June 11, 1911, began as any other day in Avalon. The bell tolled at the beginning of the
workday and mill employees followed the well-worn path down to the mill. Their wives were at home
taking care of household chores while the children played outside. Late in the afternoon, the women
began the daily task of preparing supper, to be ready when their men came home from a long day's work.
At the end of the workday the bell tolled and people started the short trek home from the mill.
As in any other job, there were a few employees still inside the mill left to wrap things up. At
5:55 p.m., a loom on the fourth floor caught fire. John Willie Richardson, who was near the loom.
threw a bucket of water on it hoping to extinguish the small flame. The water, however, spread
the flames and just after he left the building the entire fourth floor was engulfed. All the
windows in the building had been opened to circulate air on a hot summer day. Unfortunately, with the
windows left open at the end of the workday, the air circulating fanned the flames and spread
them even further. Because of lack of maintenance, a bearing in a water pump failed and the
sprinklers were of no use. The fire burned uncontrollably as Avalonians finally realized what was
happening.
Alarmed by the sudden shouting and screams of neighbors, wives left dinners burning on the
stove as they raced out to see what was happening. The townspeople of Avalon gathered at the edge
of town near the mill and on the path which led to it, watching in horror as their mill burned to
the ground.
Since the Company owned the houses, the mill employees were given temporary jobs at Washington Mills
in Mayodan until plans could be made to rebuild Avalon Mills. The employees would walk two miles each
way along the railroad tracks to work in Mayodan. Wives waited anxiously at home for their men to
return home in the dark. Every day they awaited news from the Company as to when rebuilding would begin.
After a while, Avalon residents received a letter announcing that Avalon Mills would not be restored.
The plan was to permanently move all employees to Washington Mills and even relocate the company
owned houses to Mayodan. This process took almost two years, with houses being rolled the two miles
to Mayodan on logs and pulled by as many as sixteen horses. By 1913, the only house left in Avalon was
the original Vaden house. Some of the former Avalon residents chose not to relocate to Mayodan
and moved out of the area, never to see their Avalon neighbors again.
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