Earlier this week the Kannapolis City Council celebrated the restoration and relocation of the historic Cannon Mills Main Office Cupola. It is believed to be the only remaining structural item of the mill and it now sits on the lawn of A.L. High School near Denver Street.
“This cupola is dedicated to the mill people who built Kannapolis. This is an ideal location as students, and the public can see it every day. It is a visual history lesson of our City. It reminds us of the hard work and determination our community had to make this a great City and Cannon Mills as the top company across the world for textile products,” said Kannapolis Mayor Doug Wilson.
“This cupola is a reminder of the real mill people. We want to thank James Busse and Josh Teague, the carpenter teachers at A.L. Brown, their students and city staff and others who have donated their labor and materials to restore the cupola. I also want to add special thanks to Charlie Parker of Parker Crane Service who donated his services to move the cupola to this final location once the restoration was completed. We are thankful that people care about the history of our City and we are able to have this cupola here on this site,” said Mayor Pro Tem Ryan Dayvault.
When Cannon Mills was dismantled in 2006, Lynne Safrit with Atlantic American Properties asked that the cupola be preserved. Over the years it has been in storage in various locations. In 2021 it was moved to A.L. Brown High School and students began the restoration process. The 10-foot structure has a copper roof and iron railings. During the restoration process, Wally and Lynne Safrit who had saved the cupola’s original wind vane, donated it to the City and this historic piece has also been restored to the cupola structure.
“This has been an important hands-on project for our students. In addition to learning important restoration carpentry skills, they have been able to touch and feel the history of our City. It has been a great collaboration with the City of Kannapolis,” commented Kannapolis School Superintendent Dr. Sara Newell.
In 1906 J.W. Cannon purchased the land that later became Kannapolis and acquired a total of 1,008 acres in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties. Approximately 808 of those acres of farmland, purchased along the historic wagon road between Salisbury and Charlotte, became the location of the new textile mill, Cannon Manufacturing. Cannon Manufacturing began production in 1908. In 1914 Cannon Manufacturing became known as the world’s largest producer of sheets and towels. Shortly after, Mr. Cannon opened plants in Rowan County, Concord and in South Carolina totaling 20,000 workers. Mill founder J.W. Cannon’s youngest son, Charles A. Cannon, consolidated all the separate mills into the giant Cannon Mills Company in 1928.
By 1984, when Kannapolis was incorporated as a City, an estimated 30,000 people were employees of Cannon Mills. Globalization and the export of textile jobs overseas resulted in the decline of Cannon Mills by 2003 when it closed permanently.