FRANKLINVILLE — Fire gutted a large portion of a historic mill Thursday morning, leaving preservationists wondering what their next step will be.

Originally built in 1838 as the Franklinsville Manufacturing Co., the Upper Mill of what was later called Randolph Mills is owned by the Randolph Heritage Conservancy, headed by Mac Whatley. A feasibility study, funded by a $25,000 grant from the Rural Center of North Carolina, was being done by Smith Sennett, an architectural firm.

Architect Robert Carmac, whose father Darrell Carmac had worked in the 1950s on the masonry of the section planned as a museum, said he had been on the site just this week as part of the study. He's been working on drawings and an assessment of the buildings for renovation.

"The most historic part, a three-story section, is gone," said Carmac.

Whatley said the first building was constructed in 1838, destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1851. The facility was expanded in 1899 and other sections added in later years.

"This will set us back," Whatley said of the fire, "because it's easier to work with something, even (if it's) in bad shape. It's more of a historical loss. There's some stuff not old that we didn't want to keep and some very much older that we wanted to keep."

It's believed the fire was the result of arson.

Franklinville Fire Chief Kyle Dixon, asked if it was set, responded, "Arson? Oh yeah. There's no power to the building. Investigators are here. Hopefully, they'll find out what happened."

Dixon said the call came in from the 911 Call Center in Asheboro at about 4 a.m. Thursday.

"It was totally involved except for the section (planned as a museum) with about $30,000 worth of equipment. We're trying to save that.

"It was a pretty impressive fire," Dixon said.

One problem firefighters faced was finding enough water to throw on the blaze. Dixon said they drained the town's water sytem of approximately 300,000 gallons within the first hour and a half. Then they depended on tanker trucks from all over the county to bring in water from Asheboro.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we use 800,000 or 900,000 gallons," he said.

Crews and trucks were at the site from Eastside, Climax, Ulah, Staley, Seagrove, Westside, Tabernacle and Liberty. Asheboro sent water to the scene.

Cindy Wilkins, a volunteer with the Conservancy, said plans are to develop a "living museum with functioning equipment. It's southern textile history. There's so much history here. So many people worked here."

The old mill has been designated as a historic landmark by the Randolph County Historic Landmark Preservation Commission. It's also on the National Historic Registry.

The Conservancy bought the Upper Mill in the 1990s to restore. It's considered one of the state's last remaining water-powered textile mills. The mill quit making cloth in the late 1970s.

"The mill was the heart of the village," Whatley said. "Everybody in town had a connection to the mill.

"It's definitely a loss to history and to the community," he said. "It's hard to say (what the Conservancy's next step will be)."



Larry Penkava is a staff writer for The Randolph Guide. He can be reached at (336) 625-5576 or by e-mail at lpenkava@randolphguide.com