one of the oldest in the south?

Just where the early history of the Charlottesville Woolen Mills begins is difficult to determine. It is indeed possible that it is one of the oldest wool manufacturing concerns in the South. As early as 1820, several individuals in Albemarle County had carding machines. A certain William D. Meriwether was operating a saw mill and three carding machines on Moore's Creek. One of these cards processed about 1000 pounds of cotton each year; the other two handled some 5000 pounds of wool. No doubt power was supplied by the Creek, but the exact site of Meriwether's small undertaking is not known. For that reason it cannot be definitely identified as the ancestor of the present mill.
Nevertheless, the probability that this mill of 1820 was the "original" Charlottesville Woolen Mills is increased when one considers facts ascertainable for a period only a little later. --Harry Poindexter