Lenox history

In 1894 Lenox purchased Coxon's interest in the Ceramic Art Company, and thereafter he ran the business alone.

The company's first big break came when the firm filled an order from Shreve and Company, a retailer located in San Francisco, which was delivered just in time to be destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

In 1918, Lenox became the first American china to be used in the White House.

Walter Scott Lenox's health continued to deteriorate, but his company prospered, and when he died in January 1920 the firm was finally out of debt.

First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, tasks Lenox with creating new china in time for an important state dinner in January 1935: one of the largest affairs ever held in the White House to date.

In 1983 Lenox was acquired by Brown-Forman Corporation, a large conglomerate with most of its sales in the beverage industry.

In 1985 Lenox opened a new plant in Oxford, North Carolina, with state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques for the company's fine china gifts.

Ed Adams was just four years away from retiring from Lenox in New Jersey when the company searched for a place to decorate slightly defective china and sell it to outlet malls in 1988.

Bishop trained with 41 other original Lenox employees at Lenoir Community College before the Lenox plant opened in May of 1989.

Marston, director of the visitors center, first realized Lenox played a major role in Kinston around 2008 when the George W. Bush Lenox china set was being shipped to The White House.