Clarke County GaArchives History - Books .....Industries Of Athens 1923
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Book Title: History Of Athens And Clarke County

Industries of Athens and Clarke County

By E. W. CARROLL, Secretary Chamber of Commerce.

   ATHENS is the second largest cotton market in the state and its industries
are largely engaged in the manufacture of this product. Twelve cotton
manufacturing plants and one cotton oil refinery employ a large number of
people; besides these, there are two oil mills, one sulphuric acid plant and
three fertilizer plants.

   Although the first cotton factory had been built in Georgia in 1811, the
industry had its real beginning in 1828, when the Georgia Factory was built at
Whitehall, Clarke county, within a few miles of the city of Athens. This mill is
still in operation.

   There are quite a number of other industrial plants in the county, such as
brick, plows, spring beds, brooms, ice, ice cream, handles, overalls, shirts,
harness, etc.

   The United States Census Bureau reports on Athens and Clarke, Bounty
manufactures for the year 1920 as follows:

Number of establishments                               58
Average number of wage earners                      1,955
Wages                                         $ 1,922,164
Rents and taxes                               $   275,911
Cost of materials                             $ 6,792,535
Value of products                             $10,369,247
Value added by manufacture                    $ 3,576,712

   In 1920 there was invested in cotton manufacture alone $1,250,000.

SPLENDID BANKING FACILITIES

   There are seven prosperous banking enterprises in Clarke county, six of which
are located in Athens, with combined capital of more than a million dollars and
deposits of approximately $7,000,000. The deposits per capita are $400, while
the average for the whole United States is $224.

   The taxable property of the county is about $20,000,000, returns based upon a
sixty per cent valuation.

ATHENS AN IMPORTANT TRADE CENTER 

   Athens as a wholesale and jobbing market ranks among the first in the state
of Georgia. As a distributing point it is exceptionally located, being served by
five separate and distinct lines of railroad, fed by five trunk line highways
and situated in the heart of a rich and prosperous agricultural territory. The
railroads, which furnish the city with excellent transportation facilities are
the Seaboard Air Line, Southern, Georgia, Central of Georgia and the Gainesville
Midland.

HEADQUARTERS FOR 200 COMMERCIAL TRAVELERS

   More than 200 traveling salesmen, selling millions of dollars worth of
merchandise and drawing an approximate yearly salary of $500,000 make Athens
their headquarters. This army of commercial travelers, operating from Athens as
a base and covering about one-third of the Georgia territory and a considerable
portion of the territory of the Carolinas, has made this city the chief
wholesale center of the state, outside of Atlanta. Athens is the home of
twenty-four wholesale and jobbing concerns, whose annual business turnover is
around $25,000,000. One of these jobbing houses, according to railroad
statistics, is the largest between Richmond and Atlanta.

   Through the importance of Athens as a wholesale grocery center there are a
large number of brokerage firms here and there is hardly a manufacturer of any
food product but that has either a branch house or branch office in this city.
This brings the products of the world close to the buyers of this section and
keeps a good supply on hand at all times.

   The keen competition on the Athens market makes for the lowest price possible
on all items and for that reason this city is found to be among the lowest in
living costs.

MUNICIPAL ASSETS

   Athens has 105 miles of streets, which cost nearly a million dollars, and is
spending annually more than $100,000 in additional improvements. All the
principal thoroughfares and many of the side streets have been paved in recent
years and there are more than fifty miles of paved sidewalk in the city. A
municipal water plant, valued at $350,000, using sand and gravity filtration,
with daily pumping capacity of 1,000,000 gallons, and a complete sewerage
system, is largely responsible for the excellent health record of the community.
Athens enjoys the lowest death rate in the South, the second in the United States.

  Athens has efficient police and fire departments, both under civil service
regulations. The fire department equipment represents a total cost of about
$100,000.

  Public buildings worthy of note are the $115,000 federal building, completed
in 1911; the $250,000 Insurance building, constructed in 1907; the $200,000
Georgian Hotel; the $175,000 Holman building; the $200,000 county court house,
built in 1914; City Y. M. C. A., erected in 1914 at a cost of $100,000; the
Athens General Hospital, completed in 1919 at a cost, including equipment, of
$250,000; St. Mary's Hospital, $50,000; and a $100,000 city hall.

   The city is lighted by several hundred Mazda lights, representing an
investment of $50,000, and a modern White Way in the business section which was
completed in 1923.

   The city maintains a curb market, through which more than 300 farmers of
Clarke and adjoining counties sell their produce three days in the week. The
city also supervises through its health department the operation of the Athens'
Butchers' Abattoir Company plant, organized in 1922, and already handling a
large volume of business.


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