September 19,1986: RJR Tobaccoville Plant Opens

Tobaccoville

The world’s largest and most automated cigarette manufacturing plant was dedicated on this day in 1986, in Tobaccoville.

Built by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the plant had 2 million square feet of floor space under a 27-acre roof.

Employees used three-wheeled bicycles to move quickly from one end of the factory to another.

Automated guided vehicles transported pallets of cigarettes across the plant.

Postcard courtesy of Molly Grogan Rawls.

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2 Responses

  1. Janet says:

    The year the Tobaccoville Plant Opened was in 1986 not 1955 as stated in the title of this article.

  2. Thanks for catching the error in the title. I have no idea how 1955 showed up.

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