History of Thomasville

In 1860 Thomasville had 308 people. After the Civil War the town had only 217 residents, but by 1880 the population was 450, reaching 751 by 1890.

Long Bill Whiteheart may have been the first to make furniture; he made split-bottom chairs at home. D.S. Westmoreland also made chairs at home starting in 1866, and his factory on what became Randolph Street went up in 1879 but burned in 1897 and was not rebuilt. The oldest plant still standing as of 1990 was that of Standard Chair, built in 1898. Other furniture companies were Lambeth Furniture, Thompson Chair, and Queen Chair Company.

Cramer Furniture was said to be the South's second largest furniture company in 1901. Thomasville Chair, started in 1904, soon became the town's leading furniture manufacturer. By 1916, 2000 chairs a day were being made citywide.

By 1909 Jewel Cotton Mills and Amazon Cotton Mills gave Thomasville another industry, textiles. Sellers Hosiery Mills of Burlington, North Carolina opened in 1913, and Thomasville Hosiery in 1916