Milliken & Co.

In business since 1865, Milliken & Co. is arguably the most successful U.S. textile company of all time. This research campus creates products for 40 plants all over the world. Though you can’t tour the facilities, Milliken’s world-class arboretum is open to the public. Here you can wander 600 acres with 15 decorative fountains, six ponds, and 500 species of trees and shrubs , many rare to South Carolina. Bring along some breadcrumbs for the ducks and geese that gather at the main pond.

Privately-held Milliken & Co. employs more than 7,000 people around the globe, and 1,000 at this sprawling corporate headquarters, full of low-slung modernist office buildings. The company moved to this location in 1958—a former peach orchard—where its creative CEO, Roger Milliken (1915-2010), oversaw six decades of innovation. Today Milliken & Co. holds 5,000 patents worldwide and employs more than 100 PhDs.

This campus, with a high-tech Innovation Center at its heart—creates products for its plants all over the world. In recent years, Milliken has moved from being a manufacturer of yarn and cloth to a cutting-edge producer of chemical products, floor coverings and fabrics for the military.

This magnificent arboretum is a manifestation of the company’s intense attention to detail and quality. Each rock, tree and stream has been placed to create a vista that is not to be missed—especially in the spring and fall.