Location: Ithaca, NY
Status: Main building demolished; a couple structures remain
Hidden away in the City of Ithaca stands what is left of the Ithaca Gun Factory. Originally a large building with a couple smaller buildings and the “Ithaca Gun” smoke stack on the side, all that remains of this once historic site is the smoke stack, one of the mentioned smaller buildings, and a large gravel lot that once was home to the famous landmark of Tompkins County. If you explore this site today, you may wonder, “Why was all of this built on the side of a waterfall?”, or “How did this once vacant structure meet its demise?”. All those questions and more will be answered here as we look into the story behind the abandoned Ithaca Gun Factory.
Located at 121-125 Lake St., The Ithaca Gun Factory was once known for their high quality and artistically decorated guns. As workers assembled well equipped shot guns, artisans would carve remarkable engravings on the metal and wooden parts as shown here:
These guns would be advertised and sold all over the nation as it would be shown off by Annie Oakley, of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and John Philip Sousa of America’s March King.
But how did this successful brand start? Well, it all began in 1863 when Lewis Steven Smith, a Tanner, met Lisle native William H. Baker. Baker had shown Smith his many designs and patents he had to improve the workings of guns. The duo soon started manufacturing Baker’s ideas in Marathon and then in Lisle under the name W.H. Baker Company.
By 1877, Lewis’s two sons, Leroy and Lyman, had joined the company. The two of them, along with Lewis and Baker, take the business to Syracuse and produced the “Baker’s Patented Double Breech-Loading Gun”. Soon after, the business moves once again to Manlius Station outside of Syracuse.
After six years of working with the W.H. Baker Company, Baker himself, along with Leroy Smith, leave the company behind and moved to Ithaca. While here, the two buy out a mill on the Water power lot #6 on Fall Creek as the nearby waterfall was going to help supply the main source of energy to their upcoming project. Along with several partners in the area, Leroy and Baker opened the Ithaca Gun Factory in 1883. A few years later, Leroy and his brother-in-law, George Livermore, bought out the Baker’s interests.
As mentioned earlier, the guns the factory produced became well known across America. Some of their well-known ones included the Deerslayer, the Deerslayer II, the Model 1911 pistol, and The Ithaca Model 37. The Model 37 was known as a true American Classic as it's the lone survivor of the pre-World War II pump-action shotguns. By 1924, the company sold 53,000 guns a year, making them successful in the industry.
Throughout the years, the Smith and Livermore family helped keep the factory running as George Livermore and the Smiths kept alternating executive positions. George eventually became the Chairman of the Board at the factory until he died in 1950 at the age of 104 years old.
As generations of both families worked at the factory, younger members, who the family assumed would take over the factory, had no interest in doing so. Because of this, in 1967, the holding company General Recreation, Incorporated bought the plant and its designs and continued to manufacture the guns until they went bankrupt 11 years later in 1978. The Ithaca Gun Factory was then reopened the following year by local investors until its court ordered shut down in 1986 as the company (once again) goes bankrupt. The company was soon bought out again as operations moved to King Ferry in Cayuga County.
The original site of the factory stood vacant for years as ideas were thrown around by the community on what to do with the large structure and all that came with it. By the time an idea came around to renovate the site into apartments, the main building was deemed unhabitable as it was contaminated with lead used by the factory during its operation. The site continued to stay abandoned for years to come.
Those who explored the abandoned factory described it as “a moldering dope den, crash pad, and spook house” as college frats would come in and do hazing rituals. The walls of the site were also covered with graffiti from the inside out. This all came to an end in 2009 as the main building was demolished.
Everybody knows, 2009
So, what now? What has become of the Ithaca Gun Company and what will become of the site at 121-125 Lake St.? Well, the company itself is still in business, but their King Ferry plant closed in 2005. It currently operates in Upper Sandusky, Ohio.
The site, on the other hand, is unknown. There were plans to build a 74-unit apartment building for seniors in 2018, but there have been no updates.
Today, what is left of the remains of the factory can be easily accessible through a hole in the fence that surrounds the small building and the smoke stack. While there, you may encounter some college kids hanging out, but they usually don’t mind others visiting their sectary. As the small building serves as a hang out spot for these local college students, the Ithaca Gun smoke stack stands high as a reminder to the community what was once in the spot.
Comments