Dominion Chair Company is the
wooden furniture manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...
company that operated from 1860 to 1989 in
Bass River,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Canada.
History
In 1860, George and William Fulton, brothers and great-grandsons of the first settler of Bass River,
"Judge" James Fulton, built a small sawmill in Bass River and began manufacturing chairs and other furniture. In 1870, the brothers disagreed about moving the business to
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
, and George wound up buying his brother's share of the company.
George continued managing the business in Bass River, purchasing and merging with the Acadia Chair Factory to found a
joint stock
A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...
company in 1876, naming it Union Furniture and Merchandise Company.
Fires damaged the factory and halted production in 1885 and 1892, but the factory was rebuilt and business continued. The name Dominion Chair Company Limited was adopted in 1903.
George Fulton's son, Suther B. Fulton, took over the business when his father retired in 1888.
Operations continued through at least four devastating fires and a large explosion. However, a final fire in 1989 damaged the factory irreparably.
The company was struggling financially, and two failed attempts at securing government funding to construct a new factory led to the company declaring bankruptcy in 1991.
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Historical site
The Dominion Chair Company General Store, built in 1890, still operates in Bass River as a store and historical site.
References
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External links
Dominion Chair website
Furniture companies of Canada
Defunct manufacturing companies of Canada
Companies based in Nova Scotia
Colchester County
Manufacturing companies established in 1860
Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1989
1860 establishments in Nova Scotia
1989 disestablishments in Nova Scotia