Russell Lands History

Including

A Greatly Expanded Version

4, 2020

  The Early Days of Recreational Development at Russell Lands

By Ben Russell    4 10 2020

(Some repetitive information may be noted elsewhere)   

Having benefitted from innumerable On the Job Training programs in the textile industry I was employed full-time by Russell Mills in 1960..

 

Early on, Russell Mills was owned by a number of Mr. Ben Russell’s direct descendants.  In 1963, with sensational growth, the company became a public corporation.  Quite fortunately at this point, Mr. Bew White (attorney) recommended that the “lands company” be set aside as a private company – with the same ownership – hence Russell Lands.

 

These same stock-holders, family members and directors were for the most part major factors in the textile industry – Russell Mills.  Fortunately, I had developed a strong attachment to the land and timber interest of Russell Lands.

 

In 1970 The Russell Lands Board asked me to assume the presidency of the company and I resigned from Russell Corporation.

 

Thanks to Mr. Gene Gwaltney, Russell Mills constructed Willow Point Golf Course on Russell Lands property in 1964.  This opened great possibilities for the land company.

 

Later, in the planning stages of Willow Point East Subdivision it became apparent that a number of the loyal core group of the new golf course supporters had been promised the entire property, just across the slough from the Club.  These individuals included a golf pro, several local cabin tenants, an attorney and good friends of the new club management.

 

A period of some diminished popularity accompanied me as this situation was somehow sidetracked.

 

About this time, I had hired Gene Davenport of Rust Engineering to bring some expertise into our residential planning process.  This fortunate move had long, long term benefits, as Gene soon rose to Vice President of the company.  Together we planned and executed numerous projects which became the backbone of Russell Lands.

 

Another most fortunate result of the casual attitude toward the Russell Lands property –  thousands of acres – was the request from the private golf club management that Russell Lands pay off the expanding club debt of $155,000 in return for the title to the 176 acres originally donated to the club.

 

The young, inexperienced management of Russell Lands, after much deliberation, decided that they could operate the club, the dining facilities as well as the other amenities while taking advantage of the obvious up side.

 

Getting on with Mr. Ben’s sixty some year-old vision for his land as a recreational mecca, was the obvious order of the day.  To this end, in 1973 the recently rescued acreage across from the club was set in motion as Willow Point Estates – Willow Point East.

 

Much pondering and Ouija board work went into the formulating of a price structure.  The shock was quite intense and rather widespread – seventeen thousand five hundred dollars per lot!  This with the unquestioned quality of the number one lot reaching for $25 000.

 

Only my mother, an avid golfer, abstained, among her peers, from speculating on the astronomical odds there-of.

 

In recalling matters of yore, this one is a bit strange.  Gene Davenport and I must have measured out to be a bit larger than our britches and, soon, the word came down that we did not need a Taj Mahal for a Russell Lands office.

 

The slab pad had already been poured and activity was beginning to be evident to the golfing crowd.

 

Gene, in a not so wild idea, suggested that we could cover it up with hay, plant some seed and hope for better times.

 

But time heals all.

 

As time passed, however, “living at the lake” became the in-thing.

 

I can only thank those who helped to make this a reality.  The land has been quite generous to me and due to my closeness to it, I could see the value ahead and in 1985 I was able to acquire the stock of 31 of the 37 Russell family members.

 

With the favor of continuing good fortunes, Russell Lands has become the ultimate factor on Lake Martin – who first predicted this?

 

 

Russell Lands History

Including

A Greatly Expanded Version

4, 2020

Russell Lands History

Including

A Greatly Expanded Version

4, 2020

Russell Lands History

Including

A Greatly Expanded Version

4, 2020