In early 1874, Oscar Sampson and George Hall chartered Camperdown #1 mill, which was in full operation by June 1874 in the Vardry McBee brain mill, and Camperdown #2 was in full operation by December 1875. By 1880, the Camperdown spinning mills employed 260 workers and were the second largest mill in South Carolina after the Graniteville Mill in Aiken County. They were the first modern textile mills opened within Greenville's corporate boundaries and the first in Greenville County principally devoted to manufacturing and exporting cotton yarns to other parts of the United States. The property included what is now Falls Park beside Main Street in downtown Greenville. Camperdown #1 ran on water power, while Camperdown #2 used water and steam, with 324 horsepower generated by the falls and shoals of the Reedy River. The mills originally made hosiery yarns and thread, and in 1904 looms were added to both mills to produce gingham and plaid cotton fabrics. The Camperdown Mill Village had 199 mill houses, a population of about 1500, two churches, a gymnasium, a boarding house, and an elementary school, with houses built along Choice, Hunt, Webster, Lois, and Cleveland streets. Mill employees played in the Textile Baseball and Basketball Leagues and practiced in the Camperdown Gym. In 1947, the mill had 12,673 spindles and 432 looms and employed 365 workers. It closed in 1956 and was deconstructed in 1959. The foundation of mill #1 remains in the Mill Garden at Falls Park, and in 1962 Choice Street was renamed Camperdown Way to recall the former mill site.