A small North Carolina town went to the moon - Chongqing Media Fabric Inc.

by: Bob Buckley

Posted: Jul 26, 2023 / 06:38 PM EDT

Updated: Jul 26, 2023 / 06:38 PM EDT

(WGHP) — There was a time when North Carolina seemed heaven-sent as far as the textile industry was concerned.

The state was filled with industrious, smart workers, and nature provided the raw materials like the power of rivers of which The Catawba was certainly one.

That’s what drew business executives to the area at the dawn of the 20th century.

“In 1900, John Rhodes came to town and bought 75 acres of land in Caldwell County and 75 acres of land in Burke County,” said Sherrie Hartsoe Sigmon, who recently published a well-researched history of the Rhodhiss area. “(Rhodes) started the first building. It opened up in 1902. That was plant one … in 1913, plant two opened, but it was run by a man named EA Smith, and John Rhodes took in a partner named George Hiss.”

They later combined their names to put on the town we now know as Rhodhiss on the line between Caldwell and Burke Counties for which the Catawba River serves as the marker.

“And then in 1919, Duke Power came along and bought out all of the stock … and they bought the town for the water rights,” Sigmon said. “Then in 1954, Burlington bought from Pacific Mills.”

That was a good thing. Burlington, based in Greensboro, had a reputation in the industry that created great demand.

“The Rhodhiss workers were well known for their quality material. Their fame was known worldwide. Burlington products were asked for,” Sigmon said.

They made the fabric that wrapped the capsule the Apollo XI astronauts used to ensure that they didn’t burn up re-entering the earth’s atmosphere, and they also wove the fabric used to make the flag that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted on the moon in July 1969.

“Everybody was excited, and I’m talking about the whole country,” said Carl Compton, who worked at the plant from 1961 until Burlington closed it in 1983.

The plant once employed 900 people, so its closing devastated the town, but with the help of people like Sigmon and town manager Rick Justice, they plan to do great things here soon.

“We have hopes for the future,” Sigmon said.

But we’ll have to wait just a bit to hear those announcements.

In the meantime, you can hear the story of the Burlington plant that made the moon flag’s fabric in this edition of The Buckley Report.

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