There really was a cotton company long before the Cotton Company market place on South White Street. Called the W.W. Holding Cotton Company it was begun by William Willis Holding and carried on by his son, W.W. Holding II (referred to locally as Big Bill), and grandsons, W.W. Holding III (Little Bill) and Walter Holding (Buddy). The family also owned Holding Dairy farm at the end of Friendship Chapel Road which is now being developed as Holding Village subdivision.
The cotton company bought and sold cotton locally – one of the Crenshaw family was known as being happy to look out from her porch and see “just white,” the cotton fields rolling over the hills – and the Royall Cotton Mill, when it was in operation in the separate village just north of Wake Forest, bought local cotton. It was also a cotton brokerage operating throughout the southeast.
The company’s offices were in the two-story brick building next to the current Cotton Company. On the second floor there is a large north-facing window, necessary for cotton fiber classing, examining the fibers from the bales for color, length and other quality fine distinctions. Buddy Holding was said to be one of the best classers.
The two-story building next door was used as a warehouse, and later there was outdoor storage behind the building right next to the railroad tracks. If you have wondered why the sidewalk in front of the Cotton Company is so high: It was used as a loading dock for the trucks transporting bales in and out of the warehouse.
In later years the company moved its offices south along South White Street and built two large warehouses which still stand.
Wake Forest native Lewis Hooks sent this memory about the company several years ago and this week said it could be used.
“My Dad worked for W. W. Holding Cotton Company from 1933 to 1960.We talked a lot about the company. The general office, classing rooms, inside and outside storage areas were all downtown across the street from the old Post Office.
“I believe in the early ’50’s the cotton bales in the outside storage area that ran parallel to the railroad tracks caught fire. This storage area was not sprinklered at the time and there was a huge blaze. I have a vivid memory of the fire because I rode to the fire with my Dad who was a volunteer fireman, and it was the first time I heard my Dad curse. As we approached the fire and he realized his place of employment was on fire he exclaimed, ‘Oh shit,’ and then apologized immediately.
“I remember the flames shooting high in the air, and the whole storage area was in flames. My Dad’s adrenaline must have taken over because he grasped one of the large fire hoses attached to a hydrant, climbed up a ladder to the roof of Blanchard’s grocery store (soon to be P.D. Weston’s appliance store) and fought the fire by himself from that location and stopped its spread to the adjacent store. My Dad was a big man but most folks were amazed that he handled the high pressure hose alone.” (P.D. Weston’s appliance store became P.D. Weston’s hardware store and is now B & W Hardware.)
2 Responses
My Dad,George Hooks, taught Buddy Holding how to class cotton.
I always enjoy the “History Moments” Carol often includes with the current news. I certainly remember Lewis Hooks family who were my family’s neighbors. One correction, which is just a name, is the former grocery store operator in building which now houses B and W Hardware was Luther Belangia, a cousin of my Dad. I believe Durward Matheny worked for Luther as a teenager.