Barnhardt Manufacturing history

In 1911, Barnhardt Manufacturing sold the first cotton batting ever put into an automobile, when it filled an order for the Packard Motor Car Company.

In 1914, Barnhardt began to design and produce the first cotton filters for use in the manufacture of rayon and acetate yarns.

Our original bleachery was built in 1929.

In the 1930’s, Carolina Absorbent Cotton Company was formed to sell and distribute surgical dressings and related products.

Although four of his children joined the business, he remained president until his death in 1946 at the age of 85.

In 1947 Barnhardt Manufacturing bought Richmond Dental Cotton Company, a purchase that began a tradition of company expansion through acquisitions.

In the 1950’s, a new plant and executive offices were built on the original site.

New corporate offices and a $105,000 plant addition opened on the original site on Hawthorne Lane in 1952.

In 1966, another major expansion added a 50,000- square-foot building for its polyester batting business.

In 1967, Hickory Cushion Division was opened in Hickory, North Carolina.

In 1979, the division began supplying beauty salons with disposable cotton beauti-coil used in perms and hair colorings.

The 1980’s continued to bring about expansion and change for the company.

In 1981, a long awaited new bleachery was completed.

In 1984, new equipment was added to the bleachery at a cost of more than $4 million which increased its capacity by another 33 1/3 percent.

The three Cushion divisions were joined in 1985 by a fourth in Ocala, Florida.

He was preceded by Lewis, the youngest of his brothers, who started with the company in 1987 in sales at the Ocala, Florida, cushion fabrication plant.

In 1988, Hickory Cushion moved into their new fabricating facility on Tate Boulevard in Hickory.

In 1989, the bleachery was again expanded and a new bleachery warehouse was built.

In 1992, the sales teams for each division were merged into one, and marketing personnel were added.

In 1996, the Charlotte and Ocala Cushion divisions were closed in an efficiency move.

In July 1998 the division was awarded a Mission Success Medal by Lockheed Martin Michoud Space Systems for supplying foam insulation for the US space shuttle program.