Joyce Harmon Garner
Joyce Harmon Garner grew up in Pacolet Mills and lived on Milliken Street. Joyce graduated from Pacolet High School in 1971. Joyce has many fond memories of her childhood in Pacolet Mills. She remembers being able to hear the juke box at the swimming pool at her house on Milliken St. She also remembers the chain gang working in the area with their striped uniforms and chains.
Joyce’s mother is Virginia Henderson Harmon. She worked at Pacolet Mills for over 25 years. She was working in the main office when she left to work for the state. She retired from the state some years later. Both Virginia and her sister, Pearl Henderson McIntyre, remember riding the Pacolet Textile Bus to work in the mill when they were just out of high school. The bus traveled throughout the area to carry people to and from work. See photo below. When the photo was made, both the sisters were still "Hendersons". Virginia still lives in Pacolet. Pearl and her family lived in Fair Haven, New York. She recently passed away in February, 2012.
Joyce’s Aunt Pearl was pleased when she was able to show her Pacolet High School Class of 1944 photo to her family which live in New York. The picture is on the Pacolet Memories Website at Class of 1944.
Joyce’s father was William Earl Harmon (July 14, 1925- July 16, 2006). He worked for Pacolet Mills for a number of years as a loom fixer. He also was a training instructor for employee classes that were held in the Girl’s Club. William obtained at least one patent, and maybe two, when he was working for Milliken. (This was a rare event.) When the Timken Bearing Company came to Gaffney, William left the mill to work there. He was the third person hired by Timken and retired from there. There is a possibility that he also received a patent while at Timken.
As a young man, William played on the Pacolet Mills Baseball Team. He remembered before the roads in Pacolet Mills were paved. We don’t notice it today but there is a considerable incline on many of the Pacolet Mills Streets. William remembered that some of the early cars would go backwards up the hills because they had more power that way.
When William Harmon and Virginia Henderson were first married they lived in the Pacolet Mills Hotel.
Joyce is married to Rick Garner who is employed by Timken. Rick’s Aunt, Thelma Brown, is in her 90’s. She can remember when she and her sister rode a horse to work in the mill. There was a stall at the mill where her horse was kept.
Joyce worked at Timken for 37 years. Now, she is going back to school to try a new career.
Joyce has given us a picture of a group of mill employees that was taken about August, 1952. An article using this photo was in the Pacolet Neigh of that month but the people were not named. Some few of these folks have been identified, including Joyce's Mom and Dad, but most have not. If you know any of the people in this picture, please let us know. (One of the women that is identified was my maternal grandmother, Mattie Brown Fowler.) See the picture at 1952 Pacolet Mills Group. This picture will open in the Adobe Reader that will allow you to zoom in and see the individuals.
This web site has been started as a public service to share the story of Pacolet.
