History of Kannapolis
The NCRC Campus sits on the former site of Cannon Mills in the city of Kannapolis. Cannon Mills was the largest manufacturer of sheets and towels in the world. At its peak of success, the mill employed almost 25,000 people. The city boasts a long and storied history. Here’s a brief look at how it has evolved to become the Home to Science.
1906
J.W. Cannon purchases 808 acres of farmland approximately eight miles north surrounding the north-south tracks (built prior to the Civil War) of Southern Railway and the historic “Wagon Road” from Salisbury to Charlotte. Thus begins the construction of Cannon’s “model mill town.”
1908
After delays due to a cotton panic, the new mill at Kannapolis opens and towel production begins. The company town now includes 1,600 houses built for employees and a YMCA which will serve as a civic center, movie theater, daycare center and temporary hospital.
1914
Cannon Manufacturing Company amends its charter so that the company headquarters may be moved to Kannapolis. The first brick office is completed in 1915.
1982
Pacific Holding Company, owned by David H. Murdock, purchases Cannon Mills Company for $413 million. Murdock, who becomes chairman of the board and CEO, announces plans for a $20 million renovation of the downtown area, which will become the Cannon Village shopping district.
1984
On November 6, Kannapolis residents vote to incorporate the town of Kannapolis. Bachman S. Brown Jr. is appointed its first mayor. Kannapolis officially becomes a city on December 11, 1984.
1986
Pacific Holding Company sells the bed and bath operations of Cannon Mills to Fieldcrest Mills, Inc. of Eden, NC. The new corporation is known as Fieldcrest Cannon, Inc. Soon the companies’ operations are consolidated, leading to major layoffs, especially among the highly educated executive and administrative ranks.
1997
Fieldcrest Cannon is sold to Pillowtex Corporation of Dallas, Texas for $700 million in stock and cash.
2000
Pillowtex files for bankruptcy protection.
2003
On Wednesday, July 30, a financially ruined Pillowtex suddenly, and permanently, closes its doors and announces total liquidation. Of the 7,650 people employed by Pillowtex, 4,340 lived in Kannapolis and the counties surrounding the city. This is the largest one-day layoff in North Carolina history.
December, 2004
David H. Murdock purchases at auction the 250-acre site of the former Cannon Mills Plant One.
September 12, 2005
In a much-anticipated ceremony in front of the one-time world’s largest manufacturer of household textiles, Murdock announces plans for a $1.5 billion scientific and economic revitalization project called the North Carolina Research Campus. Those attending include U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole, U.S. Senator Richard Burr, U.S. Congressman (and great-grandson of Kannapolis’ founder, J.W. Cannon) Robin Hayes, and UNC President Molly Corbett Broad, as well as many other political and academic leaders from the state of North Carolina.
February 23, 2006
Groundbreaking is held for the North Carolina Research Campus’s first building and centerpiece, the David H. Murdock Core Laboratory. The man-made lake in front of the demolished Cannon Mills corporate office is drained to create the site of the new 311,000-square-foot building.
March 24, 2006
D.H. Griffin Inc. of Greensboro, NC, implodes Pillowtex buildings. It is reported to be the second largest implosion in U.S. history. Six million square feet of antiquated textile buildings are imploded or demolished to make way for the new research campus.
August 21, 2006
Topping out ceremony is held for the David H. Murdock Core Laboratory, along with the announcement of the purchase of a 950 MHz NMR, the world’s largest, to be housed in the David H. Murdock Research Institute.
September 6, 2006
Rowan Cabarrus Community College announces the development and implementation of its R3 (Refocus, Retrain, Reemploy) Center at the NCRC, designed to train a local workforce for opportunities at the NCRC.
September 24, 2007
In another gala ceremony, this time outside the David H. Murdock Core Lab, a $35 million gift from Murdock to Duke University is announced, as well as the Duke-led M.U.R.D.O.C.K. Study, an intergenerational study much like the world-renowned Framingham Study in Massachusetts. (M.U.R.D.O.C.K.-Measurement to Understand the Reclassification of Disease in Cabarrus and Kannapolis.)