Location: South of Oakland Ave. on North Main in Drexel
County: Burke
Original Date Cast: 2025
In 1899, Samuel Huffman and his brother-in-law, D. B. Mull, started a sawmill business where a dirt road crossed the railroad track in the pristine forest of central Burke County. They purchased the property and soon began producing corncrib boards used for building granaries and then moved on to doors, sashes, and blinds. They could not have imagined at the time that, within only a few decades, this humble endeavor would evolve into a worldwide industry leader in the manufacture of fine furniture.
Huffman needed a name for his business, and the town that would eventually grow up around it did as well. He asked the superintendent of the Southern Railroad that serviced the area if he had some suggestions. One of the names on the list was Drexel, named for Anthony J. Drexel, a Pennsylvania philanthropist and financier of railroads and industries. The family had already given its name to Drexel University in Philadelphia, and Huffman liked the choice.
Drexel Furniture Company was established on November 10, 1903, in Drexel, North Carolina. Although Samuel Huffman managed the enterprise, he and five other men founded the business with an investment of $14,000. By 1935, Sam Huffman died, and his son Robert O. Huffman became president.
The younger Huffman made several changes in operations, including manufacturing medium-priced furniture instead of low-priced and spending more on advertising. By 1950, Drexel had grown from a small factory of fifty workers who made dressers and washstands to being a leading manufacturer in traditional and modern furniture.
In the process, the company had partnered with other manufacturers to create new product lines. In 1951, for instance, Drexel acquired Table Rock Furniture and Heritage Furniture Company, and in 1956, Morganton Furniture Company. By 1957, Drexel employed 2,300 workers, and its furniture was sold nationwide in approximately 2,500 stores.
By the late 1960s, the company manufactured laboratory, dormitory and hospital furniture and increased sales even more. Furniture design also included Italian styles in addition to carpets and accessories. In 1960, Drexel Furniture became Drexel Enterprises, Inc., and in 1961, the company merged with Southern Desk Company to produce furniture and supplies for libraries, schools, and churches. In 1968 U.S. Plywood Champion Papers purchased Drexel Enterprises, and the company became Drexel Heritage Furnishings, Inc.
In 1971 Drexel expanded its product line once again to include high-end Mediterranean style furniture and furniture for interior living space. In 1977 Drexel Heritage was sold to investment bank Dominick International Corporation and retail sales increased drastically. In 1986, Drexel Heritage became a branch of Masco Corporation, which became one of the country’s biggest furniture manufacturers by the late 1980s.
For many decades Drexel manufactured and sold furniture in the U.S. and overseas. Drexel maintained partnerships with various hotels, the U.S. State Department, and government agencies across the globe. In 1994, Drexel Heritage maintained ten factories in North Carolina and one in South Carolina. By 2004 Drexel Heritage Furniture, Inc. was based in High Point and employed 1,300 workers across the state.
Beginning in 2014, Drexel experienced some of the turmoil affecting the furniture industry in North Carolina and, indeed, the world. Drexel Heritage Furniture Industries, Inc. was one of the leading furniture manufacturers in the world. Heritage Home Group bought it but filed for bankruptcy in 2018. It was then purchased by Samson Holdings, a Chinese-based furniture company.
References:
Drexel Enterprises. Sixty Years of Progress in the Making of Fine Furniture, 1903-1963. Drexel Enterprises, 1963.
North Carolina History -. “Drexel Furniture Company - North Carolina History,” March 7, 2016. https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/drexel-furniture-company/.
Phifer, Edward W. Burke: The History Of A North Carolina County, 1777-1920, With A Glimpse Beyond. Edward W. Phifer, 1977.