The Pendleton Manufacturing Company was chartered in 1836 by Benjamin F. Sloan, Thomas M. Sloan, John T. Sloan and Enoch Berry Benson; Benjamin Sloan was its first president. Land was bought from Thomas Grisham on July 20, 1836 and a water-powered spinning mill was built three miles south of Pendleton, South Carolina on Twenty-three Mile Creek in what is now La France, South Carolina and began operation in February 1838. In 1866 the mill was sold to the firm Grady, Hawthorne and Perry, which became William Perry and Company in 1868. It operated under this name until January 29, 1884 when it was charterd by the state as the Pendleton Manufacturing Company. The company was rechartered under this name in 1922. In 1928 the mill was sold to La France Industries and expanded several times. In 1966 Riegel Textile Corporation acquired La France Industries. The mill was later sold to Mount Vernon Mills and expanded again. The mill was also known as Auton (or Autun) Mills and the surrounding area known as Auton (Autun), supposedly the combination of the names of one of the owners, Augustus J. Sitton and his wife, Leela E. Aull.