Brookside Cotton Mill
July 21, 2020
One of Knoxville's biggest industries of the Victorian era was Brookside Mills, which opened near Second Creek, just west of Central near Baxter, in 1885. A weaving mill as opposed to a knitting mill, it employed more than 1,000 workers, many of whom lived nearby in what's now Old North. Considered progressive in its day, it offered day care for workers' children, and a green landscaped courtyard for their enjoyment on breaks. Brookside was the reason the family of Clarence Brown, the future Hollywood director, came to Knoxville; his dad, Larkin Brown, was once plant manager. It closed in the 1950s, and the factory has since been demolished. Vintage postcard shared by Chad Cooper.
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Comment
“Charlie Monroe ‘C.M.’ Frazier worked at Brookside Mills after returning from his service as a Boatswain’s Mate Chief in the Navy (pre-WWII and WWII). Like so many East Tennessee men of his generation, he put in hard hours at the mill to provide for his family.
After the war, C.M. and his son Charles took a chance on a new venture — hardwood floor sanding crews. C.M. originally called it a ‘dern fool notion,’ but he eventually left the mill and joined full-time. Those early sanding crews became the foundation for what grew into Frazier’s Carpet, a Knoxville business that’s still going strong today.
Two generations of Fraziers started their post-war chapter right here at Brookside before building something of their own. Appreciate the history of the mill and the working men who kept it running.”