The GATEWAY: a history worth preserving.
The textile industry is inseparable from Greensboro’s history. Along with furniture and tobacco, textiles fueled the city’s growth from small town to one of the South’s industrial and business leaders.
While a number of the structures from textiles’ golden era remain, too many, sadly, have fallen to development or are unsalvageable. The GATEWAY is unique, its structural integrity and character essentially unchanged from when it was opened in 1919. It’s a history worth preserving..
1897
A Tennessean named CC Hudson arrives in Greensboro to make his mark in the southern capital of textile manufacturing.
1904
Hudson forms the Hudson Overall Company above Coe Brothers Grocery on South Elm Street.
1919
Hudson Overalls moves into the new Blue Bell factory at the corner of South Elm and Lee Streets.
1943
Blue Bell acquires Wrangler Jeans and launches an era of international growth.
1986
Blue Bell merges with VF Corporation. The original factory becomes multi-use commercial space called The Old Greensborough Gateway Center.
2016
Andy Zimmerman buys The Old Greensborough Gateway Center and started renovations to become The Gateway Building.