Massachusetts City is Home to a Gigantic Chair…A Must See

Most towns and cities are known for some attraction that is different or a little off the beaten path. For example, the West Portal of the Hoosac Tunnel is located in North Adams. However, to see it you would have to cross private property and disobey a bunch of no-trespassing signs which isn't advised. The City of Lynn has an odd rocking horse graveyard which other than a few rumors and theories, nobody knows how it originated or who keeps adding more rocking horses to the area. You get the idea. Each Massachusetts town and or city has something unique to the area. Enter the City of Gardner.

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Gardner, Massachusetts is Home to a Giant Chair

If you have visited or traveled through the City of Gardner you may have seen a giant chair. If you have seen it you may be wondering why it's there. The reason for the chair is because Gardner was a city that manufactured chairs and became known as "Chair City." Here's some more information about Gardner being a center for industry per the City of Gardner website:

The Town [Gardner] soon became a center for industry. Several businesses opened including a sawmill, liveries, blacksmith, dry goods stores and several woodworking factories. By the mid 1800’s, Gardner’s major industry was the manufacture of chairs and other wooden furniture. Gardner was home to twelve furniture companies, which produced in excess of 1.2 million chairs annually and employed a workforce of over 850. Because of the volume of chairs manufactured, Gardner eventually became known as “The Chair City of the World”. A 20’ chair stands today as testimony to Gardner’s history in the chair manufacturing industry.

 

Although there have been photos of people sitting in the giant chair it's been noted in the video below that it's hard to get up on the chair and nearly impossible to get down. If you want to see an example of some of the beautiful chairs that were manufactured in Gardner you can visit the Gardner Museum.