About » History about | green | new vision | faqs In 1947, Maine woodsman Tolford Durham took a trip north to visit a sawmill. On his way, he discovered a vacant mill for sale in Monson – and an opportunity. He talked his brother John, an executive at Diamond Match Company, into going in on the purchase of the old factory, and soon after, Moosehead Manufacturing opened for business. The brothers – and about 40 employees – started out making chairs and table sets and then dressers and chests. Before long, Tolford and John began to develop and market a variety of distinctive furniture lines under the Moosehead brand. In 1961, they opened a second plant in Dover-Foxcroft and – based on a growing reputation for good craftsmanship and high quality – built the business into a $14 million enterprise, shipping furniture across the United States and to furniture stores and dealers in Canada, Bermuda, Panama, Puerto Rico, Japan, and South Korea. Today, the Monson workshop is the home of the new Moosehead Furniture. The shop still sits on an old slate quarry – Monson’s slate mining history goes back to 1870 – and is once again humming as 30 artisans are back at work handcrafting fine Maine-made furniture.