Three factories were in production along Georgia's Sweetwater Creek when the Yankees showed up in 1864. One mill was burned. What happened to the others?

The falling water and shoals of Sweetwater Creek west of Atlanta attracted mill operators a couple decades before the Civil War came calling.

Besides the New Manchester textile site, which was famously burned in July 1864 by Union cavalry and the workers subsequently shipped north, two other mills were close by -- the Ferguson mill upstream and James M. Alexander’s timber and flour operation just to the south. They were near the small community of New Manchester in what is now called Douglas County.

Adrian Fox, interpretive ranger at Sweetwater Creek State Park, recently showed me a small part of the ruins of the Angus Ferguson timber and flour mill, which also had a small cotton gin. A few stone pilings remain in the creek.

Click to see details on three mill operations along Sweetwater Creek (Picket photo)

Records show Ferguson ran up a white flag of surrender to Union forces. Did it prevent destruction?

Let’s step back a moment, before attempting to answer that question.

Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman had a specific strategy for his troops when they came across mills.

“One of his objectives was to destroy any industry that might be of use to the Confederate government. Now in many cases, he would leave a flour mill, because he was uncertain how long his own troops would be here, and if they were here for a prolonged period of time, they might need flour,” Charlie Crawford of the Georgia Battlefields Association told Georgia Public Television several years ago.

“And so he didn’t destroy every flour mill. But a paper mill or anything that was essentially superfluous to his efforts, but yet might aid the Confederacy, was fair game.”

The New Manchester mill and supporting buildings were fair game, given it was known to produce fabric for the Confederate army. Two mills in Roswell were destroyed, along with a paper mill in Cobb County.

There’s no evidence Alexander’s mill was burned, but there are conflicting accounts on Ferguson’s (left), which was on the part of the creek called Factory Shoals. (A road by that name is the main road in the park.)

Lisa Land Cooper, in her blog “The Story Behind the History,” wrote farmers brought grain to be ground into meal and flour, timber from nearby forests was cut into lumber, and locally produced bricks supplied construction projects throughout the area.

“It was a staple resource for the folks who would have lived out here especially prior to the New Manchester mill being built” in the 1840s, said Fox.

“There nothing in the official war correspondences saying the Ferguson mill was burned. We can see its only mention (above) is the usage of the bridge at that site to get across Sweetwater Creek,” said Fox.

“We know the Ferguson mill immediately surrendered when the union arrived," she added. "The worst damages the Ferguson mill sustained were the loss of grain to feed horses and a few burned bags of wool, but both the building and the machinery were left untouched.”

That contention is cited in the 1987 book “Douglas County Georgia: From Indian Trail to Interstate 20.”

Scenic shoals at Sweetwater Creek (Georgia State Parks)

While Cooper acknowledges some accounts show little damage by Union troopers, she cites an alleged letter by a relative of Ferguson, saying the mill and workshop were burned. It was later rebuilt, Cooper said

Fox said the mill, in fact, was left standing, and the primary miller on site after the war was Orange Bowden, who was formerly enslaved.

A faded sign along Sweetwater Creek (Picket photo, below) details the New Manchester company store and Ferguson’s brick-making operations (at left), which employed enslaved workers and made bricks for the New Manchester mill. At five stories,the mill was the tallest structure in the region.

Cooper’s article said remains of a second Ferguson mill were an attraction into the 20^th century, drawing fisherman and campers. Angus is buried in a small family cemetery inside the park. 

READ MORE ABOUT NEW MANCHESTER:

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2013/07/howls-of-protest-georgia-women-mill.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2017/08/action-civil-war-textile-mill-near.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2017/09/support-team-crew-finishes-work-that.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2010/10/remarkable-story-of-french-flag-ruse.html