The following is taken from Burlington's 2001 All-America
City Application. Special thanks to Mr. Don Bolden, Burlington
All-America City Committee Chairman, for writing this.
Burlington is a community born of the railroad, bred
on the loom and built on an ability to turn adversity
into opportunity. Efforts to improve life in the community
we know today as Burlington began even before our city
was formed. Citizens here, learning of a plan for a railroad
line across the state, campaigned to have the tracks come
this way. The positive economic impact was needed to give
growth to our rural, agricultural community.
When that occurred, others here put together a package
of land to offer the railroad company as the site of its
repair and maintenance shops. Thus was born Company Shops
in 1854. For three decades, the railroad was THE industry
here, but in 1886, those shops closed, and the railroad
left.
The town could have died, but citizens faced the challenge
and turned the community in a new direction with a new
name—Burlington. Seeds of a new industry had already
been planted. Several small textile plants had begun operations,
and these soon were joined by hosiery manufacturers, many
of whom were local entrepreneurs. As the century turned,
many new jobs were created, making Burlington "The
Hosiery Center of the South."
In the 1920s, textiles slowed and local businessmen saw
need for new life in that industry. With financial support
from the Chamber of Commerce, Burlington Mills was begun—a
firm which would become Burlington Industries, the largest
textile maker in the world. That company faced adversity
immediately. The market for its cotton goods fell into
depression, and the mill switched to a new and untried
manmade fiber—rayon. On that product, Burlington
Mills would become an industrial giant.
The Depression years were difficult here. Labor organizers
came and stirred unrest and violence. Mill villages were
tough areas. The Burlington Mills community became known
as "Little Chicago." Through the efforts of
mill owners, ministers, and concerned citizens, however,
these conditions were reversed. Mill owners sold mill
houses to employees, generating pride on the part of the
new owners, not only in their homes but in the community
as well. They demanded a safe place for their children,
and with city officials, they made it happen.
Some diversity came to the industrial community in World
War II, as an aircraft factory was opened, bringing in
many new citizens to Burlington’s work force. After
the war, Western Electric came, adding electronics to
the economic base.
Textiles still prevailed, however, and in the 1970s,
severe recession struck here. Unemployment rose to almost
20 percent at one point. With local leadership, diversification
in the local job market began to occur, and there is no
longer such reliance on a single industry. Textile employment
remains heavy, but the largest single employer is now
a medical diagnostic company. Again, adversity proved
to be a new opportunity. Diversity is now a reality and
recession is less a threat.
In the 1950s, Burlington suffered a critical water shortage.
This posed a threat not only to existing industry and
business but also to future growth in those areas. The
city set out to correct that and ensure it never happened
again. A new reservoir was built in the late 1950s, and
almost as soon as it was placed in use, plans began for
another water supply, which has now become a reality.
Burlington has one of the best water supplies in the state,
including two separate water treatment plants, a situation
envied by our larger neighbors. Burlington’s water
supply is a tremendous attraction to new industry.
We felt the racial unrest of the 1960s in a sharp way.
However, through the efforts of bi-racial organizations,
school desegregation was accomplished far more orderly
than in neighboring areas.
Today, Burlington enjoys a unique position in North Carolina.
It is home to major industry, to growing retail and residential
development, and now it is facing up to a new challenge—the
growing presence of Hispanics in the population mix. Already,
there are changes in education, in the retail community
and in the employment market to meet these demographics
and meld the newcomers into the population. It just adds
to the reality that in Burlington, we spell adversity
O-P-P-O-R-T-U-N-I-T-Y.
