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{{short description|Former company and current historic site in North Carolina, US}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = White Furniture Company
| nrhp_type    =
| image        = Former furniture factory in Mebane, North Carolina.jpg
| caption      = White Furniture Company building in Mebane
| location     = E. Center and N. 5th Sts., [[Mebane, North Carolina]]
| coordinates  = {{coord|36|5|45|N|79|16|0|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin     = North Carolina#USA
| area         =
| built        = 1905
| architect    =
| architecture =
| added        = July 29, 1982
| refnum       = 82003422
<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}
'''White Furniture Company''', was a major American producer of hand-crafted fine furniture for over a century (1881–1993). Founded by the White Brothers of [[Mebane, North Carolina]], the factory notably produced furnishings for the US government and the [[Grove Park Inn]].<ref name = nrhpinv>{{Cite web | author = Linda Marquez-Frees and Jim Sumner| title =White Furniture Company| work = National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory | date = March 1982| url = https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/AM0466.pdf | format = pdf | publisher = North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office | access-date = 2014-08-01}}</ref>
==Origins==
In 1881, brothers Dave and Will White founded White Furniture Company.<ref name=":0">[http://uncpress.unc.edu/nc_encyclopedia/furniture.html Encyclopedia of North Carolina :: UNC Press<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>  They used a small loan and $275 from working as telegraph operators as capital.<ref name=":0" /> Their father, Stephen A. White III, had acquired an amount of debt which soiled the family's name. Dave and Will pledged to repay their father's creditors, and such was the catalyst behind starting the factory.
Will White served as president of the company and Dave White as general manager. "The White Brothers were aggressive businessmen who took seriously their place in the town, and who, like many in the New South, equated industrial growth with civic duty and regional pride."
Working with only a [[Plane (tool)|plane]] and a [[boiler]], the initial manufacturing was limited to only round oak dining tables and wagon wheels.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Vincent|first=William|title=Historic Alamance County|publisher=Historical Publishing Network|year=2009|pages=70–71}}</ref> While reaching an early success in 1886, a local businessman invested funds to expand White Furniture and purchase more advanced machinery. Within a brief time, the company employed 32 people and manufactured tables, chairs, and a bedroom set. The solid-oak bedroom set sold for nine dollars and included a bed, dresser, and washstand.
==Early history==
=== The Panama Canal contracts===
In 1906, under the command of Chief Engineer [[John Frank Stevens]], hundreds of new building were built in Panama. These buildings were created to house army engineers and canal workers constructing the [[Panama Canal]]. The US government was in need of furniture for both enlisted men and American officers in Panama, and the bulk of the contracts was awarded to Whites.<ref name=":1" /> A local newspaper reported, "The first installment of furniture for the Panama Canal, contracted for the government with the White Furniture Company. This train of cars was handsomely placarded, each car bearing a 20-foot banner worded 'FROM THE WHITE FURNITURE CO., MEBANE, N.C., FOR U.S. GOVERNMENT, PANAMA CANAL,' and then the company trademark, 'The White Line Guarantees Satisfaction.'"
This was the first time a government contract of this type had been awarded to a 'southern factory'. A total of 58 boxcars was whipped from North Carolina to the Panama Canal.
Just one year after being awarded the Panama contracts, in 1907, White Furniture Company was awarded "Best manufacturer of American furniture" at the Jamestown Exhibition. (A World's Fair celebration during the 300th anniversary of the founding of the [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown Settlement]].)
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Industrial buildings completed in 1905]]
[[Category:Furniture companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct furniture manufacturers]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Alamance County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Alamance County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:1905 establishments in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies based in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Brick buildings and structures in North Carolina]]