The many fine buildings erected in Little Falls and elsewhere by the architectural firm of Carl A. Haug & Sons will long stand as a monument to the memory of the late Carl August Haug, Sr., the founder of that firm. Mr. Haug was born in Stuttgart, Germany, on August 13, 1853, and came to Little Falls from his birthplace when he was about thirty-five years old. He was accompanied by his wife, Fredericka, who was a native of Württemberg, Germany. For a number of years after coming here he worked for various contractors, following which he went into business for himself. His business grew steadily as his work became known and his ability received its deserved recognition. In 1912 Mr. Haug took his two sons into partnership with him under the firm name of Carl A. Haug & Sons, architects. One of the sons, Carl A. Haug, Jr., died in 1916, but the business was continued under the same firm name. Carl A. Haug, Sr., founder of the firm, passed away in Little Falls on February 24, 1922, since which time Fred Haug, the only surviving member of the original firm, has conducted the business alone, retaining the old name. This is a name of which he may well be proud, for the firm has designed some of the finest buildings that have been erected in recent years in Little Falls and vicinity. Among them are: The Masonic Temple of St. Johnsville; the Reaney Memorial building of the same place; two Lutheran churches and a Polish church in Little Falls; the Jefferson street public school of this city; and industrial buildings for the Phoenix Underwear Mills, the Little Falls Felt Shoe Company, the H. P. Snyder Manufacturing Company, the J. J. Gilbert Knitting Company, the New York Valley Paper Mills, the Jacob Zoller Company and Chris Hansen's Laboratory, all of this city. In addition the firm has put up a number of handsome business blocks, apartment houses and some beautiful residences, many of them for out-of-town clients.
From the time he became a citizen of this country Carl A. Haug, Sr., was a stanch supporter of the party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, never failing to cast his vote for its candidates. He attended the German Lutheran church of Little Falls. Always fond of nature and out-door life, he found in his adopted land plenty of opportunity to indulge his tastes in this direction and became an enthusiastic hunter.
Before he left his native land Carl Haug was married to Fredericka Feldmet. All of their five children were born in Little Falls. Miss Lydia Haug, who was educated in the public and high schools of this city, from which she graduated and took a commercial course in the Utica Business College, is now cashier for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company at its Herkimer, New York, branch; Anna Haug is now the wife of Chris Reiman of Little Falls and the mother of one child, Edward Reiman, born in May, 1911. Mr. Reiman is a toolmaker for the Remington Typewriter Works of Ilion, New York; Edward Haug, the oldest of the three sons, was married on June 30, 1923, to Miss Alice Munger of this city, who was a trained nurse before her marriage and a graduate of the local hospital; Carl A. Haug, Jr., deceased, graduated from the local high school in 1910 and two years later became a partner in his father's architectural business. A young life full of promise was cut short, when in 1916, he was claimed by death.
Fred Haug, the only living member of the original firm of Carl A. Haug & Sons, was also a graduate of the Little Falls high school in the class of 1910. At the age of nineteen he began to study architectural drawing and construction in the office of his father and brother and in 1912 became a member of the firm as already described. The burden of "carrying on" now rests solely with him, but he would not be his father's son if he were not equal to the great responsibility placed upon him. He has bent every effort toward maintaining the high standards of architecture established by his father and has succeeded to a degree that has won him the admiration and confidence of his associates and fellow townsmen. In their minds there is no doubt that the firm of Carl A. Haug & Sons will continue to go forward and play an important part in the upbuilding of the community. During the World war Mr. Haug was inducted into the United States Military service on April 4, 1918, and after less than two months of training at Camp Dix, embarked for England in May, with Company A, Three Hundred and Thirtieth Engineers Corps, Seventy-eighth Division. His unit landed at Dover, England, and later crossed to France. All told, he saw about a year of active service overseas, remaining there for some time after the signing of the armistice, and was not honorably discharged from the army until June 19, 1919, at Camp Dix. Mr. Haug belongs to the American Legion Post, No. 34, of Little Falls, and is also identified with the Order of United American Mechanics, No. 54, of this city, and the Little Falls Lodge, No. 42, B. P. O. E. Like his father he is very fond of all kinds of outdoor life and sport, especially hunting and fishing.