Fieldale, Virginia is located
in Henry County near the 1756 site of Fort Trial, George Washington's
most southern outpost offering protection to the hunters and trappers
along the frontier. By 1768 that same extended area belonged to a
landowner named George Waller whose home was located on land that
would make up the eventual town of Fieldale. During
the Revolutionary War period Waller trained militia on a drill field
near the Smith River. In March of 1781 he marched 16 companies of
militia 70 miles south to Hillsborough, NC in support of General Adam
Stevens in the Battle of Guilford Court House. He was afterwards promoted
and commissioned a colonel of militia. Colonel Waller was with General
Washington at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, after
which he returned to his home in Henry County to live out his life
as a gentleman planter. He served his county and state until his death
on November 18, 1814.  In
1776 the area containing Waller broke off from Pittsylvania and became
know as Henry County in honor of Patrick Henry. Later, after the Civil
War, the future Fieldale area was still know as Waller
and was a rural area occupied primarily by people of African-American
descent. Tobacco was the chief source of income for Henry Countians
and the Danville and Western Railroad completed its line to Martinsville,
the county seat, in 1882 to serve that market. But small tobacco factories
were soon absorbed by larger firms and by 1906 hardly a single tobacco
factory remained in operation. Around the turn of the last century industry began to change Henry County and much of the south as well. Just across the border in North Carolina a man named Franklin Mebane developed big plans for a textile company manufacturing terry cloth towels. He built 7 mills on the 600 acres he had purchased in and around the Leaksville, Spray and Draper area - known today as Eden, NC. But in 1910 a business recession forced Mebane to sell his mills to Marshall Field and Company of Chicago, IL. Marshall Field renamed the factories 'Fieldcrest Mills' and established their headquarters in Eden. In 1916 Marshall Field began looking about for an area in which they might expand their mill. They contacted Heck Ford, Martinsville's one man Chamber of Commerce, who led them to the Waller area. The area suited them perfectly. The proposed site  lay
between 2 rail lines, the Norfolk and Western and the Danville and
Western, and beside the Smith River. By 1917 the transaction was complete
and Marshall Field owned 1800 acres of land in Henry County on the
site of George Waller's plantation.A construction boom followed as land was cleared and a plant and warehouse covering almost 4 acres was completed; Fieldale became a reality. The first hard surfaced road in Henry County was built during this period to connect Martinsville with Fieldale. Houses were added followed by a hotel, lodge, school, community center and stores. And so Henry County began to industrialize. Many people left the farm to take jobs in the factory. These people knew long hours, hard work and perfection in all their tasks. They brought the work ethic they had learned on the farm to the mill. The Fieldale Heritage Festival celebrates the lives of these people, many long gone, and the valuable lessons they taught us. Without these people Fieldcrest Mills would have been nothing. Through determination and hard work they built a town and a meaningful life for themselves, their children and grandchildren. They produced goods that became world famous for quality. The sacrifices they made and the wealth they generated built the life we enjoy today. |
