Manufacturing

A total of 4,216 people in Henderson County were employed in manufacturing in 1960, according to the U.S. Census Report. This is a 66.9 percent increase from 1950.
Of this total, 1,993 people worked in the textile mills, almost half of persons employed in manufacturing. There were 395 persons employed in apparel and other fabricated products.
The largest of the textile mills was Berkeley Mills in Balfour. Berkeley Mills had undergone a multi-million dollar expansion by the mid-1950s. Other textile mills were Grey Hosiery Mill in Hendersonville and Chipman-Lacrosse in East Flat Rock. In 1959, J.P. Stevens Co. purchased the Green River Mill in Tuxedo and began manufacturing synthetic yarns.
Other companies that would be classified in these categories included Cranston Print Works, Belding-Corticelli, Higdon Knitting Mills, Spinning Wheel Rugs (Mountain Rug Mills), Diamond Brand Canvas, Mountain Top Company that made children’s play clothes and Standard Tytape that made cotton braid.
In 1950 Ruth of Carolina had opened. This company is better known as Ruth Originals. This was a home-grown industry started by Ruth Combs and Daisy Sample. The company made women’s and children’s clothing.
There were smaller hosiery mills and other manufacturers listed by 1960 in the Miller’s Directory. These included Brittain Hosiery Mill, Ada Company (women’s clothing), East Flat Rock Knitting Mills, Skyland Crafts Inc. (nylon handbags), Turner’s Knitting Mills, R & S Hosiery Mill, Blue Ridge Cord Company, Blue Ridge Weavers, Advance Thread Corporation, Blue Ridge Bag Company and Rogers Hosiery Mills.
Non-durable goods employed 446 people in 1960, some of whom traveled to Brevard or Enka to work in the paper mills. These industries also included the Wing Paper Box Company.
In 1954 General Electric announced plans to open an outdoor lighting plant in East Flat Rock. Groundbreaking for the plant was in 1955. The plant will become the county’s largest employer.
By 1960, 554 people in Henderson County were employed in industries defined as electrical machinery, equipment and sales.
The Dampp-Chaser Corporation opened production in 1948 in Henderson County. The company manufactured products for humidity control in small enclosed spaces.
In 1956 E. I. DuPont purchased more than 10,000 acres from the Frank Coxe estate (Buck Forest Club) and the Guion Farm in Henderson County to build the first full-scale silicon plant in the United States. Silicon was used for electrical and electronic devices in radios, televisions, telephone switchboards and other electronics. The plant began production in 1958.
There was also the Robotyper Corporation that made an automatic typewriter.
In 1943, the Moland-Drysdale Corporation, brick manufacturers, moved from Etowah to the Brickton area near Naples and Fletcher after purchasing the Fletcher Brick Company.
There were also companies manufacturing concrete.
In addition to persons listed above working in the textile and non-durable goods industries, an additional 311 people were employed in chemical and allied industries, 134 persons employed in other durable goods, 90 people employed in industries related to furniture making and wood industries, 65 people employed in other machinery industries, and 13 persons employed in metal-type industries.
There were 130 people employed in industries related to food production. These included companies such as the Bond Bread Company, Kalmia Dairy, Biltmore Dairy Farms and the Coca-Cola Bottling Company.
There were 77 persons employed in printing and publishing. Flanagan Printing Company and Quality Press were two of the printing companies.

Utilities, Construction, Mining

Duke Power Company was the supplier of electricity for the county.
There were two gas companies: Metrogas Inc. and United Cities Gas Company. In 1954 natural gas replaced butane-air gas to Henderson County. Butane-air gas is a vaporized product of natural gas, similar to propane.
A total of 82 persons were employed in utilities.
Coal was still used as a heat source in some homes and buildings. At least three companies were selling coal in 1960.
Many homes in 1960 were heated with oil and some used kerosene. There were approximately eight businesses selling oil for oil furnaces in 1960.
There was still the ice storage company in Hendersonville for persons who needed large quantities or blocks of ice or needed to store frozen products.
Twenty-five persons were employed in mining, with the only mine the limestone quarry in Fletcher. But there were rock quarries also located in the county.
Fewer persons worked in the construction industry in 1960 than in 1950, but the industry was still booming. More and more people were building newer homes outside the city limits. More than 4,644 houses were built between 1950 and 1960, more than doubling the number of houses from 1940 to 1950.
A total of 959 persons worked in the construction industry in 1960, down from 1,002 workers in 1950.