Lindale Star Rising

Birth, Death, Restoration of a Local Tradition

Dec 24, 2022

Lindale Star between the Stacks in a previous year. The Star Crew and Restore Lindale are looking for a safer, more permanent home. *Image from the Star Crew and Restore Lindale Inc.*

One week before Christmas in 1933, Captain H. P. Meikleham ordered his mill workers to build a star. The Captain was the mill agent from 1899 until 1937 and he was a legendary cotton mill manager. He instructed his operatives to construct a twelve-foot tin star. They encrusted it with light bulbs. The star crew hoisted the three-hundred-pound ornament up between the two smokestacks. The star hung two hundred and fifty feet above Pepperell Mills for the holidays. That tradition continued for 90 years until 2022.

Another star crew in Lindale, long after the mill closed has kept the tradition alive. Volunteers like Tim Reynolds, in cooperation with Restore Lindale Inc. and the current mill owners, attempt to keep the light burning. This year they declared the stacks unsafe. The mill smoke stacks are 127 years old. The decaying brick towers have not had comprehensive maintenance since 1986. In 2013, the crew crafted a new aluminum star, but safety has always been top of mind. Hanging the star has become too dangerous.

Lindale’s Massachusetts Cotton Mill opened in 1896 and grew into one of the largest mills in Georgia. At one time it produced 15 percent of Georgia textiles. In 1903, it was one of the largest employers in the state. Three years after the Mills opened, a young Meikleham began his work as mill manager.

The Captain started many other Christmas traditions in Lindale. Were his motives to create a community in the mill village? He used to say that this was, “Our Christmas.” Some may have been suspicious of the boss as another way of controlling his mill workers.

The Captain

Who was H.P. Meikleham? Upon his retirement in 1937, local attorney, Barry Wright, spoke about the man in a Lindale Bible Class:

“Captain Meikleham came here nearly forty years ago. For that whole time, without interruption or even ceasing, he has devoted his great mind and heart to upholding this community; to making it a better place to live in and work in; to increasing the comforts and happiness, the welfare and security of the people that he led.”

Wright described what late nineteenth-century Lindale looked like:

“When he came here he found a new, ugly place, with bare, unfinished grounds, with little grass, flowers or shrubbery, and with hardly a tree. He found a small mill, unsuccessful almost to failure, and the people who worked here confronted by uncertainty.

The attorney attributed Lindale and the Mill's growth to the man he was honoring:

"He (Meihleham) was still in his twenties, with the body and energies of an athlete, and he gave everything that he had to building, changing and improving, not only the mill which was a source of livelihood, but the houses, the village, and the lives of the people.

Never during this nearly forty years has growth or improvements ceased; never did his keen mind fail to keep abreast of modern progress…never did his great heart cease to interest itself in everything for the improvement of the mental, moral, and physical well being of the people that he led.” (Barry Wright, Jr. Papers)

The Captain was famous for his management skills. Oscar Elsas, owner of Fulton Bag and Cotton Company relied on Meikleham’s skills. When Elsas' mill workers went on strike in 1914, Meiklehem provided weavers. He was so involved, he was part of the government investigation into Fulton Bag. A commission came to Atlanta. They forced the Captain to testify about Elsas’ mill conditions and his own.

Paternalism is an industrial historical term describing how mill owners treated their employees. H.P. Meiklehem is a case study in this leadership style in the textile mill era. The Massachusetts Mills, later named Pepperell Mills, provided low-cost housing, healthcare, education, and even recreation to placate the workforce. On the dark side, paternalism employed child laborers.

Eight-year-old Norman Hall was photographed in 1914 by Lewis Hine to raise awareness of child labor in textile mills.

This dangerous practice was an extension of farm practices carried over into the mill community. Entire families worked in the mills and children as young as eight. In 1913, a child labor activist brought his camera to Lindale and took pictures of the children. These images landed in Congress and the process to end child labor began. Labor issues were always confronting this mill boss. As a mill “daddy,” it may have motivated Meikleham to place the Mill Star for more than one reason.

The same year the star rose over the mills, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). This New Deal plan was to force prosperous industries to close one week out of the month. This gave the suffering mills a chance to catch up. As a result, Lindale shut down and cut employee wages. Things got tight for the Lindale employees, especially at Christmas. The Captain may have had the star placed to foster community and goodwill. It worked. Loyalty was important to Lindale workers.

In 1934, Southern textile workers revolted against mill owners in the famous “Uprising of ‘34.” Lindale did not revolt. Instead, operatives wanted protection from the Federal government. Management saved them from government overreach during the Great Depression. In 1935, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the NIRA. The Mill Star encouraged workers during the difficult Depression Years. (See more in my book, Lost Towns of North Georgia and Lost Mill Towns of North Georgia)

The Forever Star

The star has raised hopes for ninety years over the little town of Lindale. When the final whistle blew in 2001, the mill began the dismantling process. Yet, the star still appeared each Christmas. First the original 1933 star, then the refurbished 2013 lit tin star. Thanks to volunteers who keep history alive in this mill town.

We can help. The Star Crew and the Restore Lindale Inc group want to place the star in a permanent location. Follow them on Facebook to find out if you can support this symbol of Christmas hope. Help keep this piece of Georgia History from becoming another lost tradition