Train Bound for the Panama Canal at the White Furniture Company, Mebane, N.C.

The White Furniture Company began in Mebane, N.C. in 1881 and became one of the most successful industries in North Carolina. This photograph shows a cargo train bound for the Panama Canal around 1906.  The train tracks were located next to the factory, shown in the back of the photograph. The company became one of the first factories in the south to operate machinery with electricity, instead of the traditional water power. In 1905 the company became the first furniture manufacturer in the South to win a contract with the U.S. Government -- to sell and ship furniture to officials working on the Panama Canal. This relationship later grew into additional large contracts with the U.S. Army.