Glencoe Mill Village offers a unique glimpse of a 1880s cotton
mill and village. The 105-acre site along the Haw River includes
the mill complex, 32 extant houses, 10 building lots where houses
once stood, the mill store, office, lodge and other associated buildings.
The site is of great historical and environmental significance.
Glencoe
is an exceptional historic preservation project because it also
encompasses major conservation and environmental components.
PNC's recent work with mill properties like Glencoe is in response
to recent transformations in North Carolina's economy. The state's
industrial base is evolving in response to changes in the global
economy. Giant factories built at the turn of the last century are
being vacated at a dizzying pace. The rehabilitation of Glencoe
Mill can show by example how abandoned mills can turn into economic
engines for their communities.
Glencoe is truly a special place. The site includes nearly a mile
of frontage along the Haw River (including 2600 feet of undeveloped
frontage) and is home to beaver, deer, groundhog, raccoon, and other
species common to riparian areas in the Piedmont. When Glencoe is
completed, planners, preservationists, journalists and others interested
in neighborhood revitalization will study Glencoe's revival and
how it can be replicated elsewhere.
History of the Site
Developed
by the Holt family on a picturesque site along the Haw River, Glencoe
is one of the state’s most significant early textile mills and mill
villages. James and William Holt, sons of textile pioneer E.M. Holt,
built Glencoe Mills, Inc. in 1880, and it would become one of the last
water-powered mills developed by the Holts. The mill closed in 1954,
and over time residents vacated the village homes. In 1979, Glencoe was
listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it was described by
the National Park Service as “a nationally significant site
representative of the Southern textile mill village and its role in the
industrialization of the American South.” The NPS has also considered
listing Glencoe as a National Historic Landmark, the highest historical
designation in the United States.
A New Beginning . . .
Although Preservation NC knew about Glencoe and its
significance for years, it wasn't until the organization had successfully neared
completion of the Edenton Cotton Mill and mill village that the
organization felt that it had the capacity to begin the rehabilitation
of Glencoe. In 1997, when Preservation NC purchased the long-idle
105-acre property in a bargain sale, Glencoe consisted of 32
vacant houses in varying conditions of decay and a complex of mill
buildings along the river. PNC installed water/sewer lines and built
necessary roads to provide modern access throughout the village. One by
one, buyers began to purchase and restore the historic homes and
rebuild the Glencoe community.
Progress Toward Completion
Only one building lot is available for new construction. Streetscape
improvements have been made, including the installation of underground
utilities and period streetlights. Various buildings in the mill
complex are undergoing rehabilitation for a mix of uses. And in 2002,
the first of PNC’s new infill houses was chosen by Country Living magazine as its House of the Year. Since that time, three more new
houses have been completed with others under construction on
once-vacant lots by citizens eager to continue the revitalization of
Glencoe. By constructing new homes on these lots where original houses
once stood, Glencoe residents are returning the look and feel of this
historic community to what it was over 125 years ago.
Benefits to the Surrounding Region
Impact of PNC's Glencoe Investment
1998 Appraised Value
$244,000
2006 Estimated Value
$8,700,000
Estimated Costs for PNC
$3,000,000
Estimated Value
upon Project Completion
$18,000,000
The
revitalization of Glencoe Mill and Mill Village will directly
contribute more than $10 million into the economy of Alamance County.
In addition to the restoration of the existing buildings, ten new
infill houses will be built under tight design review. Mill villages
such as Glencoe Mill Villages incorporate many of the elements espoused
by New Urbanists: being compact, walkable communities; having mixed
uses; being comprised of houses with front porches, etc. And yet, as
existing communities, their environmental impact is substantially less
than new development since less land is consumed.
Local preservationists dream of a museum village where visitors can
learn about textiles' influence in the post-war South. Many Southerners
have ancestors who worked in the textile industry, and Glencoe's
authenticity and its location close to major transportation links will
enhance its popularity as a destination.
As of December 2007 Glencoe Park, which covers the river frontage along the Haw River, was at 24 acres, with expansion and improvements planned.
Read about the last available lot 
