The Historic Jefferson Mill in Crawford, a 9.79-acre property with an 88,000-square-foot building that has been converted over the years for various uses, is up for sale at $1.6 million, with potential to become an entertainment hub.
Jefferson Mill in Crawford is full of local history, and Gary Stacy hopes to keep it that way.
The building was built with brick made in Smithonia and was originally powered by a hydroelectric plant built at Watson Mill, giving it deep Oglethorpe County roots.
After spending more than 25 years as a rope and twine factory, the building is for sale.
“I really want somebody that loves the mill,” he said.
The 9.79-acre property is on North Street, about three-quarters of a mile from Highway 78. It went on the market earlier this month and is listed at $1.6 million.
The building opened in 1898 as a one-story cotton mill and began operating in 1912. As it has cycled through its many purposes, the building has physically expanded in all directions.
A second floor was added in the 1950s, and a 10,000-square-foot basement was dug out in the 1960s. The property also includes a small one-story office building, the ruins of a cotton gin and a railroad bed.
The space held a variety of businesses after its initial run as a cotton plant, from sewing mills to offices to a waterbed factory.
Gary Stacy, the current owner, purchased it from the waterbed factory and used it to streamline his business, Aiken Manufacturing, which produced rope and twine for construction purposes and macramé.
Stacy started and grew his business in the area, working in Bogart, Carrollton and Maxeys. With his grandfather and father having worked in cotton mills, Stacy and his brother, Robert, were happy to take over the old cotton mill in Crawford when it became available.
“We grew up in the industry, we love cotton mills,” he said. “We grew up as kids playing around them.”
After selling the business at the end of the summer to Orion Cordage, a manufacturing company in Winslow, Maine, Stacy no longer needs the building, which is structurally sound, but one section of the roof is collapsing and will require replacement by the new owners, Stacy said.
Stacy and his brother have been cleaning out and preparing the space for sale, and will determine their next course of action once they know the future of the property.
Melisa McCue, the listing and hosting agent for the building, said the 88,000-square-foot space could provide an opportunity to create a mini-Wire Park, a 225,000-square-foot mixed-use development in Watkinsville.
It was converted from a wire manufacturing plant in 2022 and contains restaurants, retail and commercial spaces, offices, a library and an indoor baseball training facility.
“I think that that's what the community would love to see is to have some more options for entertainment,” McCue said.
Stacy agreed the property could host a mixed-use development with apartments, offices and a possible gun range in the basement.
He said he’d also like if it was used as another factory, or a space for the county to relocate its offices. His main priority is that it remains standing, and would refuse to sell to someone planning to clear the lot and build something else.
“If someone wanted to buy it, I would just, I would want to know, ‘you're not going to tear it down, are you?’” he said.