Nestled in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, just west of downtown Winston-Salem (but still within the city) there is a state historical marker that reads:

In 1902, Pleasant Henderson Hanes established a knitting company on Stratford Road, initially producing cotton-ribbed men's underwear. He partnered with his sons P. Huber Hanes and William M. Hanes to operate the business, which encompasses a second Stratford Road mill by 1906 and a third plant completed in 1910. P.H. Hanes Knitting Company erected the first houses adjacent to its spinning mill in 1910 and supplied employees with amenities including utilities, recreational areas, and fruit and vegetable garden plots. The mill village, soon known as Hanestown, had its own graded school, police force, and volunteer fire department. The population increased following another spinning plant's completion in 1915. By 1954, the community comprised 168 residences, a store, a recreation center, a school with a large auditorium, and three churches. The industrial complex grew to approximately 550,000 square feet prior to its July 2007 closure.

Interestingly, PH Hanes and his brother JW founded the tobacco manufacturing enterprise in the 1870s, but they sold their business to the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. in 1900. The Hanes brothers new focus was in textiles, with JW manufacturing stockings and PH manufacturing underwear. In 1902, PH Hanes Knitting Co. was born. By the 1920s, the Hanes brand had become nationally-recognized.

The village of Hanestown and its residents were as tightly woven as the textiles being produced in the local mills. It was a self-sufficient community built for mill workers and their families. In the 1940s, my mother was born in Hanestown. Until her death in 2020, Mom was active in the Village of Hanestown Facebook group and regularly attended the Hanestown annual reunion. Despite the community disbanding with the closing of the Hanes plant in 2007, those who grew up in Hanestown continue to gather and reminisce about the past.

My mother had wonderful stories that she shared from her childhood in Hanestown. One of her favorite memories was how she was selected out of all the employee’s children to give PH Hanes a bouquet of roses following a Christmas pageant held in the village. She talked about the village bully (who had bushy red hair and a not-so-pleasant personality of spreading negative gossip) and the nickname the other kids gave him. She shared how they were one of the first to have a television in the village, and how everyone would gather at their home to watch it. She even talked about trading houses with her best friend’s family when their own family outgrew their mill house. The original family house on the corner of Thurston remains in the village but has sat abandoned for over a decade. Their last house on Townley was demolished and what appears to be a cell tower now occupies the lot.

Mom was baptized and married in Hanes church. Although the church relocated several years ago, the brick structure still stands today and is the location of the reunion potluck. Many small local businesses now fill the mill houses, from marketing firms and boutiques to salons and nonprofits. The city also invested in preserving the original mill site by building Hanestowne Village, a high-profile shopping complex which includes retail stores, restaurants, banks, and a fitness center.

If you find yourself in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, consider visiting historic Hanestown. If you enter 411 Olive Street into your GPS, you will arrive at Hanestown Park. It is a beautiful, shaded area of Hanestown with a large picnic area. There are plenty of parking spaces around the park if you want to walk around Hanestown to check out the shops in the mill houses. Or, head to 700 S Stratford Rd to park at Hanestowne Village. There are ample charging stations for EVs there too!

HanesBrands Inc. continues to thrive as a textile company now headquartered in downtown Winston-Salem. Brands include Hanes, Playtex, Bali, L’eggs, Just My Size, Barely There, Wonderbra, Maidenform, and the recently sold Champion.

I was not compensated for this post, and it contains no affiliate links. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way. All photos found online unless property of Eclectic Jenn. Historic information collected via family, the Village of Hanestown, and the City of Winston-Salem.