The Old Clock
When they tore down the Memorial Building sometime in the '70s, there was no definite plan as to the disposition of the old clock whose chimes were heard throughout the town for nearly 60 years. Thankfully, the clock's components—face, woodwork, vents, letter stone—and some of the bricks from the building were salvaged and stored in the mill.
Over the ensuing months, several concerned citizens, including some of the Haynes descendents, lobbied hard for Cone Mills to restore the old Haynes mansion and turn it into a museum or memorial site. Finally a compromise was reached: to build a new tower for the clock on the site of the mansion (which, by then, had been demolished). Cone paid for the new tower, said to have cost around $80,000.
Leavy (Mrs. Thurman) Scruggs has given us access to some photos belonging to her brother, J.D. Johnson. They show the clock being removed from its old home, and arriving at its new one.
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