A Warm Heritage

In 1890, the Goodwin family opened the Cedar Bluff Woolen Mills, using the power of the Clinch River to run carding machines, spinning machines, and looms that turned wool from surrounding Tazewell County farms into multicolored blankets and coverlets. Steam and later electricity were added to increase production. Farmers were paid in cash or traded raw wool for finished blankets on a one-half for the other basis, with two new blankets exchanged for twenty-five pounds of clear grease wool, enough for four blankets. In 1908, the Goodwins began producing seamless bed coverlets without the central pleat common to earlier bedcoverings. Specializing in seven heritage patterns, the mill built a national reputation for quality craftsmanship and employed dozens of local residents. By the 1940s, it produced over 12,000 coverlets annually and sold blankets and coverlets in retail shops and by mail order. Its marketing emphasized traditional patterns and Appalachian origins, including department store window displays in New York and other large cities where women wove blankets by hand to project a quaint mountain image despite the mill's large machine-operated looms. The fast pace of production demanded long, exhausting work from owners and employees alike, and townspeople said they could tell which dye color was in use by the color of the Clinch River.

Cedar Bluff, Virginia · United States