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Rhodhiss flag leaves mark on moon

Robert C. Reed

Rhodhiss Mayor Rick Justice and Calvin Jones, a former employee of Burlington Industries, hold a photo of the Apollo 11 moon misssion displaying the flag flying on the moon. Burlington Industries made the fabric at Rhodhiss Plant No. 2, which was used to make the U.S. flags taken to the moon.

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By Sarah Newell Williamson | Hickory Daily Record

Published: July 21, 2009

RHODHISS - To the people of Rhodhiss, Monday's 40th anniversary of man's first walk on the moon reminds them of their part in that day in history.

The fabric used in the flag that astronaut Neil Armstrong planted on the moon was created in this town of about 650.

Visitors entering this town can't help but notice the pride the citizens take in connection to man's first steps on the moon, 250,000 miles away.

Before 1969 the town didn't have an official town seal. After the flag landed on the moon, Rhodhiss created its seal, featuring an astronaut planting the American flag.

Calvin Jones was a plant engineer at Burlington Plant 2 in Rhodhiss in 1969. This is the facility that ended up making the material for the flag for the moon. The plant primarily made synthetic materials, he said. It's sister facility, on the other side of the bridge, made men's wear.

"The colors (for the flag) were made here then sent somewhere else to put the pleats and make the flag," Jones, 94, said.

He said he was unsure why Burlington was selected to make the flag.

"It could have been any flag. It's not different from other material," Jones said.

According to another employee who worked at the facility at the time, the employees were told they were making flag material, but were not told what it would be used for.

Jones said he was honored to work for 30 years at the place that has its materials on the moon.

"We were all excited — all of Rhodhiss was excited when it happened," Jones said.

Both of Burlington Industries' plants have closed since the lunar landing. The source for most of the jobs in the town, residents in Rhodhiss have banded together and kept the town alive, said Rhodhiss Mayor Rick Justice.

Today, they still proudly show how excited they are about their part in history. At either end of the town limits, a "Welcome to Rhodhiss" sign greets incoming drivers, with a rendition of Armstrong planting the American flag on the moon, similar to what is on the town seal. Underneath it, the sign reads "U.S. moon flags woven here."

Justice said the town is proud it is represented in space.

"Whenever I was a young man, there was big talk that the town had the privilege to do that," he said. "It could have been done anywhere in the world."

But it wasn't. It was done in Rhodhiss.

Justice said occasionally, when traveling in other cities and people learned where he was from, he learned how far the town's popularity from the flag had spread.

"If they knew you were from Rhodhiss, they treated you like a celebrity," he said.