Changes began in the 1850s. As the railroad expanded in the South, production of cotton, wheat, and tobacco increased. Entrepreneurs needed capital and a steady supply of workers for the southern mill ...

1816 Roanoke Navigation Co. chartered: rights to improve navigation of Roanoke River 1820s Boom period for Danville. 1828 Danville’s first cotton mill established: Danville Manufacturing Co. 1833 ...