One of the earliest examples of industrial architecture in Tennessee, the mill operated variously from its construction around 1830 until the 1950s.

Town Creek, which flows along the eastern base of the mill site, empties into the Tennessee River about a half-mile to the south.

The William Ballard Lenoir house, built in 1821, still stands across the street from the mill site, although it has been drastically modified as a residential apartment complex.

Along with the cotton mill, Lenoir built a sawmill and gristmill on Town Creek, and raised livestock.

A Pittsburgh miller named E.F. Faber built a 113-spindle spinning jack and three looms for Lenoir's mill in 1831.

As they prepared to burn the cotton mill, William Ballard Lenoir's son, Benjamin Ballard Lenoir, walked through the ranks of the Union troops flashing a secret Masonic sign, and the troops spared the mill.