The following is taken from the application for the National Registry of Historic Places. Apologies for the rough translation from the old PDF!
Narrative Physical Description
The four industrial buildings of the Indera Mills complex are situated at the southwestern comer of Wachovia Street and South Marshall Street. The original site is bounded by Wachovia Street to the north, and South Marshall Street to the east. Maple Street to the south and Branch Street (now closed) on the west. The mill complex includes a circa 1904, two-story, gable roof building at the comer of Wachovia and South Marshall Streets; a small, one-story boiler room building (circa 1904) west of this main building; and at the southwest comer of the site two flat-roof buildings built between 1907 and 1912 with their long sides contiguous. The nominated parcel slopes to the south and west towards a creek known as Tar Branch.
The Indera Mills complex, which once housed the manufacture of a variety of knit garments, was part of a small industrial area that developed from around 1880 to around 1915. This industrial center was located between the towns of Salem to the south and Winston to the north. Most of the enterprises in this vicinity were associated with the Fnes family of Salem and Francis H. (Colonel) Fries in particular. Across South Marshall Street from Indera Mills (originally known as Maline Mills) was the Fnes Manufacturing and Power Company Ice Factory, which has been removed. Further east are the surviving buildings of two other Fries family enterprises: the Wachovia Flouring Mill and the Arista Cotton Mill. Located to the northeast, diagonally across the intersection of Wachovia and South Marshall Streets, is the flat-iron shaped building which once housed the Fries Manufacturing and Power Company transformer station.
1. Main Building also known as Building A (circa 1904 with 1916 addition)
The brick buildings of the Indera Mills complex are closely grouped, with the main building (circa 1904) being prominently located at the comer of Wachovia and South Marshall Streets. The cutaway northeastern comer of the main building addresses the intersection of the two streets, as well as the comer entrance of the transformer station situated diagonally across South Marshall Street. A doorway in the northeastern corner of the building originally served as the public entrance but was moved to the north elevation during 1916 renovations. Aside from the cutaway comer, the only other deviation from the building’s simple rectangular form is an attached brick tower centered on the west elevation of the original (northern) section of the building. This tower houses restrooms and originally held an 11,000-gallon, wooden water tank on its top [see Exhibit 1].’
In 1916, a back addition was made to the south end of the main building, which replicates the original structure so well that careful observation is required to detect the junction of the original building with the seven-bay. The addition, designed by Northup and O’Brien Architects, has the same segmental arch window heads, exposed rafter ends, and brick walls as the original main building. Aside from the removal of the public entrance from the northeast comer, other changes indicated on the 1916 plans include modifications to the mill offices on the upper story of the original al portion of the train building [see Exhibit 6].
The brick walls of the two-story main building and its 1916 addition are constructed in five-to-one common bond. The bricks range in color from deep red to dark brown, and the mortar joints exhibit white lining. The southern end of the building has a brick foundation but is sheathed in corrugated metal. This particular metal sheathing is not original. but the 1916 drawings do indicate that this end of the building was to be “sheet iron covered.” While the exact purpose of this design decision is not known, one hypothesis is that the owner, Maline Mills, intended to add to the southem end of the building again at some future date. The roof of the building is a very low-pitched gable currently covered with a built-up roof. Similarly, the 1916 renovation drawings specify a “slag” roof.
The most noticeable ornamentation on this utilitarian building is found at the eaves. The exposed rafter ends on all sides of the building are shaped into a decorative curve. The soffit under the deep eaves is sheathed in bead board.
The fenestration of the building consists of tall windows on the upper floor and shorter windows on the lower floor, indicating the use of the upper floor as the main level. All of the windows have segmental arch heads. The sills of the lower windows on the original (northern) section of the main building are granite, while the lower window sills on the 1916 addition are brick. All of the sills of the upper windows are wood. Many of the windows on the lower level are believed to be the originals. They are eight-over-eight light double-hung sashes. The windows in the 1916 addition are the same style but are eight-over-twelve lights due to the additional space made available by the drop in grade at the southern end of the building. The upper windows have been replaced with modem sashes that have full-width horizontal lights rather than the twelve-over-sixteen double-hung sashes visible in a circa 1905 photograph [Exhibit 1].
The doors of the main building are of three types. First is the modem unpaneled wood door at the public entrance on the north elevation. The public entrance was moved from its original location at the northeast comer to the north elevation during the 1916 renovations. The architectural plans dating from that year specify a pair of double doors underneath an existing window in this bay. Presently, however, the bottom portion of this window is obscured by a large, stuccoed surround, dating from the 1950s, that encases a single door. A second style of door is found near the southern end of the original building section on the west elevation. These double doors each have two large panels filled with diagonally placed bead board. Finally, three other sets of double doors provide access into the lower level of the building: at the south end, at the covered walkway attached to the southern end of the west elevation, and under a small shed roof next to the tower on the west elevation. These doors all have six raised panels per door. The 1916 renovation plans indicate that the doors on the south end of the building were part of the original south wall and were moved when the building was extended. All of the double doors, with the exception of those at the doorway near the tower on the west elevation, follow the segmental arch door heads.
Like the exterior, the interior of the main mill building is utilitarian. On the lower level, the flooring in the original section is concrete except for the northern end which is red and black tile. The tile area appears to have been a lower-level office. The floor level in the 1916 addition is about two feet lower than the original section. Accessed by a ramp, the addition is also differentiated by its use of wood flooring specified as “maple” in the 1916 plans. Wood columns, eight inches in diameter and placed on eight-foot centers, support the fifteen-inch-deep joists. Between the joists, bead board covers the ten-foot-high ceiling. This level of the building was used for packing, inspecting, and yam storage.
Upstairs, the northern end of the building contained the company offices. The partitions and other fixtures, probably dating from the early 1950s, are currently being removed. Wheels and shafts attached to the ceiling joists indicate the use of the area near the office for the knitting process. The knitting machines were driven by a series of belts, shafts, and pulleys operated by an electric motor mounted to the ceiling joists. The sewing machines once located in the southern end of the second floor of the main building were also electric.
In addition to the late twentieth-century upper windows and main entrance door surround, other changes to the building include the placement of green cormgated fiberglass over many of the windows and the removal of the water tank from the tower, which was not in use by the 1920s. The major alteration in the interior of the building is the addition of a concrete block freight elevator shaft in the center of the building. Though the present elevator was installed in the early 1970s, an elevator existed in this area from at least 1917.
2. Boiler Room also known as Building D (circa 1904)
The smallest building in the Indera Mills complex is the Boiler Room. This building appears with the original section of the main building on the 1907 Sanbom Fire Insurance Map, and it can be assumed that these two buildings, along with a tiny, triangular oil house (removed before 1917), were the original buildings built by Maline Mills. The building’s roofline, which steps down to the west creating three tiers, is omamented by an elaborate corbeled cornice. The westernmost tier or section of the building seems to have been reworked or added at a later date because the mortar joints on the north elevation do not properly align. In contrast, the brickwork on the south elevation is not flush with the eastern portion of the building. All of the mortar joints on the building, however, exhibit white lining.
The easternmost section of the building is high enough to allow a narrow second story loft for storage. Doors on the south and north elevations allow entrance to this loft from the exterior. The main entrance to the building is on the west facade via a set of double doors. Each door has a light in the upper portion and five raised panels beneath. The doors are topped by a segmental arch transom with three lights. These doors, along with the entire west facade, are sheltered by a shed roof with exposed rafter ends. Other building fenestration includes two small rectangular windows on the south facade and a rectangular opening into the area above the boiler on the west elevation.
The boiler itself is located in the western section of the building. The circular cast iron front has two doors which open to reveal a plate with a series of holes, each of which are approximately three inches in diameter. Beneath the circular front are two iron plates, each having a segmental-arched door to allow the coal to be placed under the boiler. The circular front has “Maline Mills Winston-Salem, NC” cast into it along with “Casey-Hedges Mfg Co. Chattanooga, Tenn.” and the Casey-Hedges insignia. Former company president Frank Willingham recalls that once a year, someone had to climb inside the boiler to scrape off the scale buildup on its interior.'”
The concrete floor of the Boiler Room is sunken in front of the boiler, and a trench in the floor near the entrance is covered by a series of iron plates. An engine in front of the boiler operated a series of metal and wood chutes through which the coal was delivered from the pit outside. A network of pipes extends from the boiler to deliver the steam to the mill buildings.
A brick floor to the east of the boiler, along with disheveled brickwork on the boiler wall and on the south wall of the building, indicate that a second boiler was once located beside the existing boiler. Supporting this are two boilers indicated on the Sanbom Fire Insurance maps and the remembrances of Mr. Willingham. According to Mr. Willingham, the second boiler was not in use by World War II and was removed to make way for a steam engine and generator that could supply emergency power to the mill. Other changes to the building include the addition of an I-beam frame that penetrates the boiler wall and seems to support the massive boiler.
Between the Boiler Room building and the concrete ramp alongside the Main Building to the east is the coal pit. This large pit extends along half of the eastern exterior wall of the Boiler Room building and is partially sheltered by a standing seam metal shed roof attached to the Boiler Room wall. The segmental arch opening near the bottom of the pit once allowed access to the coal from the interior of the Boiler Room but has been closed with boards to facilitate die installation of the mechanical coal chutes. Coal was placed into the pit directly from railroad cars stopped on a small bridge (now removed) over the eastern end of the pit. Except for the partial shed roof, the pit is open to the weather at its top, though it is completely enclosed on the sides by the eastern wall of the Boiler Room, the western foundation wall of the concrete ramp running alongside the main building, and two concrete block walls: one at the northern and one at the southern end of the pit.
3. Bleach House, also known as Building B (circa 1907 – 1912)
The last two buildings of the mill complex were built with their long sides abutting. The northern building is referred to both as the Bleach House and as Building B. The southern building is known only as Building C. Neither of these buildings appear on the 1907 Sanbom Fire Insurance Map, yet they both appear on the 1912 edition. Thus, it is difficult to say with certainty which of the buildings was constructed first. It seems reasonable to assume that the Bleach House is the oldest, however, since it is closest to the main building.
The eastern facades, of the Bleach House and Building C, were so carefully blended that one must look closely to find the joint between them. The cornices of the east elevations are fairly elaborate, having several rows of corbeled brick that create an entablature capped by flat concrete coping. Beneath the cornice is a shed roof supported by posts that shelter the ramped, wooden loading dock. The 1917 Sanbom Map indicates that this dock and the railroad spur running along its edge once extended nearly to the end of Building C at the southern edge of the property.
The portion of the eastern elevation belonging to the Bleach House has a single door near the northern corner leading from the dock to a loft space inside. The three windows on the east elevation of the Bleach House have been filled in, and a metal addition is located at the building’s northeastern comer.
The Bleach House is constructed in a one to four common bond with lined mortar joints. The entablature of the eastern elevation wraps around the northeastern corner of the building onto the north elevation. Here, the eastern section of the building is about four feet taller than the portion of the building immediately adjacent, allowing clerestory light into the loft area. West of this clerestory, the building height decreases uniformly. This change is addressed by the utilization of three window heights which follow the change in building height along the north elevation. All of the windows have segmental arch heads and heavy huge straps on their right sides. Two sets of double doors give access to the Bleach House on its north elevation. The first is located about midway down its length. These flat-headed doors are protected by a standing seam metal shed roof supported by an iron frame. The second set of doors is located nearer the western end of the building. These doors have a segmental arch head and six panels each. They are covered by screen doors which kept insects out of the cafeteria that was located in this area during the 1940s.
The Bleach House, constructed by Maline Mills, was not in use after the closure of that company in the 1930s. During World War II, however, wages were frozen, forcing the company to find other ways of maintaining a steady workforce. Indera Mills removed the bleach vats and installed two bowling alleys and pool tables, creating a recreation room for the employees and a cafeteria that served low price lunches. These textures have since been removed.
4. Building C (circa 1907-1912)
The detailing of Building C is almost identical to the Bleach House, the major difference being the use of five-to-one American bond. Another important difference between the buildings is that Building C has two levels made possible by the decrease in grade at the southern end of the site. The height of Building C decreases uniformly from the east facade to the west. This change in height is evidenced by the decreasing heights of the upper-story windows on the south elevation. All of the windows have segmental arch heads, and the window sashes have been replaced by late twentieth-century units and/or covered with green corrugated fiberglass. Similar to the Bleach House, all of the windows have hinge straps to one side.
On the eastern elevation, three of the seven windows have been reframed for use as doors that led into a now-removed metal building addition. A set of double doors leads into the upper floor of Building C, which was used as the shipping room. The lower floor of the building provided storage. Storage was much in demand since Indera’s primary product; heavy knitted slips, were marketed as a fall and winter item. Yarn was also stored in this space.
Conclusion
The removal of the single and duplex housing around the mill has altered the character of the site, but the new townhouses to the south of the mill complex do recreate the proximity of residential units. The duplex houses that once existed west of the main building along Wachovia Street were bought by Indera Mills during the 1930s and 1940s and removed to provide additional employee parking. The residential units to the south were removed around the same period to allow space for businesses such as B&G Pie Company on the site currently occupied by the townhouses. More recent changes to the complex include the removal of a series of corrugated metal buildings to the east of Building C. Viewed as a whole, the changes that have occurred to the buildings, as well as the site, are relatively minor. Furthermore, since Indera Mills operated the complex until 1998, many of the changes to the buildings are part of the evolutionary process that allowed the buildings to provide adequate industrial space for so many years. Overall, the utilitarian, industrial character of the complex has been remarkably well preserved in comparison to Hanes’ Shamrock Mills building (now the Sawtooth Center for Visual Arts) and the Arista Mills complex, which has been rehabilitated for use as the Brookstown Inn, Darryl’s Restaurant, and office and retail space. Both the Shamrock Mills and Arista Mills have received significant alterations, especially on the interior, to make them viable in their new uses.