Martha Mills
In the historic mill town of Thomaston, Georgia, Martha Mills produced many textiles including tire fabric and yarn. At the time of its construction, Martha Mills was one of the largest plants in the world.
Architect Lawrence “Chip” Robert, Jr.’s architecture and engineering firm, Robert & Company, designed the Martha Mills facility while leading efforts to industrialize the South in the 1920s by bringing 70-80% of tire cord and fabric manufacturing to Georgia. Martha Mills was named in honor of Mattie Lou Hightower, the wife of the second CEO of Thomaston Cotton Mills. All three of Matties sons eventually became CEOs of Thomaston Mills, like their father. The family improved and renovated the mills and mill village as needed, established mill schools for children of employees, and created recreational teams and fields in the mill village.
Martha Mills was bought out by B.F. Goodrich in 1929. Despite its significance as an historic mill town and its successful fabrication of materials since the mid-1900s, bankruptcy was declared in 2001.