The Mill Village

(This Site is Still Under Construction.)

Life in the Village

There are many interesting things about living in Glendale. This page will give a listing of and a brief description of the topic. Click on the link to the topic to see more information.

More about the Story of Glendale and the Mill Village

This story about the history of Glendale and the mill village is accompanied by a number of photographs. Click on the link above to see this.

The Houses

The houses in the original village were built by the owners of the mill. These houses were the start of the town of Glendale today. In the early 1950's, the Mill company decided to sell the village houses. For this story, and who the houses were sold to read "Selling the Houses".

(Click on this link to see satellite maps of the Glendale village.)

The Trolley

The town of Glendale was served by an electric street car system over a hundred years ago. The trolley, as it was known, was critical in the lives of the people of Glendale. has recently furnished some additional interesting information about the Trolley and how important it was to Glendale click on the link above for the story. Additional information is also available at More on the Trolley.

Textile Baseball

Textile league baseball was very important in the lives of the people in the small textile towns of the Upstate , including Glendale. Like many things associated with the mill, it now exists only in memory.

Christmas

Christmas is a special time in Glendale like it is in all of the small towns in South Carolina. Click on the link above for Christmas stories and memories in Glendale from the past.

July Fourth Celebration

Most of the South Carolina Upstate Textile Towns had a big celebration on the Fourth of July. Click on the link above to see how Glendale celebrated the Fourth during the 1940's and 1950's.

World War II and Camp Croft

World War II brought one of the biggest construction projects in the history of South Carolina right to the outskirts of Glendale. The Camp Croft Recruit Training Center had a big economic impact on all of Spartanburg County, including Glendale. Many Glendale folks became acquainted with the soldiers from the camp. The War effort had come close to home.

Ruritan Club

The Ruritan Club that was organized in Glendale in 1949. Click on the link above for the story. It includes the names of all the original members that were in the Club when it was chartered.

Street Names

Most of the street names in Glendale have changed over the years. This often makes it difficult to relate old names with current street names. The above link gives the old names and what they have been changed to as present street names.

Glendale Elementary School

The elementary school has been in several buildings and locations over the years. Click on the above link for more information, including photographs.

The Cemeteries

Click on the above link to read the story of the Glendale Cemeteries. A number of Glendale folks have organized a Glendale Cemeteries Committee to raise funds to maintain the cemeteries. Click on this link for more information about how to join or contribute, Committee.

A Worker's Story

Every worker in the Glendale Mill had a different story. However, there were common threads to almost everyone. A Spartanburg newspaper article from 1949 tells about Francis Marion Coates and his wife, Nettie Lominac Coates. Mr. Coates worked in textile mills, mostly at Glendale, for 54 years before he retired. The article gives many interesting details about what life was like in the mill.

The Mill Store

Mr. Clarence Crocker was the manager of the Glendale Mill Store for several years. He has furnished us an interesting story and photographs concerning the store. Click on the above link to read this story.

Stores and Commercial Sites

There were many stores and commercial sites in and around the Glendale community when the mill was in operation. Clarence Crocker has furnished us information on these sites from the 1900's through the 1970's. Click on the above link to read the story. A map showing most of these can be seen by clicking on Glendale Store Locations.

The Post Offices

There were several post office locations and many postmasters at Bivingsville and Glendale over the years. Click on the link above to read a story about these by Clarence Crocker, a former Glendale Postmaster himself.

Sports and Recreation at Glendale

Residents of Glendale had many types of recreation and sporting activities available. Click on the above link for more information and photos.

Churches

The Churches of the town have always played a critical part in the life of the Glendale community. Click on the above link for more information and photos.

Doctors, Nurses and Medical Care

The citizens of Glendale were fortunate to have many dedicated Doctors and Nurses to provide for their medical care over the years. Click on the above link to read that story and see photographs.

Law Enforcement in Glendale

With one major exception, Glendale had almost no crime but there were dedicated individuals available in case of a problem. Click on the above link for that story and photographs.

Fire Protection in Glendale

Glendale had fire protection from early times. Click on the above link for that story and photographs.

Barbers and Barber Shops in Glendale

Glendale had a number of barbers over the years. Click on the above link for their stories and photographs.

Glendale "Fast Food"

Over the years there have been a number of eating places in the Glendale Community. Click on the above link to
read more about them.

Spartanburg Radio and the Palmetto Ramblers

In the 1930's, the Spartanburg radio station, WSPA, went on the air. A group of Glendale men and boys formed a country and western band, The Palmetto Ramblers, and performed on the radio. Click on the link above to read more.

A Terrible Tragedy

In August, 1920, a terrible tragedy struck the Glendale community. Six of the community's young people were killed in a disastrous, single car accident. Click on the above link to read more.

Other Tragedys

Over the years, several other Glendale residents have met violent deaths in accidents. The Spartanburg Herald had stories giving the details of these events. The following people had fatal accidents. Click on the name below to read more about the accident.
Thomas J. Morris - 1908
Elmond Earl Crocker - 1934
A. Edgar Fowler - 1936
Willie Tunstall - 1947

Newspaper Social Columns about Glendale Folks

In the 1910's, 1920's, 1930's and continuing on into the 1940's, it was common for small towns to have a "social" reporter to furnish news items about the activities of the townspeople to the local newspaper. It is well to keep in mind that communication and travel was very different then, than today. Trips, even into nearby towns, were special occasions. Click on the links below to read Spartanburg Newspaper articles about activities in Glendale in the past.

Newspaper Social and Methodist Church News Column about Glendale from July, 1914.
Newspaper Social Column about Glendale from February 26, 1931.
Newspaper Social Column and School News from April, 1915

The Glendale Mill Office Robbery

In 1948, Glendale Mills was the victim of one of the biggest robberies ever to take place in the Upstate. Read the full details by clicking on the link above.

The Other Glendale Bridge

When we hear about the Glendale Bridge, almost everyone thinks about the modern concrete bridge or the old iron bridge that crosses Lawson's Fork Creek. However, there is another bridge closeby that at one time collapsed under a heavy load of cotton. Click on the link above to read about this.

Flooding of Lawson's Fork Creek

Over the years, Lawson's Fork Creek has experienced serious flooding. Read the details by clicking on the link above.

Paving the Glendale - Clifton Road

For many, many years, all of the roads to the Glendale village were unimproved dirt roads. In the early 1930's, that began to change. Click on the link above to learn more.

Glendale Photo Album

A collection of photographs of various Glendale folks and places can be seen by clicking on the above link. Most of these photographs were furnished by Gerald Quinn.

The Mill Whistle and the Passing Generations

The sound of the mill whistle signaled the workers to their jobs. Over the years, the mill whistle meant different things to each generation. Read about this by clicking on the link above.