Grayson County TXGenWeb

Products included cotton duck and other materials.
The workers at the Cotton Mill lived around the mill and their children attended the Golden Rule Elementary School.
During World War II the plant at Denison provided the armed forces with cotton duck.

The Denison Daily Herald
Tuesday, 27 November 1906

The Denison cotton mill is humming away, turning out yarns and duck which is already sold months ahead. A thriving settlement has sprung up around the cotton mill and two denominations have already built churches. The cotton mill district is destined to be an important suburb of Denison at no very distant day. - - Denison Herald

A cotton mill is a paying investment to the builders and a great benefit to the town. It brings many families to the place and all of the accompanying advantages are seen. Cotton mills bring people and dollars and most towns are in need of both. - - Gainesville Messenger

What the Denison cotton mill is doing for the Denison cotton market can be done by other mills for the cotton market of other towns. The cotton raised around these towns can better be manufactured right at home than to be shipped to New England or across the water to be manufactured and then returned to this country to be sold to the consumers. --- Denison Herald

Texas cotton mills will eventually solve the market problems by enabling the producer to cut out the spectator and sell direct to the spinner, and when this is done it will save millions of dollars to the producers annually. - - -Fort Worth Telegram

The Cotton Mill Girl

Just fifteen years after the mill's beginning, it was purchased by brothers W.B. Sr. and J.T. Munson. The business was family operated withW.B. Munson, Jr. becoming manager in 1912 and President upon his father's death. Upon W.B. Jr's death, his sister Eloise became President in 1936. The son of W.B. Jr became President in 1955 until the mill closed in 1977.

Spinning Room
3rd floor

The Denison Cotton Mill was incorporated Aug. 5, 1905 by W.B. Munson to acquire the pictured plant facility that was built prior to 1890. W.B. Munson helped create Denison in 1872 and he founded this and many other business activities that continue contributing to its economy.
The operation of the mill was greatly expanded by W.B. Munson, Jr., who managed the company until his death in 1936. At that time Miss Eloise Munson was elected President, and she directed company affairs along with her other business activities.
The current president, W.B. Munson III, has managed the company since 1949 with the addition of multiple shifts and an expanded product line. The company is owned by fifty-seven stockholders, residing in six states with the largest stockholder owning less than ten per cent of the stock of the company.

The Denison Herald
Wednesday, July 27, 1938
Running Steadily More Than Three Decades, Cotton Mill Is Major Denison Industry
One of the largest textile mills in the south and as far as the community is concerned, one of the best in the nation, is located in Denison at the southern edge of the city, a ten-minute ride from the business section and surrounded by its own "town".
The Denison Cotton Mill employing from 215 to 230 people have operated since since 1905 when W.B. Munson bought the plant from the American Cotton and Spinning Company.
Pay checks are distributed weekly with the annual payroll amounting to from $180,000 to $200,000. As far as possible the working force is held together without changes and continuous employment given.
The mill, manufacturing cotton duck, twill, drill and tweed, for sale to manufacturers in carload lots has 16,180 spindles and 386 looms.
Miss Eloise Munson is president of the company; Ford Seale, vice-president; Harry N. Bodkin, treasurer; W.B. Munson, III, secretary; and H.G. Edmiston, superintendent.

BIG COTTON BUYER
The company purchases an average of from 4,000 to 5,000 bales of cotton annually.
Prior to the reorganization of the company by the late W.B. Munson, Sr. in 1905, cotton mills had operated unsuccessfully in a financial way here. Mr. Munson had new machinery and equipment installed and the continuous operation of the mill since that time is proof of his success in establishing the business on sound principles. Mr. Munson was president of the company until his death in 1930.
The four-story building covers a large area. The mill has its own railroad connections with the Southern Pacific lines, affording the company the opportunity to receive cotton in carload lots and to load outgoing cars from its own docks.
Stores, churches, and residences of many who work in the mill surround the plant and the community has adequate bus and street car service to the business district of Denison.
The mill manufactures both single and double filled drill used for awnings, wagon covers, etc., and the "Great Mallard" brand duck is well known to manufacturers.

21 April 1946

On March 30, 1972 directors, officers and employees were : (see list above)
The four-story building burned to the ground in 1983.

Bryant & Hunt, Denison, Arcadia Press, c2011, pg.86-87.