Nearly 150 years after carriage maker Fredrick Duckloe dabbled in handcrafting classic Windsor chairs in a shop outside Philadelphia, his descendants still carry on the family tradition.

But it wasn't until Duckloe's grandson, Frederick Duckloe Sr., came to Portland, on the northernmost tip of Northampton County, in 1937 that Frederick Duckloe & Bros, established Lehigh Valley roots.

Why did he come to this small village at the end of a now-defunct train line near the Delaware River?

"He was always vague about that," said his son, Frederick B. Duckloe Jr., 56, who runs the business with his sister, Barbara Duckloe Townsend, 58. "It was either a girlfriend or his car broke down here."

As it turned out, Portland was a good place to start a business. The town was strategically located between Philadelphia and New York, it had a train line, and before Interstate 80 was built, tourists had to pass through Portland to get to the Poconos.

Duckloe Sr. invited his brothers, Howard and Norman, to join him in his furniture-making enterprise in Portland. During the war, the brothers made pine drafting tables for the military and the occasional dresser, table or cupboard out of remnants for themselves or to sell to others. By 1943, American involvement in World War II had heated up, and the Duckloe brothers were drafted and sent overseas. When they returned, only Duckloe Sr. wanted to continue the furniture business.

In 1947, the year he incorporated Frederick Duckloe and Bros., he bought an auto repair garage off Delaware Avenue and made it his shop. It is still used as the factory. In 1953 and 1961, he bought two buildings on Delaware Avenue and converted them into the office and showroom.

Duckloe didn't concentrate the business on Windsor chairs until he attended a furniture show in Chicago and saw he could fill a niche.

"He probably couldn't find a better-made chair," Duckloe Jr. said.

And being in the Northeast, Duckloe Sr. recognized he was in the right area of the country to make and sell classic, 18th-century furniture. In an era of mass furniture production and imports from China, businesses such as Duckloe that handcraft furniture are a rare find. Windsor chairs are its stock in trade, but the company makes other colonial-era pieces and carries home furnishings from the most-prestigious manufacturers in the country, such as Henredon, Maitland-Smith, Statton Furniture and Stickley.

Duckloe is known far and wide for its handmade reproduction Windsor chairs, colonial tables and benches. Museums, historical societies, colleges and corporations seek Duckloe pieces, as do home-owners who value quality.

"Our customers are knowledgeable," Duckloe said.

Among the hallmarks of its Windsors, the wooden seats are deeply scooped and components such as spindles and legs are wedged into holes.

Duckloe copies details, down to the same wood as the originals, but it also reinterprets when necessary.

"Most are adaptations," said Duckloe Jr., standing amid a showroom filled with rich hardwood tables, chairs and other home accessories. Making bigger seats is one of them.

He points to a solid cherry comb-back rocker like those that would have been in an 18th-century American home. To modern sensibilities, it looks to be on the small side.

"This is an exact copy of an original, and that doesn't fit a lot of people," he says. "Americans were a lot smaller then."

What will happen to the Duckloe family legacy is anybody's guess.

Duckloe Jr. says his 16-year-old twin son and daughter haven't expressed interest in it yet. Townsend's children, age 32 and 35, are established in related fields, auctioneering and home staging.

The Duckloes must be doing something right to have maintained a successful family business for 70 years.

"I guess it's a combination of things," Townsend said. "We have good products, good service and good employees."

Family businesses often fail because of squabbles, she added.

"We always got along," she said. "When my dad was alive, he and my brother and I were partners. We've worked together since 1970 and never had an argument, never had a disagreement."

wandy.solomon@mcall.coin 610-820-6780