Robert Bloomfield

Robert Lee Bloomfield (1827 – 1916)

Robert L. Bloomfield acted as Athens Factory Agent and President for over 30 years beginning in 1863. He built St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (1871) to serve the factory workers. The steeple--now known as the R.E.M. steeple--still stands by Nuci’s Space at the corner of Williams and Oconee Streets.

1n 1896, the local paper described Robert Bloomfield as a "cotton mill pioneer" and President of the Star Mill Thread Company at Barnett Shoals.