The Loray Mill is the most historically significant building in Gastonia — a massive red-brick textile mill built in 1902 that at its peak was one of the largest cotton mills in the American South, employing thousands of workers. The mill and its associated worker village occupied a substantial corner of the city's west side. The building has been converted into apartments in recent years, and its sheer scale — six stories of brick with a distinctive water tower — still dominates the surrounding neighborhood.
The mill's notoriety comes from the 1929 Loray Mill Strike, a bitter labor dispute that became a flashpoint of the 1920s labor movement. Workers organized by the National Textile Workers Union struck for better pay and conditions in a confrontation that turned violent and ended in national headlines. The strike did not succeed, but it left a permanent mark on Gastonia's labor history and was the subject of several novels and folk songs of the era.