When visitors arrive at the office of America Knits in tiny Swainsboro, Ga., the first thing they see on the wall is a black-and-white photo that a company co-founder, Steve Hawkins, discovered in a local antiques store.
It depicts one of a score of textile mills that once dotted the area, along with the workers who toiled on its machines and powered the local economy. The scene reflects the heyday — and to Mr. Hawkins the potential — of making clothes in the rural South.