The largest industries in 1950 were the textile mills and the construction industry. The following facts and statistics were gathered from the 1950 census report, the “Miller’s City Directory” for Hendersonville and other primary source documentation.

Manufacturing

A total of 2,525 persons were employed in manufacturing industries by 1950. This makes manufacturing the number one employer in Henderson County for the first time in the county’s history, surpassing agriculture by 113 persons.
The largest manufacturing industry in Henderson County in 1950 was the textile mills. Textile mills employed 1,565 people, almost half of whom were women. It was the number of women employed in manufacturing that caused the shift from agriculture to manufacturing as the largest employer in the county. The numbers of women in the work force, particularly in the textile mills, was a dramatic change from 1940 to 1950.
In 1946, Balfour Mills was sold to a subsidiary of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation and became known as Berkeley (Berkley) Mills.
Other textile mills still located in Henderson County included Chipman-Lacrosse Hosiery Mill in East Flat Rock, Green River Cotton Mills in Tuxedo, Grey’s Hosiery Mill in Hendersonville and Spinning Wheel Rugs in Hendersonville.
In 1948, Cranston Print Works, a cotton printing plant, bought land outside of Fletcher and opened the plant in 1949.
Other textile-related companies in the county by 1950 included Burrowes Manufacturing Company on Third Avenue West that made bedspreads and the Higdon Knitting Mills. The Burrowes Manufacturing Company had opened in Hendersonville by at least 1937 and closed in 1951. The Higdon Knitting Mills opened in 1947. In 1969, Higdon Knitting Mills merged with C.W. Anderson Hosiery Corporation.
The Belding Heminway (Belding-Corticelli) plant bought land in 1950 in today’s town of Laurel Park. The company began production in Henderson County in 1951. The company made Monocord thread, a synthetic thread.
The non-durable goods industries employed 297 people in Henderson County in 1950. These were industries related to paper, paper products, paperboard, and even footwear and leather. Most of these persons worked at the Wing Paper Box Company that opened at the site of the old Freeze-Bacon Hosiery Mill in the Lenox Park area of Hendersonville in 1926. Some persons traveled to Brevard and Enka to work in paper mills.
A total of 247 persons worked in the furniture, lumber and wood products industries. These industries included sawmills and logging, in addition to makers of furniture and other wood products, such as cabinetmakers. There were six lumber companies listed in the county in 1950.
Food manufacturers and related industries employed 116 persons. These industries included bakeries, manufacturers of dairy products and producers of meat products, canneries, grist mills, and beverage industries, such as the Coca-Cola Bottling Company that was located on Locust Street. There were three bakeries listed in the county in 1950, along with a doughnut shop and a cookie shop. There was also the Blue Bird Ice Cream Store and Collins Frozen Custard Store.
There were two brick companies, Moland-Drysdale and Williams Brick Manufacturing, and about three concrete companies in Henderson County by 1950. Both of these categories and potteries are listed under the durable goods categories in the 1950 census. This manufacturing industry employed 96 persons in 1950.
There were 78 persons employed in the apparel industry, 49 in the printing and publishing industry, and smaller numbers employed in industries related to machinery production and metal products, such as sheet metal.

Construction Industry

During the post-war years, the building and construction industry boomed, as it did nationwide. Subdivisions appear throughout the county.
These industries had decreased substantially during the Great Depression. By the start of the 1940s, the building and construction industry had begun an upswing. The third largest number of workers in Henderson County was employed in the building, construction and associated industries in 1950 with 1,002 workers employed.
About 20 building contractors were listed in the directory in 1950 and at least four grading companies. There were numerous businesses and companies associated with building and construction, such as companies selling building materials, tile and wallpaper companies, electrical contractors, plumbers, heating contractors, and a welding company.

Utilities

The utilities industry that consisted of electric and gas companies, employed 163 persons in 1950. Duke Power Company was the provider of electricity. There were two gas companies: Carolina Central Gas Company and Metrogas Inc.
Seven oil companies and six coal yards were supplying heating materials.
And, for persons still without electric refrigerators, the City Ice and Storage Company on Whitted Street was still selling ice for iceboxes. The company also stored items that needed refrigeration or freezing.

Mining

Only 36 persons were employed in the mining industry in 1950 in Henderson County. The mining industry included rock quarries and the limestone quarry in Fletcher.