Berger Industries, Inc. was founded in 1919. A 1945 directory listed the company as the Berger Machine Company. The business manufactured radios and radio parts. By 1957, the business name changed to Berger Machine Products, Inc. and the company was manufacturing electric welded steel tubing, threaded pipe, lamp parts, and finials.
In 1967, Berger Machine Products and the Berger Tube Corporation were merged to create Berger Industries, and the same products were manufactured. NYSDEC inspected the site in 1986 and reported that Berger Industries at that time was producing electrical fittings and conduits. Operations included zinc electroplating, pipe expanding, and pipe bending. In 1993, Berger Industries filed for bankruptcy, and in March 1994, they closed their business, laying off 100 workers.
The General Signal Corporation of Stamford, Connecticut, purchased the equipment, patents, and inventory. In 1995, the main building was leased by Abatek Asbestos Lead and Mold Removal Corporation and a wholesaler. The rest of the Berger property was sold off in lots which are now occupied by a veterinary practice, a coffee shop and a storage facility. Before its most recent sale, the main building was being leased to a Pentecostal church. It was demolished in January to make way for another storage facility. The smokestack, which hosts telecommunications equipment, is staying. For decades, the section of the Maspeth/Elmhurst border around Grand Avenue and 74th Street was full of manufacturers, but in recent years they were replaced by retail, storage facilities, offices and schools.