SANFORD — As 1953 approached, there was worry in some quarters — worry that things were about to change and that the Goodall textile empire that employed so many for so long was, like other northern textile mills, in trouble.

Labor and operating costs were cheaper in the southern states, and while they eventually agreed, labor unions were initially loath to take a requested pay cut for their members, folks who were around at the time remember.

Some felt the mills would continue on, pooh-poohing the notion that the industry was in peril, but others felt differently. About 45 Sanford area folks engaged in business began to prepare.

In November 1953, they got together to talk about forming an organization. In early February 1954, the Sanford Springvale Chamber of Commerce was formed. Later that same month, Goodall-Sanford, Inc. announced a merger with Burlington Mills of South Carolina.

By August, Burlington had moved the entire operation south. At the time, Goodall Sanford, Inc. had a payroll of $13 million and employed 3,600 workers, according to information provided by Sanford businessman Allen Mapes. 

Seemingly overnight, one-third of the town’s workforce was unemployed. In addition to those who lost their jobs as a result of the mill closure, many more were affected, noted current chamber President Richard Stanley.

The Chamber of Commerce, under its first president, state Sen. Carl J. Broggi, began a blitz, advertising Sanford and its workers around the country. There was a mail blitz, visits to prospective industries, even match card covers advertising Sanford and its ready workforce. The campaign, according to Mapes’ archives, resulted in a two-week window exhibit at Rockefeller Plaza and nationwide publicity.

“We refuse to die,” one recruiting poster announced. “A complete town and all of its manufacturing facilities plus the never say die fighting spirit of its entire population is available right now.”

Now, Mapes, one of the original chamber incorporators and his wife Polly are looking to commemorate those early years, when the effort to attract new businesses to Sanford was an all-consuming effort. They have given $10,000 for a memorial stone and the H.A. Mapes Trust has contributed $5,000 to the effort.

Mapes was one of the chambers youngest members at its formation and is believed to be the sole survivor of that initial group. He was the chamber’s fourth president after Broggi, Ed Ballenger and William Wright.

Mapes conceived the idea of the memorial after a former Sanford official thought it was time that the “Town that refused to Die,” slogan Sanford had earned was put to rest.

“The Town that Refused to Die” was the name of a production of the Armstrong Circle Theater, airing on NBC television in 1955. Actor Darren McGavin played Carl Broggi. Ten years later, in 1965, a Life magazine cover proclaimed the same slogan.

“I was offended, because we lived through it,” said Mapes. “I thought I’d like to do something so people don’t forget.”

When Allen and Polly married, he was working with his father at H.A. Mapes and Son and had already been a chamber member for a few years.

“We worked at our businesses every day and met every night and on Saturdays at the chamber office, he said of those early years.

Looking back, he said, all the nights and weekends wasn’t fair to the families involved, but it is what happened.

“I thought it was my job,” Polly said with a smile.

That first chamber, headed by Broggi, invited to town L. Grossman & sons of Quincy, Massachusetts, a lumber firm that specialized in buying up abandoned industrial properties and leasing them. Grossman purchased the mills, and so it began.

Just prior to that sale, according to Mapes’ archives, Kostis Fruit Company purchased a storage plant on River Street, and later, Universal Shoe Corporation bought the former Minerva Mill property. Seamloc Carpet, made up of former employees of the Goodall Sanford, Inc. carpet division, opened. Others, like Wasco Corporation followed. 

By the end of  the chamber’s first year, 12 new industries were operating in Sanford.

These days, said Stanley, the current chamber president, York County is in a different predicament. There are jobs, but the county businesses and industries needs skilled workers to fill them.

“Now, the challenge is to find qualified employees,” said Stanley. With the unemployment rate hovering around 4 percent, that isn’t easy. In 2016, the state’s largest job fair was held in Sanford; 93 companies showed up looking for workers. The next job fair will be April 7 and Stanley is making plans now and working with the Maine CareerCenter.

Sanford Parks and Recreation Center director Marcel Blouin is working with Mapes and Stanley on the  memorial stone plan. Right now, the plan is to locate the memorial near the overlook adjacent to Gateway Park. A dedication will take place in the spring or summer.

“This is a well-deserved dedication and it will preserve a part of the history of Sanford, ” said Stanley.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.