Henrick Moe founded Moe Brothers Company in 1919. The company was founded to manufacture residential lighting. In the year 1948, Lee B. Thomas acquired this company. The name was changed to Thomas Industries and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1953. 

They have grown to become one of the largest manufactures of outdoor lighting.

In 1966, under a new showroom development program, Thomas Lighting Center opens their first store. The program is designed to assist Thomas Lighting customers with advertising, site selection, advertising, interior arrangements along with socking plans and promotion. Thomas Industries, under the symbol of Tll, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.  This has helped Thomas Lighting to become one of the largest outdoor home lighting companies in the industry of today.

In 1998 The Genlyte Group Inc. and the Lighting Group of Thomas Industries Inc. joined forces to create one of the largest lighting manufactures in North America. The new company is named Genlyte Thomas Group LLC and is still headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. This company is one of the largest manufactures of lighting fixtures and controls for residential, commercial and industrial markets. Their products are sold under the brand names of Cloride Systems, Capri, Crescent, Gardco, Day-Bright, Hadco, Lightolier Controls, Kedalite, Ledalite, Lightolier, Lumec, Stonco, Thomas, Translite, Vari-Lite, Sonoma, and Wide-Lite Inc., in the United States. In Canda the product names include Canlyte and Thomas.

The year 2003 brought about the Bronze Age for Thomas Lighting. The darker finishes was a large success. This was also applied the the outdoor lighting. During the Dallas Lighting Market in Dallas,Texas and also the International Home Builders Show in Orlando, Florida, in the year of 2005, Thomas Lighting introduced over one hundred and fifty new decorative products. Two of the products was a change in the standard design of the circular chandeliers and new designs for the etching of glass and new hand painting of the glass. The year 2007 saw the mini pendant selection. This pendent or the island lighting has become mandatory in the kitchens for not only the lights but also for being a focal point in many settings. This is also the year Thomas Lighting was recognized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for their new fixture concept. The new design allows for comfort and safety of many endangered animal species but still allows for the eco-friendly communities to have the aesthetically pleasing but also functional source of lighting. Some of the problems addressed was along the coastal regions. Problems of lighting areas such as where the endangered species of the sea turtles would come to lay their eggs and where the rare migratory birds will travel to claim their nesting grounds. Thomas Lighting is very proud of the Turtle Light, while it is decorative it is able to suit the needs of man and the environment.