From Smoke Stacks to Science
Phyllis Whitley Frye: A Kannapolis Citizen
Phyllis Frye was born and raised in Kannapolis by her parents, Ray and Maguerite Whitley. Born September 9th, 1934, she has lived in Kannapolis for almost all 77 years of her life. Her parents and family members also worked in the mill and lived in close proximity to the mill in one of the mill houses originally built when J.W. Cannon founded the town.
“I’ve lived here (Kannapolis) all my life. I grew up on the street that is directly behind where the A.L. Brown football field is now. I walked to school every morning and every afternoon. The school I went to was just across what is now known as Loop Road that runs by the mill. There were no buses and no one put you in a car to take you there either; you had to walk to school (Frye, 2012).
Both my parents worked in the mill in Kannapolis. They both worked in plant one. My daddy worked Weave room number 2 and my mother worked in the sheet department. The Mill whistle blew every morning and at noon. It wasn’t really a whistle, but a fire siren that was so loud that it could be heard all over town. And if you lived just across the train tracks from the mill, it was ear curdling. The whistle sat on top of Montgomery Ward building, which was not a part of the mill, but was located just down the street.
The Mill building itself never changed. From the first day I saw it until the day it was tore down, it’s appearance never once changed. It was iconic. The day they tore the mill down, it was devastating because it was all I’d ever known…I felt like part of my past was gone. It was a long time before I was able to go downtown and see it. A lot of memories went down with that building and it was sad to see it go.” (Frye, 2012).
My grandmother, Phyllis Whitley Frye