Earle-Chesterfield Mill Hatchery
The Earle-Chesterfield Mill Company Hatchery was built circa 1955 by
the Earle family as an addition to the existing feed and flour mill.
They chose to add on the made-up Chesterfield name to make the business
sound more bourgeois.
In a time when the poultry business was booming at a national level, the Hatchery spearheaded the industry in western North Carolina. The original purpose was to grow chickens, but the Earles went on to distribute to growers on various farms in North and South Carolina. The Earles would supply the chickens and the feed and then take them to market.
The poultry corporation was the culmination of a very successful business enterprise that had very simple beginnings. Fortunately, when the market became flooded in the South and the profit margin declined in the late 1960s, the Earles had the foresight to get out of the business. Mr. Earle was known as a fair and generous employer and, as such, his workers never unionized; Earle even helped them all find jobs when the Hatchery closed.
In a time when the poultry business was booming at a national level, the Hatchery spearheaded the industry in western North Carolina. The original purpose was to grow chickens, but the Earles went on to distribute to growers on various farms in North and South Carolina. The Earles would supply the chickens and the feed and then take them to market.
The poultry corporation was the culmination of a very successful business enterprise that had very simple beginnings. Fortunately, when the market became flooded in the South and the profit margin declined in the late 1960s, the Earles had the foresight to get out of the business. Mr. Earle was known as a fair and generous employer and, as such, his workers never unionized; Earle even helped them all find jobs when the Hatchery closed.
Chesterfield Mill and Chicken Hill circa 1945
Hatchery and Chesterfield Mill - December 2010
