Dunean Mills and village were organized on March 11, 1911, under the leadership of Capt. Ellison Adger Smyth, known as “The Dean of Textile Men,” who was a national leader in the textile industry for more than 60 years. Through the influence of engineer J.E. Sirrine and James B. Duke of Southern Utilities Company, Dunean became the first total electric mill and village in the South. The Mammoth Million Dollar Mill was named for Capt. Smyth’s ancestral linen mill in County Antrim, Ireland. Three hundred fifty train cars brought 5,000,000 North Carolina grey brick laid in black mortar. Production began on Friday, April 12, 1912, with 50,000 spindles and 1,200 looms, and on Saturday night, April 13, 1912, the entire village and mill lights were turned on, creating “a beauty never before seen in Greenville.” The first mill president was Capt. James Adger Smyth, Jr., Thomas Benson Wallace was the first mill superintendent, Claude Smith was the first secretary, and J. P. Stevens was the selling agent. Known for excellence and efficiency, Dunean became a model for mill and village construction and for producing the highest quality cotton goods. After 1934, it became a leader in synthetic goods and would become the largest employer in the world of textile employees. Its 1919 Y.W.C.A. was the first in any mill village in South Carolina. Beginning in 1949, village homes were sold to employees, and by the 1950s the village of 585 homes included an elementary school, Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches, a nurse’s office, The Dunean Store, Lodge Hall/Theater, Mother’s Club House, three boarding houses, a drug store, café, barbershop, fire station, post office, two dry cleaners, gas station, community building, Boy and Girl Scout huts, gymnasium/skating rink, and two baseball parks.