Fly Manufacturing Company Building
The Fly Manufacturing Company Building is a historic industrial building in Shelbyville, Tennessee. Today it houses the Fly Arts Center, a cultural facility, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Location and building: The building sits at 204 S. Main Street in Shelbyville on about one acre. It was built in 1927 by Col. John Morgan Raney in an early 20th-century industrial style. The two-story brick factory has a full basement and measures about 75 by 125 feet, making it one of the largest buildings in the city when it was completed.
Fly Manufacturing Company history: The company operated in Shelbyville from 1915 to 1985. It was started by Joel Orval Fly, who had previously run a textile factory in Clarksville. He opened a small plant in 1915 with 18–20 workers making overalls, pants, and work shirts. In 1916 he moved to a larger facility, and in 1927 the new Fly Manufacturing Building was completed.
In the 1920s, Fly employed about 75 people making shirts. The factory sold products to local stores and to national buyers like Sears and Montgomery Ward. It weathered the Great Depression with shorter work weeks so all workers could stay employed. During World War II the factory produced pants, jackets, and fatigues for soldiers.
Later years and closure: Joel Fly died in 1960. The company remained independent until 1972, when it was sold to the Bayly Corporation of Denver, Colorado, which turned the building into a distribution center for the Southeast. In 1980 Bayly sold it to Woodway Corporation, which used the building as a factory again until 1985, when business declined and operations stopped. The building then sat neglected for about a decade.
Preservation and current use: The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 for its significance in Shelbyville’s industrial history. The Bedford County Arts Council restored it and converted it into the Fly Arts Center, which now includes a theater, a museum, an art gallery, classrooms, and a gift shop.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:53 (CET).