Chadbourn Inc. of North Carolina - $1,000 Bond

Chadbourn Hosiery Mills Plant was associated with two of Charlotte’s largest and longest-operating hosiery producers.  The Hosiery was named after it's owner, James Chadbourn Bolles. The enterprises’ contributions to the local economy as manufacturers, employers, consumers of local goods and services, and taxpayers were enormous from late 1929, when Larkwood Silk Hosiery Mills’ plant commenced operations, until Chadbourn Inc. ceased production in 1978. In 1970, Chadbourn Inc. absorbed Standard Knitting Mills, Inc., as a subsidiary corporation.

In 1973, Fort Payne, Alabama-based W. B. Davis Hosiery Sales, Inc. purchased Chadbourn Inc. and its subsidiary firms including Carwood Manufacturing Company.  Duck Head Apparel Company subsequently acquired Carwood Manufacturing Company.  The late 1970s were a challenging period for the American textile industry, as foreign manufacturers flooded the market with less expensive products.  Due to intense competition within the domestic hosiery industry, rapidly changing technology, and globalization that negatively impacted the market for American textiles, Chadbourn Inc. closed its Charlotte plant in 1978.