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The Mount Airy, NC Furniture Industry

This page is focused on one of the big industries served by rail in Mount Airy.

Information and photos are courtesy of the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History.

History

There were several furniture companies located in Mount Airy, including The Mount Airy Furniture Company, the National Furniture Company, the Mount Airy Chair Company, and the Mount Airy Mantel and Table Company. Left is an aerial view of the factories in Mount Airy.

 

The Mount Airy Furniture Company

	Aerial view shows The Mount Airy Furniture Company that was formed in 1895 by J. F. Yokley, C. R. Merritt and E. H. Kochtitzky. It manufactured case goods including bedroom furniture, executive office furniture, pie safes and various cabinets. Through the years it expanded to include dining room and occasional chairs in its production. It merged in 1966 with the Mount Airy Chair Company (see entry below).    You can see the HAER Report on Mount Airy Furniture Company
	The Mount Airy Furniture Company building at auction.
	Unfortunately, on June 9, 1997, the Mount Airy Furniture Company was completely destroyed by a devastating fire.

 

National Furniture Company

	The National Furniture Company was founded in 1901 by J. H. Prather, Charles J. Whitlock, T. B. McCargo, E. C. Foy and R. L. Haymore.
	National Furniture Company, looking North on Factory Street.
	National Furniture Co. looking north. On the right side of Factory Street are company houses.
	National Furniture Co. looking northwest. In the lower right corner is the office of Mt. Airy Mantel & Table and in the, lower left corner are the dry kilns for Mt. Airy Mantel & Table. National Furniture merged with Mt. Airy Mantle and Table Company around 1974 to become National Mount Airy Furniture. They moved from Mt. Airy out to Sheep Farm Road. It was absorbed/bought later by the Virginia-based Bassett Furniture.  Around 1997, the National name was eliminated and the company just went by Bassett Furniture.

 

Mount Airy Mantel & Table Company

Founded in 1902 by George O. Graves, Calvin Graves and B. H. Williamson. It merged with the National Furniture Company (see above) and the result was absorbed by the Virginia-based Bassett firm.  We do know it was in existence in the 1930s and 1940s.

 

Mount Airy Chair Company

Formed in 1921, by Bruce and James Yokley (brothers). An article in 1928 states the manufacturing output included drawing room and dining room chairs, dining room furniture, and bed room chairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This website is copyrighted 1998-2022 by David M. Bott.  Images appearing on this website may be protected by U.S. Copyright Law, donor restrictions, and other rights or policies. The Railroad Roman font used in the title was bought from Ben Coifman. Persons who contemplate copying and using font or images should obtain all necessary permissions pertaining to use. Authorization to use images credited to the North Carolina Collection, University of N.C. Library at Chapel Hill should be sought from the Collection at CB#3934, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890. Telephone 919-962-7992. Images credited to the North Carolina State Library Photo Archives are considered in the public domain.  Images credited to others or unknown are subject to copyright restrictions and permission for use should be obtained.

This page  last edited Monday, July 24, 2017