Mary A. Browning, Patricia M. Koehler Oakdale Cotton Mills

Annotation

Oakdale Cotton Mills, in continuous operation in rural Jamestown since 1865, began as Logan Manufacturing Company immediately after the Civil War. Its primary backer, Cyrus P. Mendenhall, was a descendant of Jamestown's early Quaker settler James Mendenhall. In the late 1880s, the mill's ownership moved to the Ragsdale family, which still owns it five generations later. Oakdale's mill village dates from the same period. Some families have lived and worked at Oakdale for multiple generations, developing a culture based on mutual trust and respect. As the mill struggles to compete with overseas products and as the number of employees dwindles, it is clear that a way of life and an industrial era are ending.