Community photos 12/4/12

Lt. Col. Lee "Mac" Tonsmeire, son of Elaine Tonsmeire Drake of Shelbyville, returned Sept. 9 from Afghanistan and recently visited his family here. Tonsmeire, who is now stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., is a graduate of The Webb School. (Submitted photo)

A Shelbyville Mills reunion was held Dec. 1 at the Fellowship For Christ church. More than 80 people attended. In 1852 Gillen, Webb, and Company established Sylvan Mills on the Duck River outside of Shelbyville as a woven cotton fabric mill. It produced fabric from raw cotton throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During the early 1920s, the mill changed ownership and became known as Shelbyville Mills. It produced cotton fabric to make tops for the Model T and other automobiles as well as cotton cord to make rubber tires stronger and more durable. The community had company-owned housing, two country stores, two churches, a post office and a school. Shelbyville Mills School was started out as a 1st thru 8th grade community school house in the 1920s, later being converted to a county operated school in the early 1930s. It finally closed its doors in the 1970s. In December 1933, Shelbyville Mills became a branch of United States Rubber Company's Textile Division. Shelbyville Mills became an integral part of defense manufacturing efforts during World War II. The U.S. Rubber Company consolidated all phases of work and changed its name to Uniroyal. The Shelbyville plant closed in 1982. (Submitted photo)