The World’s Largest Chest of Drawers in High Point, NC

When we rolled into High Point, North Carolina, we knew we had to see this thing. I mean, come on – the World’s Largest Chest of Drawers? That’s exactly our kind of weird roadside attraction! It lives on our World’s Largest roadside attractions list, giant socks and all. High Point calls itself the Furniture Capital of the World, and this 38-foot tall dresser is basically them saying “we’re not messing around here.”

The Story Behind This Giant Furniture

So get this – they built this massive chest of drawers way back in 1926, and it was originally called the “Bureau of Information.” Pretty clever, right? It was basically their way of saying “hey, look at us, we make furniture!” to anyone driving through town. They’ve given it a makeover over the years, and in 1996 they redesigned it to look like an 18th-century piece. Because if you’re going to have a giant dresser, it might as well be a classy giant dresser!

Those Giant Socks Though!

Okay, but the best part? There are these huge socks just hanging out of one of the drawers! I’m not even kidding – giant socks dangling from a giant dresser. Turns out High Point used to be big in the hosiery business too, so the socks are a little nod to that history. They’ve changed the colors over the years – sometimes they’re neon bright, sometimes more subdued – but those socks are always there, just hanging around being ridiculous in the best possible way.

Actually Visiting the World’s Largest Chest of Drawers

You’ll spot it at 508 N Hamilton St in High Point — hard to miss when it’s a 38‑foot dresser with a pair of socks hanging out. We pulled over, hopped out, and did the whole photo‑op thing. It’s the kind of stop that makes you grin for no real reason, and if you’re into roadside oddities (guilty) or just want a one‑of‑a‑kind shot for your feed, it’s worth the detour.

High Point Really Is the Furniture Capital

This isn’t just some random “big thing” plunked down for kicks. High Point takes its furniture seriously — they host the High Point Market, a trade show so big it pulls in buyers and designers from all over the world. In that light, the World’s Largest Chest of Drawers isn’t silly at all; it’s basically a giant welcome sign saying, Yep, you’re in the right place. They’ve built an entire identity around their furniture heritage, and they wear it proudly.

Should You Stop for the World’s Largest Chest of Drawers?

Look, if you’re driving through North Carolina and you see a sign for the World’s Largest Chest of Drawers High Point, just go. It takes like five minutes to stop, snap some photos, and have a good laugh about the giant socks. It’s the kind of wonderfully weird American roadside attraction that just makes travel more fun. Plus, it’s free, it’s right off the main road, and you’ll have a story to tell that starts with “so we saw this giant dresser with socks hanging out of it…”

Fact Check

True Story: the great gray paint scandal.
In 2016 a new owner painted the chest battleship gray and the socks neon green and orange. High Point revolted — “no one liked that gray,” the High Point Museum’s curator said on record. The chest sold again in 2018, and in August 2019 the cherry wood-grain finish was restored.

True Story: a bigger dresser stands 20 minutes away.
Furnitureland South’s highboy in Jamestown, built in 1999, stands 85 feet — more than twice this chest’s height. But a highboy is not a chest of drawers, and the Jamestown giant is a storefront, not a freestanding building. Same designer, too: Sid Lenger did both.

True Story: the original bureau wore a giant mirror, cost $5,000, and moved across town.
The 1926 original was 20 feet tall, topped with a faux mirror lettered “High Point, The Industrial City — Bureau of Information,” with real offices inside, paneled in walnut and mahogany. In 1951 the Jaycees moved the whole building to 508 N Hamilton, on one condition: it could never leave the city limits.

We heard a rumor that it was built to spite Thomasville.
Rumor — that’s the local telling: Thomasville debuted its World’s Largest Duncan Phyfe Chair in 1922, and High Point answered four years later with a giant bureau of its own — the opening shot in a giant-furniture arms race. The motive is lore; what is documented is that LBJ stood on that chair’s seat in 1960.

True Story: it just sold again — for $195,000.
After a century of High Point owners, the Big Bureau sold in September 2026 for $195,000 — over its $175,000 asking price — to a company based in Indiana. What they plan to do with a 38-foot chest of drawers, nobody seems to know yet.

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High Point is one stop on a much bigger North Carolina map — the full list lives on our Things to Do in North Carolina page. Still chasing oversized oddities nearby? The Mickey Coffee Pot in Winston-Salem is another landmark built purely to catch a driver’s eye, and the rival that started it all — Thomasville’s World’s Largest Duncan Phyfe Chair — is still standing too.

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