CANTON STORY LINE
Opening   Railroad Line   Canton Cotton Mill   Busy Downtown   Growth and change

Now connected to major markets through the railroad, Canton could bloom. The largest growth industries in the late 19th Century would be Cherokee County's cotton and marble industries, and to a lesser extent, the small but thriving tobacco industry in the Salacoa Valley. The Canton Cotton Mill emerged out of this industrial growth and quickly became the county's largest employer. Canton's population grew and this growth resulted in a new commercialization and sophistication that accompanies their worldly exposure. Asaph Perry personified these emerging trends. He represented a new breed of rural southerner; one whose travels broaden his taste and expanded his interests.

NEXT: Ethel story line

Extending the Story - The Effects of Industrialization on Southern Society