NC Made: Mayo Mills' family has been making socks for generations in North Carolina
TARBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Mayo family roots run deep.
"My family, we farmed since before the American Revolution. And to be able to farm the same land that our grandfathers, our great grandfathers did, is truly remarkable," said Tate Mayo.
A fourth generation farmer, Tate grows cotton on the family's land in front of his childhood home. That cotton is then used to make socks in their family owned mill. It's a tradition that started in 1932.
"We really want to build up what we have today to what it once was. We once had over 400 employees at our knitting mill, and we're at about 30 people now. But through what we do every day, we're really hoping to build that back up to be something that the next generations can carry on and to be proud of," Tate said.
Tate is the oldest of his three siblings now in charge of Mayo Mills. And they recognize the changes in the manufacturing industry.
"When things started to go overseas, we saw a fluctuation, a downturn, if you will. And what we're trying to do is bring that back to America," said Grace Mayo.
The cotton is grown and harvested on the family farm then sent to western North Carolina to be turned into yarn and then it comes back to Mayo Mill to create the finished product.
"It's incredibly hard but it's very rewarding. Being able to take that cotton and put it into a sock, there are a lot of moving parts. There are a lot of hands that go into making our socks and we're very proud of that. We want to grow the industry here and keep people employed. We want to bring more jobs back to North Carolina and back to manufacturing in general," Grace said.
From start to finish, every step leading you back to North Carolina creating a perfect match bringing their old Mayo family traditions into a new era.
"When you go to a store and you buy a product you don't always think about, hey, I know who did this, where it was done. You're just looking at a price tag. But when you're buying our product, you know that, hey, those folks did every last step of the process, and they did it right here in our state," Tate said.
If you're looking to buy a pair of socks from Mayo Mills, you can find them in small boutiques like Deco in downtown Raleigh or visit their website.
