“W” is for Woodside, John Thomas

  “W” is for Woodside, John Thomas [1864-1946]. Textile mill owner, entrepreneur. A Greenville native, Woodside worked in his uncle’s Reedy River Factory—gaining experience in every aspect of cotton manufacturing. In 1891 he struck out on his own and opened a grocery store in Pelzer and another in Greenville. In 1902 he built Woodside Mill in Grenville. Within a decade he had purchased other mills and expanded his original mill to 120,000 spindles—the largest complete cotton mill in America under one roof. Woodside established the Farmers and Merchants Bank, and purchased 66,000 acres in Horry County. There he began the first large-scale development on the Grand Strand—with a championship golf course and the Ocean Forest Hotel. As a merchant, manufacturer, banker, and real estate developer, John Thomas Woodside personified South Carolina’s transformation to a modern economy.