Southern Joinery was founded as a professional woodshop in Rome, Georgia, in January 2000. Ben Harrison, owner and founder, built his first wood project at the age of ten - a pie cooling rack for his mother that she still prizes - and has been working with wood ever since.

Before founding Southern Joinery, Ben spent 35 years involved in the manufacturing of products from many materials, such as steel, glass, and ceramics, putting to use his engineering degree from Auburn University. However, after an inspirational visit to a professional woodshop in Oregon, Ben left the industrial arena for good to focus on his craftsman instincts and his passion for working with wood. The dream was clear - to bring to the South what he admired in this unique West Coast business: a collaborative, homespun woodshop whose furniture displays simplicity in design, quality worksmanship, and the love of natural finishes.

In less than a year, after a couple of research trips to Oregon and a lot of sawdust in Rome, Southern Joinery opened its doors with a wide array of sample pieces and an enthusiastic response from all who saw and touched them.