Strickland Cotton Mill was constructed in 1899, and the resultant village that grew up around the mill was eventually named Remerton. It is a small sub-city of Valdosta, GA now. The mill was one of the largest employers in Lowndes County, and many of the houses built for workers are still used today. There were also churches and a school built in this "company town." This mill has been a historical artifact for this area since closing down in 1979, but is now scheduled for demolition.
One of my photographer mentors was able to gain access to the mill for a historical photographic survey of the mill, and we are both going to be shooting extensively in it before its ultimate demolition. Our first foray into the massive complex was yesterday. Here are some 4x5 film shots from our excursion. More will follow.
More info on the mill and the city of Remerton can be found here: http://www.cityofremerton.com/history.htm
These were all taken on T-Max 100 film with a Nikkor 90mm f/8 lens and developed in Rodinal 1:50:
I also took some digital photos, here are a few of those:
Up here in New England we have hundreds if not thousands of old factories. I have been thinking about starting a project of photographing them but life keeps getting in the way. Good job
ReplyDeleteWhat's interesting is that the city of Remerton was literally the company town, and everything here was because of this one mill. I hope you get time to photograph the mills up there! I've been northeast a few times and the scenery and history is amazing. You are a lucky person to live there.
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