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During a trip to visit Ted's family in Charleson, SC, we were driving around the historic district and happaned to spot a very familiar building design and were amazed to find out Chareston did indeed have a textile mill at one time.  In 1902 it was sold to the American Cigar Co., which merged with the American Tobacco Co. in 1917 until the 1970's.

Today, it's undergoing renovations to become condos, retail space and business offices by The Simpson Organization, well known for renovating historic buildings throughout the Southeast.

We returned in January 2008 to do a photo shoot of the mill but the weather wasn't on our side. This is the front exterior, and you can see the tower in the front. The smoother sections to either side of the tower were added at a later time and not part of the original building.

Many thanks to Scott McKenna, Julie Jenson, and the kinds folks at The Simpson Organization for welcoming us into the mill and allowing us to photograph it. Visit their website to see even more of the work they're doing as the project progresses.
Again, a front view of the tower. One of the major reasons this mill is in such excellent shape is that it has been occupied during most of its existence. Scott McKenna, the Project Manager, told us that the cooking school, Johnson and Wales University, was located here for a number of years and did much renovating of their own, including removal of much of the asbestos insulation.
This is a picture of the finished model. You can see here that the front and the tower will be restored to its original appearance. Plans include a pool, parking garage, a pet walk and health club for the residents.

Smokestacks are probably my guilty pleasure when looking for mills. This one is located in back of the sales office. If I remember correctly, the sales office was originally the boiler room.

The Cigar Factory is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The first interior item we came across when we entered the tower was one of the mill's original doors.