The roots of Hathaway Percy Funeral Home can be traced to the 1890s when the Williams Furniture and Undertaking Company operated in the 600 block of East Elk Avenue in downtown Elizabethton. Early in the 20th century, Nat C. Nave, E. E. Hathaway, and J. B. Nave purchased the business and changed the name to Nave Furniture Company. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Naves and Mr. Hathaway "lost everything they had," which was the case with so many people, and the business was taken over by the courts.

In 1932, Roy Hathaway, E. E. Hathaway’s youngest son, bought the undertaking department of the business from the courts and opened Roy Hathaway Funeral Home. In 1935, Mr. Roy moved the establishment into the old Moreland Home, a stately residence at the corner of "F" Street and Lynn Avenue. In 1954, Mr. Hathaway took in Mr. Frank "Bob" Percy as a business partner and changed the name of the firm to Hathaway-Percy Funeral Home. The firm was moved to its present location at the corner of "F" and Roan Streets, after the purchase and renovation of the former Watauga Hotel Building, which had been built in the mid 1920s. In 1974, the Sunset Chapel was added to the existing structure.