The Clarkdale Thread Mill and its 96 bungalow style homes were designed by the J. E. Sirrine Company of Greenville, South Carolina, for the Clark Thread Company, a Scottish company with factories in New Jersey. The J. E. Sirrine Company was noted for progressive mill village planning, and Clarkdale is believed to be the last company town developed in Georgia. The Fisk Carter Construction Company, also of South Carolina, began construction in 1931, and the mill ran continuously until it closed in the early 1980’s. In its heyday it employed 1,000 workers. By the late 1990’s, Clarkdale had been declared a historic district by federal, state, and county jurisdictions as a prime example of an intact historic mill village noted for its architecture and landscaping.