Gallery 51

History

The original warehouse building was built for William Carter Co. in 1950 for Carter’s Baby Clothes, which outgrew the building in the 1960’s.  They sold it to local, Thorpe Hill – who owned the local feed and seed store in Forsyth at that time.

In 1968, Hill sold the building to the Newton family, who had a family owned local textile company, Trio Manufacturing. One of the uses of the facility was to make kite string for Hi-Flyer Kite company in Decatur, IL.  Back then Hi-Flyer Kite was the largest kite manufacturing company around. Hi-Flyer Kite sold their company in the late 1970’s and exported their work in the 1980’s. Trio Manufacturing eventually outgrew the building and bought property locally to further expand their business.  

The building then sat empty for 10 years, until 2000 when Celia and Jim Henigman moved in with their stained glass business. They became of the official owners of the 22, 000 sf warehouse  in 2006. Today it houses both Gallery 51, Forsyth’s Premier Event Facility, and Henigman Remodeling and Glass.