SPARTAN MILLS
P.O. Box 1658
Spartanburg, S.C. 29301
Tel:  (864) 574-0211
Fax: (864) 574-0291
URL:  none

This 107-year-old manufacturer is a completely vertical mill that has been privately held by the Montgomery family in Spartanburg, S. C. since its founding in 1890.  It was opened to make cotton print cloth and sheeting.  In 1902, the founder, Captain Montgomery, met an untimely death, and his son, Walter, continued the Spartan Mills tradition, including community involvement which continues today.  He was responsible for the establishment of the Textile Industrial Institute in 1911.

By 1929, Spartan Mills was Spartanburg County's largest employer. That same year, Mr. Montgomery was killed in an automobile accident, and Walter S. Montgomery, Sr. became president.  The Mills continued operations through the Depression, and under his leadership over the next 60 years, Spartan became one of America's most respected textile manufacturers. In 1936,  a plant producing print cloth was purchased and operates today as Startex Mill, which with its sister plant, Startex Finishing, produces print cloth and sheeting.

The company expanded to meet the country's needs during World War II.  In 1941, Beaumont Manufacturing Company was purchased and began operating round-the-clock 365 days a year producing heavy cotton duck cloth to keep up with military demands. Today, Beaumont has been completely renovated and houses premium open-end yarn producing machinery.  In 1945, Spartan Mills established the Cherokee Finishing plant as a small hand screen printing facility.  Today, it is a state-of-the-art printing and finishing operation and houses the first laser scanning operations for screen engraving in the U.S.
In 1958, the company purchased Spartan Technologies, a producer of nonwoven fabrics which was sold in 1997.

In the 60's, Spartan purchased the Whitney Mill,  and the John H. Montgomery plant was built, with a sister plant added in 1970. Cleveland Mills in N. C., a knit goods manufacturer, was bought in 1967.  A plant in Georgia was bought in 1968 to provide a complete range of fabric dyeing and finishing services. One year later, the company moved sales headquarters from New York to Spartanburg, centralizing operations.

Walter S. Montgomery, Jr. was named president in 1972.  Under his leadership, a modern airjet weaving facility was built in S. C. in 1980. Today, Spartan Mills has more than 5,000 employees in 13 locations in three states. It has sales offices in Spartanburg and a New York showroom. A completely vertical mill, its woven apparel business specializes in both gray and finished fabrics, primarily yarn-dyed chambrays, indigo dyed denims and many textured and novelty type weaves.  Most fabrics are 100 percent cotton.  Distribution includes a substantial amount of export to the U.K. and Europe.  Spartan also produces knitted sportswear fabrics.  The largest group within Spartan is Spartan Home Fashion, which includes its most recent acquisition, a German heat-transfer print operation, PMD Cherokee.