State

INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF ALEXANDER COUNTY Alexander County Courthouse at Taylorsville. Alexander county is in . the western part of the i Piedmont section of North Carolina and is bounded on the east by Iredell, on the north by Wilkes, on the west by Caldwell and on the south by Catawba. The 1940 census gives the county a population of 13.454. It is predominantly an agricultural county and that is the reason why its population isn’t as large as some of the other counties of the state. Taylorsville, the county seat, is an attractively laid-out town and has a population of 1.200. Other towns and communi¬ ties in the county are Hiddenite. with a population of around 500, and Stony Point, with a popula¬ tion of about 800. Liledoun and Millersville are two progressive and well-maintained cotton mill villages. Most of the county is rolling in its nature, although the Brushy Mountains extend along the northern area. Despite the fact that Alexander is principally an agricultural county, it also has its share of industries. The principle crop is apples. More than a million bushels are grown within the borders of the county every year. More than 500 farmers engage in apple-raising on a commercial basis. The crop is worth more in dollars and cents than the com¬ bined cotton and tobacco crops — and they raise quite a lot of cotton and tobacco in this section, too. The entire countryside is dotted with small and large orchards, and in the springtime it’s a beau¬ tiful sight to see the blossoms in full bloom. In the fall, when the boughs are heavily weighted down with their fruit — well, that's another sight that is equally beautiful. Taylorsville is known as "The Apple City,” and it is a name that is well deserved. The town has an elevation of 1,498 feet and is the highest incorporated town east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Taylorsville enjoys several other distinctions. Among these is the fact that it has more paved streets than any town of its population in the world. That is taking in a lot of territory, but it is said to be an actual fact. It is a progressive community and its citizenship cooperates splen¬ didly in all matters pertaining to the development of the com¬ munity and the county as a whole. Taylorsville has a strong bank, wide-awake newspaper, seven churches, building and loan as¬ sociation, two drug stores, first- class hotel, several high-grade cafes, three garages, motion- picture treatre, hardware store, furniture store, department and grocery stores and numerous warehouses. There is nothing spectacular about the town: it is a sound, progressive and substan¬ tial community that has been making steady progress. A number of civic and social organizations offer diversified ac¬ tivities for the residents. It has a well-balanced fire department and an excellent police force. Also a fine public library. It is a good business town and draws trade from a considerable area. From a manufacturing standpoint it has two cotton mills, two hosiery mills and a paper- box manufacturing plant. The Barnett Hosiery Mills employ around 40 people. Miller-White Hosiery Mills em¬ ploy around 75. Irene Cotton Mills employ ap¬ proximately 125. Liledoun Mills employ about 75. Sherrill Yarn Mills also employ around 75. Other industries in Taylorsville are the Taylorsville Milling Com- Siny and the Southern Paper Box ompany. So you see, in a town of 1,200 population, a goodly portion of this population is afforded steady employment the year ’round. And there’s another thing that can be said truthfully about the mills in Taylorsville and other parts of Alexander County: they are operated in a high-class man- 16