The mill was constructed in 1839 as the Concord Steam Cotton Factory also known as the Barringer Mill. By 1842 the mill was producing cotton yarn, shirting, and other goods. By 1850 a railroad ran west of town and the mill had 70 employees. During the aftermath of the Civil War the mill became the McDonald Cotton Mill. John Milton Odell bought the buildings in 1877 and created the Odell Manufacturing Company in 1880.[2]
The mill became the Locke Mill after reorganization from the bankrupt Odell Manufacturing Company in 1909. The mill became known as the Randolph Mill after another reorganization in 1939.[3]
^Peter R. Kaplan (June 1982). "Odell-Locke-Randolph Cotton Mill"(PDF). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 2014-08-01.