Remerton, GA - September 12, 2012

The Strickland Cotton Mill, as known as the Remerton Mill, is the reason the city of Remerton was founded more than 100 years ago. But it has been closed for the better part of a decade and now the city says it is time to go.

"The City of Remerton would have never been founded if it had not been for the founding of the mill," said Celine Gladwin, a Valdosta architect.

Gladwin has been leading a campaign to save the mill since the demolition request came up in June. Gladwin says it would be a shame to lose the last surviving textile mill in South Georgia.

"People lived there, they played there, they worshiped in the neighborhood there. And erasing that is erasing the memories of the community," Gladwin said.

Today the Mill is in bad shape. It is over grown with weeds, it's walls and floors are crumbling.

The owner cannot afford to renovate it and the city cannot afford to take it. So, Monday the Remerton City Council voted to tear it down.

Only the smoke stack will remain and a memorial park will be build in the mill's honor. Some local residents we talked to like the idea.

"You want to preserve the historic landmarks here in Valdosta but a park would be really nice because it would give people a place to take walks and walk their dogs," said Ashley Ferguson, local resident.

The agreement says the demolition will have to wait 45 days which makes it likely to come in early November. It is expected that a company will be brought in to crush it with a wrecking ball. That way the bricks and wood can be collected and re-sold.