Youngsville, Alabama, was incorporated in 1872 and renamed Alexander City in March 1873. By 1892, when cotton was king, farmers and planters in the Alexander City area were producing an estimated 18,000 bales of cotton a year. Community leaders sought to broaden the market city by attracting a cotton mill as its first major manufacturing plant. The Alexander City Cotton Mill, built in 1901, was purchased in 1919 by the Braxton Bragg Comer family, and the Avondale Bevelle plant soon employed 350 men and women producing yarn and woven ticking as the plant quickly expanded. By 1902, Benjamin Russell had also established a knitting and sewing mill with 12 employees that evolved into Russell Corporation, first producing ladies' and children's knitted undergarments. The rapid expansion of Russell Mills proved that cotton manufacturing was the right choice for the community. Education and religion were important to both the Comer and Russell families, who built churches and schools and recruited qualified teachers and ministers, contributing to the continued growth of their mills, the mill villages, and the community. Both employers treated their mill workers and children with great regard, and families benefited from many recreational and cultural events that helped make a good life for employees and helped turn the small town into a strong community.