Funderburk Brothers Buildings
(ca. 1901)
The Funderburk Brothers Buildings evidence the nearly century-long Matthews-based business ventures of the prominent Ellison James Funderburk family.
159 and 165 North Trade St. and 130 Library Lane, Matthews, NC 28105
The Funderburk Brothers Buildings are all that remain of a series of commercial buildings once owned and operated by the family of Ellison James Funderburk. The family’s holdings once included a cotton gin, two stores, a bank, a blacksmith shop, a livery stable, a grist mill, and a collection of apartments. Only the buildings at 159 and 165 North Trade Street and 130 Library Lane remain as physical evidence of the family’s substantial business holdings.
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E.J. Funderburk (1836-1916), a native of Chesterfield County, South Carolina, migrated to Mecklenburg County following his Civil War service for the Confederate States of America. He and his wife Selia Anne Williams Funderburk (1838-1427) raised five sons and six daughters. E.J. purchased the first of many land parcels he would own in and around Matthews in 1878. Sometime between 1878 and 1898, E.J. erected the building at 159 North Trade Street where he likely operated a general merchandise store. E.J.’s son Benjamin DeWitt Funderburk (1868-1954) continued his father’s entrepreneurial spirit most successfully, but B.D.’s brothers Thomas Lee Funderburk and Ellison Albertus Morgan Funderburk also exhibited E.J.’s business savvy. In 1898, B.D. acquired his father’s North Trade Street building, likely continuing its existing business until converting it into a barber shop in or about 1909. B.D. constructed the more elaborate adjacent building at 159 North Trade Street in 1901 for a dry goods store.
B.D. expanded his operations with the 1909 construction of a two-story building to house the newly established Bank of Matthews (for which B.D. served as a director for nearly 50 years) and a general merchandise store, with apartments on the second floor. Between 1901 and 1909, B.D. added the livery stable and two rear brick buildings: one, a blacksmith shop; the other housing a variety of operations, including a grist mill and a woodworking shop. He also opened the Funderburk Cotton Gin on the north side of the railroad. B.D.’s brother Thomas Lee was involved in most of those enterprises until his unexpected death in 1940. Their brother Ellison worked as a cashier for the Bank of Matthews until his death in 1937. B.D.’s son Lee Edward served as president of the Bank of Matthews from 1926 into the 1970s before selling the bank to BB&T in 1978.
The buildings experienced considerable changes during the twentieth century. A 1913 fire destroyed much of the livery stable. A subsequent 1958 fire destroyed the second floor of the bank building. A midcentury addition placed a new front on the livery stable. The two rear brick buildings became a gift shop in the early 1970s. The cotton gin, livery stable, and 1909 bank building and general merchandise store were all demolished prior to 1979, leaving only E.J.’s original store building, B.D.’s 1901 dry goods store building, and the rear brick buildings.