Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
History in High Point
April 29,
2014 by in Industry 
The furniture industry got its first recognition from North Carolina's Highway Historical Marker program with the dedication of a sign in front of the International Home Furnishings Center's Main Street entrance in High Point.
N.C. Governor Pat McCrory and N.C. Department of Cultural Resources Secretary Susan Kluttz unveiled the marker Monday afternoon.
The first building built for Market exhibition was a ten-story edifice, designed by architect William P. Rose, which opened on June 20, 1921, at a cost of $1 million dollars. That building offered 249,000 square feet of space. Today the market boasts more than 11.5 million square feet of show space.
McCrory, a native of Guilford County, said that 800 new furniture jobs have been added in the state over the past two years, and that the industry and its largest market are key to North Carolina's economic future.
"Furniture is a form of our culture in North Carolina that has transferred around the world," he said.
"Today we recognize the historical significance of the furniture market and celebrate its contributions to the North Carolina economy in the past, present and future," Kluttz said in her remarks.
High Point Market Authority Chairman Doug Bassett had noted that a study from Duke University reveals a $5.4 billion impact on the state's economy each year.
"That makes it the largest economic event in the state," said Bassett, who also is president of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture(vaughan-bassett.com).
Michael Hill is research branch supervisor at the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. He's administrated the state's historic highway marker program for three decades, and said such a commemoration is overdue for the furniture industry.
"In surveying industries in North Carolina, we realized we'd failed to recognize furniture, and this is the perfect place to do it," he said.