Crawford Quarter Sawn Oak Chairs (ca. 1902-1920)

While gluing up one of the seven Oak dining chairs I mentioned in a previous post I came upon the remainder of a label for the Crawford Chair Company. A little investigation led me to the Grand Ledge Area Historical Society web page which gives an account of the history of the Crawford Chair Co.

The Crawford Chair Co. was founded in 1902 by Edward Crawford, who had previously been a founding member of the Grand Ledge Chair Company. The company was in operation from 1902 until 1931 when it changed hands and became the Hoerner Chair Company. The factory where these chairs were produced was built by Edward Crawford and was in use until it burned down in 1943. A photo of the factory can be seen below:

Below is a link to the Grand Ledge Area Historical Society Website which has a more detailed history of these two chair companies as well as furniture manufacture in the region.

Below is a close up photo of the label on the inside of the side rail of the chair. As far as the dating of these chairs is concerned, I would say that they are no later that 1920. Below are several additional photos of the chairs being disassembled and glued.