The Mill
This amphitheater is located on the site of what was once
the heart of commerce in Villa Rica for more than 100 years.
By 1900, the two block area to the east of here was developed by the Villa Rica Cotton Oil Mill, whose president was W.B. Candler. The original brick buildings were first used as warehouses to store the cotton bales made at the cotton gin building, which was also on this site.
In 1902, the Villa Rica Electric Light and Power Company was incorporated and occupied part of the complex. It was soon followed by the ice plant and the Coca-Cola Bottling Plant. The first Coca-Cola bottles used here had the name of the electric light Company imprinted on them. A fertilizer plant was later added in 1908.
By 1927, this multi-business complex became the Villa Rica Manufacturing Company. Adding a new hosiery mill component known as the Rica Tex Mills . The last two major textile mills operating here were the Golden City Hosiery Mills and Vince Hosiery Mills, Inc. The two-acre property and buildings were sold in 2000 in became the home of the Avanti Auto Manufacturing, Incorporated. In 2006, the site was purchased by the city of Villa Rica.
In the early deeds, the street area to the west of the mill complex was referred to as the ”Public Square”. The old railroad depot was located about 150 feet down the track from the corner of this property and flank one side of this “square” area.
gathering point concept is once more a popular part of life of the city of Villa Rica.
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: David Seibert.