Summary

The majority of the kids from Henry County and from Galax, Virginia, worked for Bassett after graduation. It was always hard times for the poor people in the mountains and the men who ran Bassett and Galax exploited it. Galax was named for the evergreen herb that is common in the foothills, but it became known for furniture and mountain music. Its manufacturing roots reached back to the Bassetts.

The Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Company was established with part ownership belonging to Bunyan Vaughan. Of high importance to Vaughan and their patriarch sponsor, Bassett, Galax held the three most important aspects in Southern furniture making: plenty of lumber, access to the railways and an eager workforce. Since Southern furniture makers didn’t make high-end furniture as in the North, they weren’t hurt as much by the Depression. Frank E. Ransom in “The City Built...