about this project

Schoolfield Village as a Dan River Fabric

Schoolfield began as an independent village of residents, churches, schools, recreation centers, and work in 1903. Built for, and governed by, a textile company for the first generations of its life, this community developed with a single purpose: to serve an up-and-coming textile company in Danville, a company that would become known as Dan River Mills. From 1882 until 2006, Dan River employed thousands of workers across Danville and the nation and sold textiles for home and apparel across the world. This online exhibit explores the complex history of Dan River’s Mill village of Schoolfield, first developed in 1903, and is part of a larger physical exhibit that is planned for display in the forthcoming revitalization of buildings within Schoolfield. Stay tuned for the in-person exhibit in renovated Schoolfield exhibit and in the meantime, welcome to this digital companion piece! Learn more about this history of Schoofield and Dan River on this site and explore the people and places that made history and made up the threads of a Dan River fabric.

This online exhibit and research was funded in part by Virginia Humanities. Most narrative offered here is from Dr. Ina Dixon, who wrote her dissertation on the development of Schoolfield Village and was awarded a Public Humanities Fellowship to conduct research and create a public exhibit dedicated to the legacy of the former textile village and its governing company, Dan River Mills. Architectural descriptions are largely drawn from the Schoolfield Historic District nomination and survey and were originally written by Hill Studio’s Katherine Gutshall, Alison Blanton, and Kate Kronau. This online exhibit is also complemented by a City of Danville GIS tour of Schoolfield created by Brady Walker and Renee Burton.