Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Company
National Register Listing
Street Address:
400 W. White St., Rock Hill, SC (York County)
Alternate Name:
The Bleachery
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817746055
Description and Narrative:
The Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Company is significant for its association with the development of the textile industry in Rock Hill from 1929 to 1962. The complex is comprised of the following six buildings and four structures: 1) the Power House, a two-story brick building built in 1929 as part of the plant’s original construction, with an addition built in 1949; 2) the Reservoir, built in 1929; 3) Brick Chimneys, two circular tapered brick chimneys built in 1929 and ca. 1949; 4) the Bleachery Water Treatment Plant, a one-story brick building and filtration/purification facility built in 1930, comprising one building and one structure; 5) the Warehouse Building, a two-story brick building built in 1939; 6) the Springs Distribution Center, two three-story, brick and concrete buildings built in 1946 and 1956, respectively, as warehouse, shipping and receiving buildings, and 7) the Lowenstein Building, a four-story brick building built in 1953 as part of the plant’s major expansion project. Starting with 400 employees, the Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Company, often locally referred to simply as “the Bleachery,” employed 4,800 at its peak in 1965. It was one of thirty-four textile mills in Rock Hill at this time. As the textile industry struggled, the Bleachery workforce dwindled. The Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Company employed 2,800 people in 1976, but 1,000 by the time it was sold to Springs Industries in 1985, and only 770 when it finally closed in 1998, the only mill still operating in Rock Hill. Listed in the National Register February 5, 2013.
Period of Significance:
1929 – 1962;1929;1950 – 1953
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Industry
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
February 5 2013
