Wellman Combing Company, Johnsonville's Midcentury Catalyst

Johnsonville didn’t drift into the modern era—it was jolted there. In the space of a few short years, a riverfront tract north of downtown became the engine that redefined local work, stitched the town to global markets, and spun off a clubhouse, a gas station, and whole new lines of product. What began with wool would evolve into advanced resins and large-scale recycling, drawing families, payrolls, and headlines to the south bank of Lynches River. The full story that follows traces how the deal came together, how the plant rose, and how its momentum reshaped Johnsonville for decades.

Arthur Ogden "Arch" Wellman (1894-1987)
Senior Year at Newton High School, 1913

Wellman traces its history to the Massachusetts wool combing company Hill & Nichols (later renamed Nichols & Company), established in 1927. But, we have to go back even further than that - to Arthur Wellman.

Arthur "Arch" Wellman was born on Halloween day 1895 in Brookline, Massachusetts to Arthur Gouverneur and Cecelia McCarthy Wellman. His younger brother William Augustus Wellman (1896-1975) was a fighter ace in WWI and became a celebrated Hollywood director. The younger Wellman won the first Academy Award ever issued for best motion picture for his 1929 film, "Wings."

Arthur Wellman served as lieutenant in the air services for the army before pursuing a more business-minded route than his brother. He earned a doctorate in textiles at Clemson and took a sales position with Nichols & Company, a Boston and New York commodities broker. Wellman worked his way up to senior partner, and the company was eventually reorganized as Wellman Inc., where Wellman served as Chairman of the Board and President. The company later added the Wellman Combing Company (Wellman Industries) in Johnsonville.

Arch married Ruth Rainier Kingman in 1919 and the two had 3 children - Marjorie Ruth Wellman, Arthur "Bud" Ogden Wellman, Jr., and John Garland "Jack" Wellman. After Ruth's death in 1974, he married Gullan Maria Karlsson.

Wellman Combing Company

The future sight of Wellman, left, seen in 1954.
The Wellman Texaco Station is pictured center left.

In 1954, Nichols & Company organized Wellman Combing Company in Johnsonville, marking the first plant of its kind in South Carolina. Company president Arthur O. Wellman made the official announcement on Jan 23, 1954.

Mayor David Marsh and Joseph T. Huggins, cotton gin operator and American Legion district commander, represented the town in negotiations for the company in November 1953. At the time of the announcement, Marsh was joined on city council by A. J. Cox, Eugene Newell, H. M. Feagin, and W. Odell Venters.

The sight selected was tract of land about a half mile north of downtown Johnsonville and owned by J. A. Graham of Lake City, who readily agreed to sell the 200 acre tract along the south banks of Lynches River. Johnsonville was chosen due to its availability of work force and its location to the Port of Charleston, 80 miles away by rail and road.

C.S. Carter, F. N. Phillips Jr., and J. F. Osteen discuss preliminary
plans for the Wellman Combing Company plant, Feb 1954

The anticipation for the plant and the good jobs it promised to bring caused excitement to

 skyrocket in the sleepy town. In February 1954, rumors swirled that some men associated with the project were coming to town to start hiring, and the plant site was mobbed by an estimated 1000 men hoping to get hired for a position. In reality no hiring was happening that day. Instead, C.S. Carter - project manager for the Greenville construction firm - was meeting with engineers and railway officials to determine the exact site of the plant building and how the plant's cargo rails would intersect the existing railroad tracks. On March 30, 1954, Arthur O. Wellman met with Johnsonville's Joe Huggins to visit the plant site under construction. Future plant manager Walter Robinson joined them.

As the 3 million dollar plant neared completion in the summer of 1955, preparations were made for the 150,000 square foot facility to employ its new 250 local workers. According to an article quoting mayor Odell Venters in 1955, nearly 400 were already employed, exceeding initial estimates. The plant was designed so that it could be enlarged over time as the demand for product increased.

Wellman Combing Company, circa 1956

The plant received its first shipment of raw wool in the spring of 1956, and began processing on time later that summer. Around this time, Wellman began a sheep research project to find sheep better acclimated to South Carolina's weather. C. H. Mudge acted as herdsman for the project. The sheep pasture was across Highway 41 from the Wellman Texaco Station. In 1962, Wellman established a full-time model sheep ranch on the property.
The Wellman Texaco Gas Station was located in front of the plant on Highway 41. Wellman allowed employees to have a charge account there that was deducted from their weekly checks. Gene Dennis and Robert Hooks were attendants; they pumped the gas (no self-serve), cleaned windshields, checked oil, and also serviced cars.

W.H. Robinson and Arthur Wellman in North Charleston
as first foreign wool shipment arrives, 1954

Due to the steady growth of the plastics business, it was decided that the fiber operations should be separated from other activities at the Johnsonville facility, and the Engineering Resins Division was established in 1968. Using recycled nylon fiber and virgin polymers, the division specifically manufactured nylon engineering resins, which were marketed to a variety of industries including automotive, consumer products, and even electrical parts for use in such products as fans, headlight housings, aerosol valves, and lawn and garden equipment.

The Wellman Country Club

Sanford and Maisie Ballou at Wellman Club's
opening night, 1968

Johnsonville began phase one of the Johnsonville Country Club in 1965, which included part of the clubhouse and 9 holes. Arthur Wellman loaned $55,000 toward the project to further construction of the course and clubhouse. When provisions of a federal loan prohibited further expansion and completion of the club, Wellman retired the federal loan and provided additional funds to complete the club, which was then renamed The Wellman Club. 

Opening night followed on June 28, 1968, a milestone captured in photos from the evening. By 1969, the club’s build-out was valued at about $1.2 million, with Grier Construction Company holding the plans while Grier-Sanders Construction handled work that doubled the clubhouse and pushed the final nine holes toward completion. 

In 1976, under chairman Jack (John G.) Wellman, a broader expansion program set the property on a full resort footing: Randy Glover arrived as golf professional in April 1976; Kenneth Bombard, Jr. became club manager that February (from Glade Country Club in Fairfax, TN); two Har-Tru tennis courts were built with additional hard-surface courts planned; the pro shop moved to a separate building; the clubhouse dining and kitchen were enlarged; a new pool was added; and five chalets were constructed and dubbed "The Villas". In March 1977, Jimmy Williams joined as tennis pro, teaming with Glover as the club positioned itself as a complete golf and tennis resort, and by January 5, 1978 the paper described a rolling, 18-hole course anchored by the remodeled clubhouse and pool.

The clubhouse of The Wellman Club

In order to reflect the changing nature of the firm’s business, the Wellman Combing Company was renamed Wellman Industries, Inc. in 1969, while Nichols & Company became Wellman, Inc. Three years later Wellman International Limited was established in Mullagh, Ireland, as a wholly owned subsidiary in order to produce polyester and nylon staple fibers for European markets. These fibers were manufactured from recycled raw materials, in part supplied by, ironically, other European fiber producers with which Wellman International was competing. The fibers were then exported, mainly to the United Kingdom and Europe.

Wellman Industries, 1960s

Arthur Wellman ended his long, storied career and retired in 1975.  In 1981, he donated $15 million to Massachusetts General Hospital, believed one of the largest gifts ever to a U.S. hospital. The money helped build a research laboratory center. He later pledged an additional $1.7 million for laser treatment study.

Wellman also contributed to the University of Miami medical school. The Salvation Army presented the philanthropist with its William Booth Award.  

"What I wanted to do was spend my money and know where it was going, not wait until I die and have some lawyer or accountant spend it for me," Wellman said. '" thought that working with medical research would produce the best results for mankind."  Arthur Wellman passed away in 1989.

In 1979, Wellman Industries established a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) soft drink bottle recycling operation in Johnsonville. The opening of the facility came at a time when consumers were becoming much more environmentally aware, which in turn led to a steady supply of waste materials to be recycled by the company. Wellman rightly forecasted that manufacturers would soon advertise the use of recycled materials in the packaging of their products.

Sacks Industries, a Clark, New Jersey-based fiber broker and manufacturer of nonwovens purchased a 50 percent stake in Wellman in 1983. Operations of the two companies were subsequently merged and Tom Duff of Sacks Industries was appointed vice-president and chief operating officer. Wellman’s nonwoven business grew out of two Sacks plants located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Commerce, California. Two years after Wellman and Sacks Industries merged, the two companies were purchased by a group of investors and company managers in a leveraged buyout. Tom Duff became president and CEO of the newly renamed Wellman, Inc. In June 1987 the company went public when its stock began trading on the NASDAQ exchange at a price of $10.25 per share. Wellman stock was offered on the New York Stock Exchange the following year at an initial share price of $17.50.

Highs, Lows, and Downsizing

In 1989 Wellman entered into two arrangements that would not only ensure the company of a steady supply of recyclable materials, but a market for the resulting products as well. The first agreement, with Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI), a large waste collector, allowed Wellman to buy all the household plastic the company picked up in curbside programs. The second arrangement was with Constar International Inc., one of the largest PET bottle makers in the nation. Constar bought vast amounts of used PET bottles for recycling and agreed to purchase much of Wellman’s recycled plastic for use in its manufacturing.

Constar hoped to avoid complaints from environmentalists by using an estimated 25 percent recycled plastic in each of its bottles. In addition, through a 1989 joint venture Wellman and Constar (as Wellstar) began acquiring European bottle manufacturers with facilities in The Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom. Wellstar, said to be the largest PET plastic bottle maker in Europe, sold the bottles and then bought them back for recycling.

Also in 1989 Wellman acquired Fiber Industries Inc. from Hoechst Celanese Corp. Fiber Industries was a leading manufacturer of premium polyester textile fibers sold under the brand name, Fortrel. The company became part of Wellman’s Fibers Division, doubling Wellman’s asset and revenue base, and positioning the company as a leading producer of polyester fiber.

In 2006, Wellman closed its fiber and bottling recycling divisions at the Johnsonville site. Wellman Plastics Recycling, LLC was formed in 2008 following the bankruptcy and eventual dissolution of Wellman Inc. Wellman Incorporated reopened its recycling business in Johnsonville in 2009 and created new jobs. In 2015, Shanghai Pret Composites Co. Ltd., a Chinese company, announced the acquisition Wellman Plastics Recycling LLC in Johnsonville in an all-cash deal valued at more than $70 million.

A major downsizing hit the Johnsonville industrial site in early 2018. According to a state employment notice, 92 employees were slated to be laid off at the plant effective March 6, 2018. This large layoff – one of the region’s significant industrial cutbacks – dramatically reduced the remaining workforce at the former Wellman facility

The Wellman Club Reopens

The 18th hole of the shuttered Wellman Club 
in 2020 before renovations began.

After sitting idle for a decade, the Wellman golf course property saw a new chapter begin. In 2020, Florence County purchased the Wellman Club grounds from private hands. The following year (2021), the county entered a 50-year lease agreement with the City of Johnsonville to enable the city’s redevelopment and operation of the golf course. As part of this plan, county leaders approved about $3.9 million in local penny sales tax funds to finance the course’s restoration. Noted golf architect Rees Jones was brought in to redesign and modernize the course, praising the property’s natural contours as renovation got underway. These steps laid the groundwork for bringing the storied club back to life as a public municipal facility.

A view of the Wellman Club from the newly reopened clubhouse in June of 2023

Following extensive renovations, Johnsonville celebrated the official reopening of the Wellman Golf Club in late 2023. This marked the first time the course was open for play since its 2010 closure – a 13-year hiatus. Local officials hailed the rebirth of the Wellman Club as a major boon for the community, expecting it to boost tourism and economic activity in the small city. Now operated as a city-owned course, the revived Wellman Club once again welcomes golfers and visitors, restoring an important piece of Johnsonville’s

For more history of Wellman employees, visit the Wellman Topics Collection.
Facts gathered from various news articles and compiled by Josh Dukes