A. & M. Karagheusian, Inc. was a rug manufacturer headquartered at 295

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Manufacturing was located in

Freehold Borough, New Jersey Freehold is a borough in and the county seat of Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey., National Association of Counties. Accessed January 21, 2013. Known for its Victorian era homes and extensive colonial history, the borough is l ...

and operated for 60 years before closing in 1964. It employed 1,700 people at its peak operation in the 1930s.

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

wrote about the Karagheusian Rug Mill’s closing in his 1984 song "

My Hometown "My Hometown" is a single by Bruce Springsteen from his '' Born in the U.S.A.'' album as its closing track, that was the then-record-tying seventh and last top 10 single to come from it, peaking at #7 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 and #6 on the ...

History

Arshag Karagheusian Arshag Karagheusian ( December 4, 1872 - September 24, 1963) was an Armenian rug manufacturer and co-owner of A. & M. Karagheusian, Inc. He also served as the head of the Armenian General Benevolent Union becoming its 4th president from 1943 to 1 ...

(1872-1963) and Miran Karagheusian (1874-1948), were

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

and fled Turkey in 1896 to go to England and then to the United States. The family had been in the rug trade in Turkey since 1818, and they began in the United States in 1897 as rug importers, and then expanded into manufacturing in 1903. By 1927 they had 15 broadlooms, weighing 15 tons each, and 196 single looms. They developed, and were the only manufacturers of "Gulistan Rug" carpets. They made the carpet for

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

in 1932 and for the

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building in 1933. They stopped manufacturing oriental carpets in 1953.

Miran Karagheusian

Miran Karagheusian (1874–1948) had attended

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational, Education in Turkey#Private schools, private Second ...

in Constantinople (Istanbul). He married Zabelle and had two children: Howard Karagheusian, who died young and a scholarship was set up in his name, and a daughter, Leila Karagheusian (c. 1910-1999). Miran Karagheusian died on October 7, 1948, at

Lenox Hill Hospital Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450 bed non-profit, Tertiary care, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the reg ...

in Manhattan, he lived in

Oyster Bay, New York The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns that make up Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is ...

Arshag Karagheusian

Arshag Karagheusian (1872–1963) had the following children: Jean Karagheusian Hallaure (1898–2000) aka Alice Hallaure; Charles Karagheusian (1903–1977) who married Artemis Tavshanjian (1904–1990) on April 30, 1927, and Marguerite Karagheusian Agathon (husband Oshin Agathon) (1904–1986). Arshag served as the head of the

Armenian General Benevolent Union The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU, Eastern Armenian: Հայկական Բարեգործական Ընդհանուր Միություն, ՀԲԸՄ, ''Haykakan Baregortsakan Endhanur Miutyun'', or ,''Hay Parekordzagan Enthanour Miyutyun'' or ...

from 1943 to 1952. Arshag died on September 24, 1963, in

Larchmont, New York Larchmont is a Village (New York), village located within the Town (New York), Town of Mamaroneck (town), New York, Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. Larchmont is a suburb of New York City, located approximately northeast of Midt ...

Renovation

In 2001, the mill reopened as a 202-unit affordable apartment complex, named The Continental at Freehold. The

New Jersey Department of Community Affairs The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Function The NJDCA provides "administrative guidance, financial support, and technical assistance to local governments, community develop ...

(DCA) and its affiliated New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) were major financiers of the project. Community Affairs Commissioner Jane M. Kenny said: "Nearly forty years after the looms were packed up and hauled away, the rug mill is a working building once again."

Roselle Park factory

The company had a factory in

Roselle Park, New Jersey Roselle Park is a borough in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 13,967, an increase of 670 (+5.0%) from the 2010 census count of 13,297, which in turn reflected ...

, from May 19, 1923 to 1962.

References

External links

Monmouth County Historical Association: Coll. 51 A & M Karagheusian, Inc. Records, 1914-2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:A and M Karagheusian 1904 establishments in New York (state) Armenian-American culture in New York City Armenian-American history Carpet manufacturing companies Freehold Borough, New Jersey Persian rugs and carpets Turkic rugs and carpets Defunct textile companies of the United States