Its central location and transportation allowed for the delivery of raw materials like cotton and lumber as well as import and export of processed goods, contributing to its early growth.

[12] Sites on the National Register of Historic Places[13][14][15][16][17] High Point is the only city in North Carolina that exists within four counties: Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford and Randolph.

The hottest temperature on record for the area was 103 °F (39 °C) on August 18, 1988 (in nearby Greensboro the high reached 104 °F (40 °C) in 1914), and the coldest was −8 °F (−22 °C) on January 21, 1985.

Though historically focused on production of furniture, hosiery, and Hatteras Yachts, High Point diversified its economy by becoming a center for distribution and logistics, customer service, banking, manufacturing, photography and pharmaceuticals.

[26] Functional furniture had been produced on a small scale since the 17th century by artisans of English ancestry who had settled in North Carolina.

[27] As the farming landscape of the South began to change with the end of the Civil War and slavery, cheap labor became available during the Reconstruction Era.

The North Carolina furniture industry gained momentum in the late 19th century, and developers were attracted to High Point for its location, transportation, and cheap labor.

The city was in the center of the Piedmont region with access to vast hardwood forests in the central and western parts of the state.

An agricultural depression of the 1890s drove farm workers to developing towns like High Point looking for industrial jobs.

[28] The Southern Railway line was formed in 1894, and High Point was shipping eight fully loaded freight cars of furniture each day by 1898.

[29] Meanwhile, other manufacturers set up local factories to provide related products like veneers, plate glass, mirrors, paint, and locks to furniture companies.

In addition to the increased competition for market shares, by 1910 the salary for competent experienced workers and rising shipping costs had cut further into the profit.

An innovative High Point company, Tomlinson Chair Co., devised incentives to give its workforce an opportunity to receive part of the profits.

[30] Store owners had to visit the factory to select their orders due to the large size and weight of the furniture.

This situation improved at the turn of the century with the mass marketing and sales of North Carolina furniture from the catalogues of Sears Roebuck and Co.[28] At the same time, competitors in large cities like New York and Chicago held a national exposition twice a year to display the manufacturers' products and to take orders from furniture dealers and buyers.

[31] Recognizing the need for a more convenient southern location, High Point furniture manufacturers began planning for an exposition to display and sell their product to the public.

[27] In 1921, a brand new Southern Furniture Exhibition Building was built with ten stories and 249,000 square feet (23,100 m2) at a cost of $2 million.

[26] The furniture industry and developing textile manufacturing set the pace for two 20th century growth booms in High Point.

Meanwhile, the High Point Market continued to set furniture trends and to be a national economic indicator; the $5 billion in sales in 1947 after World War II forecast a postwar boom.

In 1961, The State magazine declared, "High Point, in Guilford County, is the world's leading manufacturing center of wood furniture.

[33] Throughout the end of the 20th century, North Carolina continued to lead the nation in the production of both upholstered and wooden household furniture.

[37] The High Point Market is the largest home furnishings industry trade show in the world, with over 11 million square feet (1 km2) and about 2,000 exhibitors throughout about 180 buildings.

[40] In September 2017, Blackstone Inc. and Fireside Investments purchased IMC, which at the time owned 14 buildings totaling 6.7 million square feet, over 50% of the downtown.

[41] According to High Point's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[42] the top employers in the city are: Amtrak's Crescent, Carolinian and Piedmont trains connect High Point with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans.

The New York Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends, a network of Quakers from that state, started a school in Asheboro in the 1880s for African American students.

[43] In that year, black educator Alfred J. Griffin accepted the position of principal and led the establishment into a long period of growth.

The campaign solicited funds in order to attract the attention of the North Carolina Methodist Protestants, who had desired for decades to found a college.

High Point succeeded in attracting the college over rivals Greensboro and Burlington with a gift of 60 acres (24 ha) and $100,000 in pledges from leading citizens.

Many of the numerous civic organizations founded in the 1920s pledged funds, including the Rotary, Kiwanis, Civitan, and the American Business Club.

[47] High Point is one of the nine Shaw University "CAPE" (College of Adult and Professional Education) program centers.