The Viscose Company opened a rayon plant in 1917 on 212 acres along the Roanoke River, on land originally occupied by Native Americans and later part of the Buena Vista tract owned by George Tayloe before the Civil War. The plant initially employed more than 1,000 workers, many of them young, single women from surrounding rural counties, and expanded quickly in 1919, again in 1922-23, and in 1926. By 1923 it occupied 180 acres and used 3,000-4,000 tons of coal a year to produce 12 to 13 million pounds of artificial silk, representing 35% of total US production. The fabric, later known as rayon, was used for hosiery, clothing, upholstery, draperies, carpets, and tires. By 1923 the plant employed 3,800 workers, 58% of them women. In 1922 the company invested $500,000 to build Crest Halt on 9th Street as a dormitory for girls, with a cafeteria, bakery, library, gymnasium, and laundry, and it also built a swimming pool, tennis courts, a skeet range, and a bowling green. Employees took part in the company's social club through dances, annual picnics, checker tournaments, parade floats, Christmas parties, and sports teams, while surrounding residential neighborhoods developed to house the growing workforce. The Roanoke plant reached peak employment in 1928 with 5,500 workers and was reported to be the largest manufacturer of rayon in the world. In 1937 the company became the American Viscose Corporation. During World War II, the plant produced waterproof fabric for parachutes and paratrooper suits and for protecting military machinery and equipment, and former employees said it also secretly produced guns for the war. After the American Viscose Corporation closed in 1958, the property was sold to local investors and operated as an industrial park.