This business was founded in 1849 by German-born Carl Hager, making it one of the oldest surviving manufacturing companies in St. Louis. It grew from a blacksmith shop to become now the largest hinge manufacturer in the world.

'Since the early 1900s, the Hager headquarters has been housed in a complex of 19th-century buildings in downtown St. Louis, near the Mississippi River. During the 1980s, the company remodeled the space, which now combines a sense of history with an efficient, up-to-date office environment that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places'. (Costas, 1999)