Forget geography; the roots of the Carolina Shoe Company are now planted firmly in the great state of Massachusetts. Though the company's original manufacturing facility was established in Morganton, North Carolina in 1962, the story of the company itself extends back almost 80 years before to Natick, Massachusetts and a man named Henry H. Brown.

Brown founded his company, the not-so-creatively named H.H. Brown in 1883 with the idea of manufacturing only the types of shoes in which craftsmanship can make a true difference; mainly, high-quality work shoes and boots. Because of their inventive designs and high quality materials, Brown's shoes quickly began to standout from the footwear produced by the 22 other shoe factories in Natick.

Brown sold the company in 1927, but his ideals continued to influence its development, and his standards were still firmly in place 35 years later when the company opened the Carolina manufacturing facility. Carolina began constructing safety work footwear with much the same attitudes as their parent company's founding father-- constructing original footwear from the highest quality materials, and anyone who's dropped something heavy on his or her foot can appreciate just how much difference skilled craftsmanship truly makes when it comes to safety footwear.

In 1967, Carolina sent representatives to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) committee to establish standards for safety toe footwear. True to the spirit of Mr. Brown, Carolina immediately began producing footwear exceeding these standards they'd helped establish. By introducing Opanka-- hand-sewn construction and electro-static dissipative construction to industrial safety footwear-- Carolina took work footwear far beyond the point of simple functionality or government-adopted standards to a new level of formfitting comfort and reliable jobsite safety. In fact, Carolina's current footwear might well exceed even the lofty expectations of their parent company's founder.

While Henry H. Brown could only ensure his shoes' quality with good design and quality materials back in the 19th century, Carolina has taken those early work boots into the new millennium, incorporating patented cutting-edge technologies such as DRYZ Gel Cell moisture absorbent inserts and Ultra Welt slip resistant outsoles to ensure that boots made under the Brown name are still distinguished by superior craftsmanship.