MUSCOGEE COUNTY, GA - HISTORY Clapp Factory Burns March 1910 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: John Mallory Land retrofit@flash.net Table of Contents page: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/muscogee.htm Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm HISTORIC CLAPP’S FACTORY WAS BURNED TO GROUND SATURDAY AFTERNOON Cause of the Fire Which Destroyed Three Buildings is Unknown ORIGINAL FACTORY WAS BUILT IN 1837 The Mill Just Destroyed was Erected in 1866, by Horace King - Had Not Been Operated for 25 Years - Owned by the Columbus Power Company One of the landmarks of this section and a historic relic that joined Columbus with the past was destroyed Saturday afternoon, when the old Clapp’s factory building, north of Columbus, was destroyed by fire. Just how the flames originated no one knows, for when the fire was first discovered, about 4:30 o’clock, it was under considerable headway. There was of course no way to subdue it, for the timbers were old and dry and burned very rapidly, the flames soaring to a great height, and the building, together with two adjoining structures, was completely destroyed. There are three theories as to how the building was fired, and in the last analysis all of them are guesses. One of them is that some one, strolling through or about the building, dropped sparks from a pipe or cigar that kindled the blaze, another is that children, playing near, fired the grass and the building was so dry that it ignited from the grass fire, and the third is someone fired it through mere wantonness, with a desire to have a big blaze and some excitement. The building was four stories high, with a basement, and being a frame structure and of considerable proportions it made an enormous blaze. For twenty-five years the old weather-beaten hulk had stood there and it had been predicted that it would meet just such an end as this, although it was thought that the chances of its collapsing were stronger than those of its being burned. With the burning of the main mill there also went up in smoke the old grist mill, just to the south of it, while a brick warehouse just to the north of the roadway, was also destroyed, only its walls being left. The cottages are some little distance from the factory, which was down under the hill on the very edge of the river, and none of them were burned. A good many of these cottages have been torn away or have fallen down in recent years and only a portion of the original mill village was left. Of the houses left only a few were occupied, and wandering among the quiet streets and looking into the silent, empty houses or peering into the old church, with the Bible still open there on the pulpit where the preacher had delivered his last sermon, one could have well imagined some ten years ago, before the decay and deterioration of the place had progressed to the point that it has today, that he was wandering through the Deserted Village made famous in poetry [by Oliver Goldsmith]. Historic Old Plant. Clapp’s factory was one of the pioneer cotton mills in the south and in its day and time was widely noted. First built in 1837, at a point on the Chattahoochee river three miles north of the city of Columbus, at a place where the ledge of rocks forms a natural dam, causing the current to take a percipitate [sic] tumble, it was operated for a number of years and was then acquired by Julius R. CLAPP, father of George M. CLAPP and grandfather of Brainard K. CLAPP, and his associates. Thus it was that it acquired the title, “Clapp’s Factory,” a name that clung to it to the day of its destruction. It was quite an enterprise, for in connection with it was operated a grist mill and tannery, and there was a large village peopled by the mill folk. The mill made cotton cloth and was regarded as one of the foremost of southern textile institutions in ante-bellum days. Burned by Soldiers. In the destruction of forty-seven million dollars worth of property in Columbus by the federal soldiers in 1865, such a rich prize as Clapp’s Factory of course did not escape, and like the Eagle mills it was burned to the ground. Destroyed in 1865, the factory was rebuilt in 1866, just one year later, a circumstance well showing the indomitable spirit of the south which rallied from the war and its stupendous losses with such superb courage. The new mill was built by Horace King, a negro, who was locally noted as a bridge builder. This was the building that existed until Saturday afternoon and the factory was operated actively until 1885. Closed 25 Years Ago CLAPP and associates incorporated the “Columbus Factory” after the war [sic - the Columbus Factory was incorporated in 1848, and the Columbus Manufacturing Company in 1867] and the plant was operated by that corporation. Mr. CLAPP’s death occurred in 1877 [sic - SEP 1876], and consequently a new company, the Chattahoochee Falls company, was organized and operated the factory until 1885 [Sic - the Chattahoochee Falls Co. was formed in 1885.]. The factory then closed and was never operated again. Year after year the silent spindles and looms still kept vigal [sic] in the old mill, awaiting the bidding of man, but the command to resume was never given and the whole place gradually fell into decay and dissolution. Less than 10 years ago the machinery on the several floors was knocked down and sold for junk and since then the wreck of the place has been complete. The doors have been open and the public has wandered in and out at will. It has been a favorite spot with parties going out into the woods for a day’s outing, for there was facination [sic] in the decay and ruins, and then again, at that point the Chattahoochee river is [in] one of its wildest, most romantic moods, the stream and cascades most charming to the eye. Many Columbus people felt a sincere attachment to the weather-beaten old structure and will experience a pang of grief to know that it has at last met the end that has so often been predicted for it. The building was owned by the Columbus Power company, which absorbed the Chattahoochee Falls company a number of years ago. It was an entirely empty structure, and as it was not regarded as of anw [sic] particular value was not insured. [This story appears on p. 3 of Section 2 of the Columbus Enquirer-Sun for Sunday, 20 MAR 1910, on microfilm at the W. C. Bradley Memorial Library in Columbus, Georgia; note that Section 2 precedes Section 1 on the microfilm. Transcribed by John Mallory Land.]