Warren Coleman & Coleman Manufacturing Company
Concord, Cabarrus County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Warren Coleman 1849 1904. Founder of the nation's first textile factory owned and operated by blacks, 1897-1904. Mill building is 350 yds. N.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Warren Clay Coleman (1849–1904), born into slavery, rose to become a prosperous Concord merchant and entrepreneur. In 1897 he founded what is recognized as the nation's first textile mill owned and operated by African Americans, running it until his death in 1904. The mill building stands about 350 yards north.
Why it matters
Coleman's mill was a landmark of Black economic ambition in the New South, a bold bid for industrial self-determination in an era of deepening segregation.
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Related people
- · Warren Clay Coleman
Themes & tags
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