Chatham Manufacturing

Chatham Manufacturing Excellence in wool since 1877.

Our current production looks a lot like production always has. We work with a mill that uses the same vertical process a...
06/21/2026

Our current production looks a lot like production always has. We work with a mill that uses the same vertical process as Chatham did for 150 years. Staring with clean, undyed wool and ending with the best wool fabric anywhere.

Walter Couch operating a tie-in machine sometime in the 1940s at the Elkin mill.
06/20/2026

Walter Couch operating a tie-in machine sometime in the 1940s at the Elkin mill.

On of the very first Chatham blankets, made in the 1870s, was a napped 100% wool fabric. It was mostly undyed wool, with...
06/19/2026

On of the very first Chatham blankets, made in the 1870s, was a napped 100% wool fabric. It was mostly undyed wool, with indigo dyed stripes. We have recreated it

The second mill build for Chatham was build on the banks of the Yadkin river in 1893. The site was prone to flooding, so...
06/10/2026

The second mill build for Chatham was build on the banks of the Yadkin river in 1893. The site was prone to flooding, so the company built its third, much larger mill complex up the hill. The 1893 mill survived as part of the complex until 1943 when it burned down.

Dyeing wool in large pressure vessels at the Chatham mill in Elkin around 1940.
06/09/2026

Dyeing wool in large pressure vessels at the Chatham mill in Elkin around 1940.

I get questions about who runs Chatham, and is it still in business, still making wool blankets. Yes. I'm Alex Chatham. ...
06/06/2026

I get questions about who runs Chatham, and is it still in business, still making wool blankets. Yes. I'm Alex Chatham. I am a designer, and wool purveyor living in Vermont. I felt compelled to revive Chatham a few years ago when I became interested in my family's history and the epic story of Chatham Manufacturing. In order to bring it back, I started working with a woolen mill here in New England. Without being able to afford starting the Chatham mill back up again in Elkin, it was the only and best choice, being committed to making things in the US. My ambition is not to bring Chatham back as a commodity textile maker, but rather to make the very best American wool products possible. I have only launched a few products so far because the business is bootstrapped but there are more on the way!

Alexander Chatham, the original founder of Chatham. He started Elkin Valley Woolen Mill after the civil war with his bro...
06/04/2026

Alexander Chatham, the original founder of Chatham. He started Elkin Valley Woolen Mill after the civil war with his brother in law by adding wool carding machinery to the water powered grist mill that they operated together. The Gwyn family sold their interest to Chatham and he build a bigger more modern (for the time) mill on the Yadkin River.

The Chatham Blankteteers men's basketball team in the 1930s.
06/03/2026

The Chatham Blankteteers men's basketball team in the 1930s.

Packing and folding blankets at Chatham in the late 1940s. This was the heyday of Chatham when it was the largest wool b...
06/02/2026

Packing and folding blankets at Chatham in the late 1940s. This was the heyday of Chatham when it was the largest wool blanket manufacturer in the world!

Thurmond Chatham walking the floor of the mill sometime late in the 1940s and conferring with a couple of managers. The ...
06/02/2026

Thurmond Chatham walking the floor of the mill sometime late in the 1940s and conferring with a couple of managers. The tall skinny man could be his son, Dick.

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Elkin, NC
28621

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