Abstract:
The Karastan Mill opened in 1928 as part of the Fieldcrest Group based in Leaksville. The Karastan Mill employs the only mechanical Persian rug looms in the state and produces over 75,000 rugs per year. Utilizing grippers or mechanical fingers to weave the rugs through the back, a characteristic feature of oriental rugs, Sharpe claims these looms were invented because Americans were unwilling to spend the amount of time required to weave these rugs by hand.