James William Cannon founded Cannon Manufacturing Company in Kannapolis in 1887. In 1905 he purchased 600 acres in the northwestern part of Cabarrus County. His plan was to create a small village with homes and business for the employees of Cannon Manufacturing.
By January 1908, James Cannon’s company employed 840 people in the mill. His vision for a village now included hundreds of homes for his employees, and a world-class YMCA. At the time, this YMCA had the largest membership in the world. Cannon erected stores, businesses, churches, and donated money to help improve the main road from Concord to Kannapolis. In 1917, James Cannon arranged for life insurance for all his employees, apparently the first company to ever undertake such an action.
Cannon developed an unknown illness in the winter of 1921. At 6:00 pm on December 21, 1921, James Cannon was reported to be dead. It is interesting to note that his time of death coincided with the time that the afternoon whistle signaled quitting time at the mill.
Cannon Mills/wikipedia
N 35 30.ABC W 080 37.851
James W. Cannon was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in which city?
A. Kannapolis = (350)
B. Charlotte = (760)
C. Concord = (149)
D. Salisbury = (525)
