Huntington Chair

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The loading dock at the big 20th Street plant of Huntington Chair Corp.
readied packed furniture for shipment to customers across the nation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HUNTINGTON — Fine furniture made in Huntington once helped make
offices, hotels, hospitals and homes across the nation attractive and
comfortable. It was manufactured in the big plant of the Huntington
Chair Corp., located at the foot of 20th Street.

In a typical year, 2.5 million board feet of native hardwoods
came into the busy plant, where it was turned it into
chairs, tables, sofas, desks, bookcases, bedroom
 suites and other furniture units.

The company moved to Huntington in 1944 from Conneautville,
 Pennsylvania, where it had operated since 1921 as the Art
Furniture Co. Looking for a new site, the furniture
 chose Huntington because of its proximity to
vast stands of oak and black walnut,
prized for furniture making.

When the company decided to relocate to Huntington, it
changed its name to Huntington Chair and moved into
a 100,000-square-foot plant previously occupied
by the old Nicholson-Kendell Furniture Co.

In 1953, the furniture company’s payroll
 approximated $600,000 to
 its 240 employees.

Every day saw rail cars packed with lumber arrive at the plant’s
 siding. Once unloaded, the lumber was stacked outside in the yard
 for two to eight months for air drying, then put in kiln dryers for
10 to 12 days. At that point, it was thoroughly dry and ready
for the saws, shapers, steam-bending devices, drills and
 other mechanical devices necessary to its transformation
 into a completed piece of furniture. Carefully packed,
it then was sent to the loading dock, ready for
shipment by train or truck to customers
 across the nation.

Huntington Chair Corp. was declared bankrupt in 1963.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Nov. 5, 2019

-----------------------------------------------------------

[ Back ]