9. Eno Cotton Mill rents its village houses to workers for 25 cents a week The Eno Cotton Mill, founded in 1896 by Allen J. Ruffin and James H. Webb Jr., built a company village for its fast-growing workforce, and by 1915 the company was renting the houses to employees for a quarter a week. The 1924 Sanborn map shows about 100 mill houses west and south of the mill. People: Allen Jones Ruffin NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 12 · Also: Eno Cotton Mill National Register nomination
    10. Eno Cotton Mill reports 150 women among its 500 workers Reports from the years before the wartime changes count about 500 workers at Hillsborough's Eno Cotton Mill, 150 of them women and 50 children under 16, on a 60-hour week. The top average daily wage for women was $1.75 against $4.00 for men; at the smaller Bellevue mill nearby women's top average was $2.50. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Eno Cotton Mill, National Register of Historic Places nomination
    11. Eno Mill opens an influenza diet kitchen at West Hill school When influenza reached the Eno Mill district, the mill opened and paid for a diet kitchen at the West Hill school for about seven weeks, run by home demonstration agent Elizabeth Cornelius. It fed as many as 150 people a day, and the mill hired nurses for the sick. People: Charles H. Robertson Documenting the American South: A Record of the War Activities in Orange County, North Carolina, 1917-1919, p. 76
    12. J. Cheshire Webb becomes president of the Eno Cotton Mills Webb, a director of the Eno Cotton Mills since early manhood, was made president of the Hillsborough mill in 1921. He ran it until his death in 1932 and was also a director of the Rocky Mount Mills and the Bank of Orange. The Daily Tar Heel, April 15, 1932, p. 4
    13. Eno Cotton Mills stockholders approve a recapitalization On November 19, 1928, the directors and then all the stockholders of the Eno Cotton Mills near Hillsborough voted to reorganize the company's stock. Holders of common stock gave it up for 75 per cent of its par value in new shares, 4,383 shares of non-voting second preferred stock were authorized, and the common stock was cut to 3,755 shares. People: J. Cheshire Webb The Chapel Hill Weekly, November 30, 1928, p. 4
    14. Eno Cotton Mill installs new machinery and switches to combed yarn New machinery went in at the Eno mill in 1929, and combed yarn replaced coarse carded yarn. Broadcloth shirting and corduroy became its main products. Lefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 276
    15. J. Cheshire Webb, president of the Eno Cotton Mills, dies in Hillsboro Webb, 52, a University man of 1901 who had run the James Webb, Jr., & Bro. store with his uncle H. Winder Webb and had headed the Eno Cotton Mills for eleven years, died early Wednesday of acute uremia, having worked at his mill office the day before. A junior warden of St. Matthew's, he had his funeral there on April 14, and his death dissolved the H. W. & J. C. Webb partnership. People: J. Cheshire Webb, H. Winder Webb The Chapel Hill Weekly, April 15, 1932, p. 5
    16. Wartime orders push the Eno Cotton Mill to about 600 workers Military demand for cloth during World War II enlarged the Eno Cotton Mill, which by the 1940s employed as many as 600 workers on three shifts. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Hillsborough Historic District Additional Documentation, National Register (OR0077ad, 2014), Historical Background, 1940-1960s
    17. Fire breaks out in stored cotton at the Eno Cotton Mills Fire started in stored cotton at the Eno Cotton Mills in Hillsborough about noon. Chief G. W. Gilmore and the volunteer fire department fought it for about half an hour, and mill vice president James Webb said the damage was slight and covered by insurance. The News (Chapel Hill), February 10, 1944, p. 1
    18. Fire destroys three Eno Cotton Mills houses in West Hillsborough A fire of unknown origin that broke out about 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 26, 1944, burned three frame mill houses in the West End of Hillsborough to the ground by about 2 p.m.; no one was hurt. The section had no fire hydrants, so the volunteer firemen under Chief George W. Gilmore, joined by the Mebane department, had to draw water from wells and haul it by truck, and they saved the houses on either side. Eno Cotton Mills, which owned the houses, moved the families into other mill houses that day. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 31, 1944, p. 1
    19. CIO organizers hold meetings for Eno Cotton Mill workers in West Hillsboro CIO affiliates from Greensboro held a series of union meetings at the West Hillsboro school, beginning with one on February 2 to which all Eno Cotton Mill employees were urged to come. A meeting billed as for the United Textile Workers of America followed on February 16, with a CIO representative speaking. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), February 14, 1946, p. 1
    20. Eno Cotton Mills finishes installing new spinning machines Eno Cotton Mills in West Hillsboro completed installing larger, faster machines in its spinning department, ending almost a year of changeover work, president James Webb said. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 22, 1949, p. 1
    21. Overseer James G. Faucette retires after 52 years at Eno Cotton Mills James G. Faucette, overseer in the spinning room, finished 52 years at Eno Cotton Mills, a career that began during the Spanish-American War, and on his last night the second shift presented him a leather platform rocker at a ceremony in the department. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 7, 1950, p. 1
    22. Grand jury relays a warning about Eno River pollution and the Eno Mill village sewers In its report to the March term of Superior Court the grand jury passed on word from the health department that pollution of the Eno River and poor sewage at the Eno Mill village needed attention. District health officer O. D. Garvin said he knew of no such report and praised the mill's program of replacing sanitary facilities in village homes. People: O. David Garvin The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 22, 1951, p. 1
    23. Eno Cotton Mills files for dissolution as a corporation All the stockholders of the Eno Cotton Mills, the Hillsborough corporation founded in 1896, filed a written consent to its voluntary dissolution with the North Carolina Secretary of State, who issued a preliminary certificate of dissolution the same day. The notice does not say what became of the mill, which the chronology already records joining Cone Mills in 1952. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 10, 1952, p. 7
    24. Eno Mill becomes part of Cone Mills The subsidiary joined the Greensboro textile corporation. Eno River Mill — The Mill’s History
    25. Charles H. Robertson, former Eno Cotton Mills superintendent and federal tax collector, dies Charles Henderson Robertson, 80, a Hillsboro native who became superintendent of the Eno Cotton Mills in 1907 and was North Carolina's Collector of Internal Revenue from his appointment by President Franklin Roosevelt until 1950, died at Alamance General Hospital. He was the son of Dr. David A. Robertson, a Confederate cavalry staff officer, and Lucy Henderson Robertson, president of Greensboro College from 1903 to 1913. People: Charles H. Robertson The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 30, 1953, p. 1
    26. Textile union workers hand out the TWUA paper at the Eno plant of Cone Mills At the close of both shifts at Cone Mills' Eno plant in Hillsborough, union workers handed out hundreds of copies of Textile Labor, the paper of the CIO Textile Workers Union of America. The paper reported five Cone locals returning to the TWUA after NLRB elections; neither the company nor the union said whether more organizing at the Eno plant would follow. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), January 6, 1955, p. 1
    27. Eno and Bellevue mills raise wages five cents an hour The Eno plant of Cone Mills and the Bellevue Manufacturing Company put a five-cent hourly raise into effect for all production workers, following a wave of raises across the Southern textile industry. Cone said the raise brought its average straight-time pay to $1.33 an hour. People: L. E. Beard The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 25, 1955, p. 1
    28. Eno Mill houses are relocated Most company houses moved into nearby neighborhoods. Eno River Mill — The Mill’s History
    29. Joseph P. Hughes succeeds Sydney Green as manager of the Eno plant Cone Mills named Joseph P. Hughes, superintendent of its Eno plant at Hillsboro since 1936, manager of the plant on the retirement that week of Sydney Green. Green, a native of Lancashire, England, had come to Eno as superintendent in 1933 and became plant manager when the mill was joined to Cone Mills. The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), December 4, 1958, p. 1
    30. James J. Freeland develops houses at Holiday Park In the 1960s, according to the 2017 architectural survey, Freeland developed Holiday Park northwest of town with its own pool and other amenities, at the recreation park he had opened in 1958; some of its houses were former Eno Mill village houses moved to the site. People: James J. Freeland NC Digital Collections: Heather Wagner Slane, Hillsborough Architectural Survey (2017), p. 21
    31. Cone Mills honors Eno plant workers, most of them women, for fifty years at the mill At the Eno Plant's seventieth anniversary celebration in Hillsborough, Cone Mills recognized at least six of its 385 employees for fifty or more years of work at the mill, five of them women. NC State Historic Preservation Office: Eno Cotton Mill, National Register of Historic Places nomination
    32. Eno Mill closes Textile production ended at the Hillsborough plant. Eno River Mill — The Mill’s History
    33. The Gold family takes sole ownership of the old Eno Mill A group of investors that included a member of the Gold family bought the vacant Cone Mills plant on Dimmocks Mill Road, which opened in 1985 as the Hillsborough Business Center. When the incubator plan lost money the other investors pulled out, and the Daily Tar Heel reported that Gold became sole owner in April 1987; the mill's own history dates the Gold family's acquisition to 1988. The property became a business center with varied tenants. Eno River Mill — The Mill’s History · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, October 22, 1987, p. 9
    34. The Eno Cotton Mill joins the Study List The National Register Advisory Committee placed the Eno Cotton Mill in West Hillsborough on North Carolina's Study List, its list of properties likely to qualify for the National Register. NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register Advisory Committee agendas, minutes and approved lists, p. 1192
    35. The Eno Cotton Mill is listed in the National Register On September 1, 2011 the National Park Service listed the Eno Cotton Mill in Hillsborough in the National Register of Historic Places. NC State Historic Preservation Office: North Carolina Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, Orange County · Also: NC State Historic Preservation Office: National Register file OR1300

    Open these in the chronology →

    Research sources

    Sources cited in this site’s history, National Register documents, and places to get research help. Research guide: Research a business or a changing street.

    Background

    National Register files

    Historic sites, markers, and maps

    Records of the time 36

    Show all 36

    Collections and databases

    Local help

    Nearby

    Something wrong or missing on this page, a location, a date or a name? Suggest a correction or a source →

    Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
    Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026