"S" is for Springs Industries

"S" is for Springs Industries. Springs Industries, a cotton textile company, was founded in 1887 by Samuel Elliott White of Fort Mill. At White’s death, ownership of the Fort Mill Manufacturing Company was transferred to Leroy Springs. Springs and his son transformed the company (renamed Springs Cotton Mills) into a major national corporation manufacturing a variety of new fabrics - pillowcases, towels, dress goods, and rayon fabrics. By 1959 Springs Industries operated 17,800 looms and 836,000 spindles. In 1962, the company built its own twenty-two-story office building in midtown New York. In the 1980s, renamed Springs Industries, the company began a series of acquisitions and had plants in countries across the globe. In June 2007, after 120 years of manufacturing textiles in South Carolina, Springs Industries closed its last manufacturing operations in the state.