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Nov. 22, 1901
The railroad to be built from here to the
old paper mill by the Milstead Manufacturing Co., is being surveyed
this week. Two routes are being surveyed, one beginning at the oil
mill and the other at Boartush branch. The most expedient of the two
will be chosen after the surveys have been concluded and the
construction of the road will be immediately begun. From all
indications there will be no time lost by the Milstead Manufacturing
Co. in the work to be done.
Dec. 13, 1901
Building Material for a nice residence is
being hauled out to the paper mill by the Milstead Manufacturing Co.
Much preparatory work is being done by this company just now.
Jan. 17, 1902
We have been informed that Dr. H. H.
McDonald has sold his home to the Milstead Manufacturing Co. The
contemplated railroad to the plants of this Company at the paper
mill will run through this lot and it was thought best to buy it.
This will give the company ample room for side tracks and an engine
house in case they are desired.
Milstead Manufacturing Co. has begun
to move rocks at the mill site. Work on the railway line to the mill
will soon be started.
Feb. 7, 1902
All possible progress in the Milstead
Manufacturing Co., is being made . The hills about the old paper
mill are being dotted with residences; Work on the railroad will
soon be started; The water race is being cut and then the foundation
for the main building will be laid. Time is all that is necessary
for the accomplishment of great things.
Mar. 7, 1902
A Boom for Conyers
In a recent issue of The Macon
Telegraph, Wallace Putnum Reed says in his Atlanta
letter:
"I met Mr. Ben Hall of this city, the
other day, and he gave me a gratifying item of news about Conyers,
my home for many years, one of the best towns of its size in
Georgia.
It seems that the Milstead Manufacturing
Company is developing a big water power on Yellow river, two miles
north of the town, and is erecting a cotton factory. It is also
building a railroad to Conyers three miles long, to connect the
plant to the Georgia Railroad.
Mr. F. D. Milstead from Tallassee, Ala.
will be the general manager and among the prominent stockholders are
such men as Mr. Frank Hawkins, Mr. Joseph A. McCord, a brainy,
enterprising citizen, who is well known as the cashier of the Third
National Bank of Atlanta, and Mr. Henry Y. McCord, whose splendid
business talent and energy, have built up the immense H. Y. McCord -
Stewart wholesale grocery house in this city.
Mr. Ben Hall and his brother Max
Hall, are noted civil and hydraulic engineers. They are the
engineers for the company, and have made all of the surveys, plans
and specifications. The work is now being pushed rapidly, and
Conyers will soon enjoy a boom."
Mr. Reed has for many years shown
great interest in the progress of Conyers and Rockdale county, and
the above is only one of his many helpful notices.
Mar. 21,1902
Factory Progress
In company with Mr. J.P. Tilley,
went out to the Milstead Mfg. Co's. site one afternoon recently and
were impressed with the systematic and really admirable progress
that has been made under the direction and supervision of Mr.
Milstead. Within a short time the railroad will be completed and
then progress of the most rapid kind will be made. Some nine or ten
new houses have been finished and many others will be put up as
rapidly as the material can be laid down and the work done. The
water race is being widened so as to carry a greater volume and this
work will soon be completed.
The company proposes to operate the corn
mill and manufacture great quantities of fine water ground meal.
Plans are on foot now for the perfect equipment of this mill.
The paper mill on this site will be
operated, if not by the company, by a lessee.
The electric plant will probably be the
first to be put in operation. This will be good news to the people
for it is confidently expected that our town will be lighted from
this plant.
All possible progress is being made and
Mr. Milstead has done well with the great task before him.
The enormity of the work involved in the undertaking, to be
understood must be closely investigated. The company will open up a
granite quarry as soon as the railroad work is finished.
May 23, 1902
Factory Dots
The machinery for the cotton factory has
been purchased. Work on the race from the paper mill to the factory
site is progressing rapidly.
Preparation for putting in the electric
plant are under way. The railroad grading to the factory has been
completed. A side track leading to the quarry and crusher are now
being built. The work of laying the track rails is progressing
finely and will soon be finished all the way.
The matter of lighting the town from the
plant will take active form soon. This work will be the next taken
up.
The Weekly Banner congratulates Mr.
Milstead on the wonderful showing he has made to the present
time.
June 13, 1902
Road to Factory
Mr. Milstead informs us that the
rails have been laid to within 1 mile of the factory and would have
been finished had not the party from whom the iron was bought failed
to come up to the contract in regard to delivery. The remaining
rails will arrive in a few days and the track will be completed. All
work at the factory is progressing as rapidly as possible
considering the difficulties met to date in placing materials on the
ground.
June 20,1902
Begin with New Year
From the present outlook it is safe to
predict that the Milstead Manufacturing Co. will turn their first
spindles about Jan. 1st. Mr. Milstead is laboring earnestly for this
result. In a few weeks the grist mill will begin operations, new
machinery has been sent out and the company will soon be able to
place on the market a very superior quality water ground meal. A
large force of hands are accomplishing a great deal each day for the
company and the rush will be kept up to the end.
The Milstead Manufacturing Co. are now
working a number of negro hands secured in Atlanta. The work at the
plant is being pushed rapidly.
July 4, 1902
The balance of the rails for the
railroad to the Milstead Mfg. Co. have arrived and the road will
soon be finished.
Aug. 1, 1902
Progress at Milstead
The railroad out to the factory has been
completed. The rock crusher has arrived and will be established on
the quarry for business.
Everything is progressing as well as
could be expected and the new year will witness a magnificent
improvement in that corner of Rockdale.
Oct. 17, 1902
At Milstead
We made a hurried visit to Milstead
Tuesday evening. Vast progress has been made there since last we
visited the spot and still the work goes on with a steady rush. The
great dam that is being built across the river will soon be
finished; the foundation for the factory is being completed and
other buildings of every description are being put up with great
rapidity. All work of whatever kind is being pushed with that
systematic precision characteristic of the splendid gentleman, Mr.
F. D. Milstead, who is the head of this vast improvement. A great
amount of work yet remains to be done, but the steady pushing
forward that marks the days with all the various squads of workmen
will accomplish wonders in a few more weeks.
The securing of this enterprise for our
county is a great advance step and it pleases us to point to that
sterling gentleman and farsighted business man, Mr. Henry Y. McCord,
who put his shoulder to the wheel and secured this prize for one of
the smallest but best counties in Georgia. It was he who pictured
this factory in his mind and labored to interest capital in the
site, and it was upon him and his talents that depended largely on
the success or failure of the vast undertaking, but as in all other
of his efforts, he did not go about it with any intention of
failure, and his wisdom and judgment is plainly shown at every turn.
The WEEKLY-BANNER
congratulates him and at the same time tips its hat to Mr.
Milstead, whom all his employees honor and respect, and who is a
remarkably well equipped gentleman.
Hotel At Milstead
Mr. John F. Wallis went out to
Milstead last Monday morning to begin work on the new hotel building
for the company. The structure will be a very large one and will be
conveniently and comfortably arranged.
Nov. 7, 1902
Out at Milstead
We took a turn out at Milstead the other
day and noted the vast amount of work already done at this historic
location. For many years our people have thought of the place only
as the paper mill; for years they were accustomed to the old paper
mill mules pulling the streets, great loads of paper stock and
paper, the only means of transportation from the mill to the
railroad. All this is now a thing of the past. A railroad to
Milstead has virtually ended this laborious pull of the mules and
put the location in easy touch with the busy world. The old paper
mill is gradually giving way to a great cotton factory. Rocks have
been blown up and moved; A great stone dam has been placed across
the river that will stand for ages and the water turned into a
mammoth race to furnish power for turning many spindles. An enormous
amount of work has been done and there is yet much to do.
The foundations of the two main buildings
have been completed. They are of the best granite and will stand for
ages to come.
The old grist mill is being fitted up and
prepared for constant grinding.
On the hill above the factory site many
residences have been erected and many more are yet to be built. A
handsome two story house is being built for Mr. L. J. Almond.
A large ten room hotel will be built at an early day.
A large rock crushing machine is being put
up near the dam across the river and it will be operated
continually.
Thus it is that the old paper mill site
has given place to a great modern cotton factory that will employ
hundreds of hands and that gives us, at the river, a good size town.
It is a great work and it is being smoothly and systematically
carried out by Mr. F. D. Milstead, assisted by Mr. L. J.
Almand. It is easily detected that a master hand has been
guiding the operations at Milstead and when the work has been wholly
completed we expect to see one of the best and most substantial
cotton factory properties in the Southern States.
Nov. 28, 1902
Milstead is beginning to take on the
appearance of a town. If you have not been out recently, it would be
interesting to you to go and see just what has been and is being
done there.
We were out at Milstead Sunday afternoon.
The great dam across the river has been completed; the race is being
made higher to carry all the water; rock crusher will soon be up,
ready for business; work is progressing rapidly on the main
buildings; much of the mill machinery is already stored there and
the entire work is moving along satisfactorily. When everything is
ready for business the plant will have cost over three hundred
thousand dollars.
We understand that the name Mill Street
will be changed to Milstead Avenue. We do not know who made this
suggestion but think it is a good one.
Dec. 17, 1902
The Milstead Mfg. Co. has sold 200 cars
of crushed stone to the Georgia Railroad for ballast on the Atlanta
to Augusta line.
Jan. 23, 1903
At Milstead
In company of friends, we went out to
Milstead last Sunday afternoon and noted the progress of the last
few weeks, recorded by the constant pushing forward of this great
enterprise.
The factory building is now the center of
activities. It is being pushed with all possible speed for it is
hoped that within 90 days the wheels will be turning in this
building. To the unpracticed eye this looks to be almost impossible
but those who are in charge think that the machinery will be in
place and in operation within that time.
The electric dynamo has been lifted over
to point where it will be set up and this important work will be
carried out in the same hurry that will mark the finish of the
factory building. The grist mill has been fitted up and is ready for
the water to be turned on.
The rock crusher has been standing still for
some time since the accident that jarred the engine from its
foundation. This will be repaired and the crusher will be again put
to work in a short time.
While progress has been necessarily
delayed to some extent, everything has moved along with a steady
clip and no one is grumbling.
With good, open weather greater
advancement will be made the next few weeks than ever before and
soon the hum of the factory will be heard.
Mar. 6, 1903
Mr. G.N. St.John is in charge of
the grist mill at Milstead. It is expected that the mill will turn
out a car load of meal daily when everything is in working order.
When water was turned into the race the
volume and pressure was too great. A 100 foot section of wood was
carried away.
Mar. 20, 1903
Water Ground Meal
The Milstead Mfg. Co. is now
turning out some of the finest water-ground meal ever sold in this
market. The water was turned in the race this week and the mill will
now be kept going steadily. The output will be a car load or more
daily. Mr. L. J. Almond left yesterday morning with a sample
and will be on the road for the company for some time. We are sure
he will have no trouble selling the meal.
Out at Milstead a great bell has been put
up and this is used to direct the hands. No more do we hear the old
paper mill going.
Mar. 27, 1903
Yellow River tried to see how high it
could rise Sunday night and Monday morning. It succeeded in covering
the railroad track just above bridge at Milstead. The rain Sunday
night was very heavy.
Once more the race at Milstead gave way
under the pressure of water and some 60 feet of rock wall holding
the water just below the gate was washed into the river. It occurred
last Friday night and of course stopped the grist mill until it
could be rebuilt. Such disasters come to all concerns thus liable
and is accepted philosophically by the men of the company. The
damage has been repaired. The water was higher there last Monday
than ever before.
April 24, 1903
Some of the machinery at Milstead has
already been put into motion and within the next thirty days it is
hoped by the management that the mill may be running to full
purpose.
Oct. 16, 1903
Milstead's New Engine
The Milstead Manufacturing Co. now own a
locomotive engine arrived this week on freight cars and will be put
together in a few weeks and put on the Milstead road. This company
is doing an enormous business and found it necessary to invest in an
engine of their own.
Nov. 27, 1903
The price of cotton seems certain to
advance within the next three months and the mills who haven't taken
time by the forelock and purchased a supply will, we think, regret
it. We hear that the Factory at Milstead has bought more cotton than
any other mill of its size in Georgia, and, in our opinion, acted
wise in doing so.
The steam drill at Milstead is now kept
running day and night.
Jan. 8, 1904
The factory will stop today for the
purpose of completing the tail race, Which Mr. Smith has been
working on faithfully for some time, and now the new machinery is
coming in and will be put in motion in a short time. Mr. Claude
Smith was happily married to Miss Overy Hall on Sunday
last.
Jan. 22 1904
Population of Milstead is now 375,
expect 500 more in the near future.
Feb. 17, 1905
Post Office at Milstead
Milstead has got a new Post-office and her
people are receiving their mail at same. Mr. Leland Camp
carries the mail out from the Conyers Post-Office and it is
distributed by Mr. C. P. Paley, the postmaster out there.
Feb 24, 1905
Finger Mashed Off
"Hub" Kennedy working for the
Milstead Mfg. Co. on the railroad, got the forefinger of his left
hand so badly mangled on Thursday of last week while coupling cars
that amputation of the finger was necessary, and Dr. Guinn
did the job nicely. This was unfortunate for the young man, and were
glad he is getting along nicely. |
