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An aerial photo of the Linden Mill, later the Carolina Asbestos Company, with smokestack, in downtown Davidson. Main Street and Davidson College Presbyterian Church are at the bottom. The photo is probably from the 1950s or 1960s.
Here's a familiar story in the Charlotte region: An old brick textile mill is turned into something hip — a brewery, apartments or a food hall. It happens all the time, but attempts to redevelop a 130-year-old cotton mill in downtown Davidson have failed. The problem is cancer-causing asbestos. It's buried on the site, and it's been an environmental hazard to the historically Black neighborhood that surrounds the mill.