The expansion of textile manufacturing into the Southern states created the first large-scale public work opportunities for local women, and in Englewood the textile workforce, from the first spinning mill built on a nearby farm in 1857 to the present, has been predominantly female. Early mills also employed children and reserved certain jobs for men. At least 25 textile mills have operated in Englewood, producing cotton yarn, union suits, women’s hosiery, socks, and fashion apparel. Most mills were family-run enterprises and often employed entire families of workers. Larger mills offered rental houses, attracting families hired from the countryside or distant places, and company neighborhoods such as Sock Hill, Yellow Top, and Shootin’ Street developed distinctive architectural styles and identities. Eureka Cotton Mills, circa 1898, stood at Old Englewood about two miles south of present-day Englewood.