Alamance Factory was built in 1837 by Edwin Michael Holt on Great Alamance Creek, the site of his father's grist mill. Though there were already perhaps two small mills in operation in Alamance County, this date may be considered the beginning of the industrial development of the county. Holt and his heirs dominated the industrial life of the county for the next century.
Alamance Factory continued under Holt management for 89 years; and twenty-four of the county's twenty-nine cotton mills were controlled by members of the Holt family for periods ranging from fourteen to eighty-nine mills, during the period of development.
From the guide to the Alamance Cotton Mill Records, 1839-1926, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)
