History

Lexington's old cotton mill was built before the turn of the century. Sources vary, one that the mill was completed in 1891, another that it opened operations in 1893.

The mill was built by the local Roof family with financial backing from G.E. Huggins, a New York businessman and the new venture's first president. Huggins was elected president of the new mill, incorporated as Lexington Manufacturing Co., according to one source, in 1894 with $100,000 in capital. The mill manufactured cotton for mattresses and red cotton cloth for uniforms for the California prison system and other products.

In the tradition of those times, the mill's owners built homes to attract textile workers. Many of the homes on the East Main Street mill hill still stand today, some used for businesses, others still used as residences. The mill opened as a state-of-theart facility in those days with its own power generation from the mill pond, Boiler system for heating and moisturizing the cotton, a private railroad spur, its own fire control sprinkler system powered by an auto engine and other amenities. Rent ranged from $11 to $20 a month and was deducted from the workers' pay. Electricity was provided to workers at $2 to $3 a month.

Perhaps to remind local merchants of the value of the mill and its employees, the owners paid the workers in silver dollars. Their bags of coins was a common sight in Lexington's one-block retail area. After the stock market crash in 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression, the owners closed the mill until 1934. Over the years, the mill went through a series of transitions, finally becoming a retail shopping center with its sale to local businessmen in 1983.