The company was established in in Concord, south-central Piedmont, primarily by black capitalists in North Carolina, most based in its largest city of
Wilmington. To promote the economic security of people of color, they intended to establish a cotton mill to be entirely managed and operated by blacks. At the time, the cotton mills in North Carolina, and the South overall, were white owned and discriminated against black workers. Managers hired blacks only for menial positions.
Richard B. Fitzgerald, a major brickmaker and businessman of
Durham, North Carolina, was the company's first president; Edward A. Johnson its first vice-president (and was later president), and
Warren Clay Coleman of Concord was its first secretary, treasurer, and manager. The initial board of directors were S. C. Thompson, L. P. Berry,
John C. Dancy, federal collector of customs in Wilmington; S. B. Pride, C. F. Meserve, and Robert McRae. About $50,000 was subscribed, which soon increased to $100,000, by "several hundred" African Americans, who mainly lived in the Concord area. A few white
philanthropists, such as
Benjamin N. Duke, who subscribed $1,000 (at six-percent interest), also invested in the capital stock of the company. The mill had "a 270 horse power Corliss engine there and machinery that will compare favorable with any in or around Boston". Coleman was said to have purchased used equipment, described by one source as inefficient "second-hand English" works. This eventually caused production problems. Local black laborers and artisans initially accepted stock as payment for their work in construction of the mill, but most soon decided to accept only cash instead of more stock. Many workers quit due to the inability of Coleman to raise the necessary amount of cash at that time. == Mill structure today ==