The Ithaca Gun Company: A History
The Ithaca Gun Company, famous for their war-tested Model 37s as well as their artistically crafted hunting shotguns, is a company that many shell shooting enthusiasts hold dear to their hearts. Ithaca Gun Company (with all their various business names throughout the years) led the production industry in Tompkins County (New York), especially during WWI and WWII. Famous for their expansion and success based on expired patents (mostly Remington’s), as well as several purchased designs and patents, the history of the Ithaca Gun Company is as fascinating as any other firearm manufacturer beginning pre-1900.
The story of the Ithaca Gun Company surprisingly starts with a man named Baker. William Henry Baker formed the W.H. Baker company along with Lewis Smith. Both had suffered losses in the business world prior to their partnership, but neither man ever stuttered in their entrepreneurship. Together they began making firearms in 1863 based on Baker’s designs. Not long after, Lewis’s sons, Lyman Cornelius Smith and Leroy Smith began working alongside their father, forming W.H. Baker & Co. Together the team moved their production from Center Lisle, NY to Syracuse. Production in the Central New York city didn’t last long, and shortly after shifting their production to Marcellus (a suburb outside of Syracuse) Leroy and Baker set eyes on a new location in Ithaca, NY (Tompkins County). Lyman Cornelius Smith went on to create the L.C. Smith Shotgun Company of Syracuse. Smith and Baker’s success in Ithaca was all thanks to Ezra Cornell’s tunnel and dam system, established in 1832, which created an immeasurable amount of power, something any manufacturer of firearms would love to have. This system used the rushing water in the creek just before the falls, which was routed through a tunnel and then in turn could be diverted wherever necessary using a series of dams. The water, once reaching its destination, would power turbines that turned wheels, belts and shafts for mechanical power.
In 1883, William Baker, along with John Van Natta and Dwight McIntyre, bought the water power rights on the creek that leads to Ithaca Falls. Shortly after establishing their factory, they began producing the Ithaca Baker shotgun. By 1886, Leroy Smith and his brother-in-law, George Livermore, bought out the Bakers and the Ithaca Gun Company was finally established. The Ithaca Gun Company found great success when, in 1907, they purchased Emil Flues’ 1895 patented shotgun with only three moving parts per barrel. Baker upgraded the design for mass production and with this design, the Ithaca Flues double barrel shotgun surpassed Remington’s model. This shotgun became the all-time best-selling American made double barrel shotgun of all time. Ithaca’s shotgun began to take fame with well known firearm enthusiasts such as; John Philip Sousa, Annie Oakley and Alfred Lee Loomis. John Sousa, president of the American Trap Shooters Association at the time, had an Ithaca line of shotguns named after him: The Ithaca Souse Grade. Annie Oakley, famous for her shooting skills, as well as her participation in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, used an Ithaca Flues model for her competition and exhibition shooting. In 1917, Alfred Loomis and his brother-in-law purchased 17,000 acres of land in Hilton Head, South Carolina and established a private hunting preserve. They purchased numerous Ithaca firearms for their guests to use. Ready to expand on their company again, the Ithaca Gun Company incorporated with the Lefever Arms Company (another Syracuse firearms manufacturer). With this deal, Ithaca began producing Lefever’s hammerless shotgun. Ithaca produced the Lefever sidelock design until around 1921 when they continued to stamp the Lefever name on a boxlock action. These double and single barrel models were produced until 1941.
Around 1937 Ithaca began production on the now famous shotgun, the Ithaca Model 37. This design was based off a John Browning model of similar nature. The Model 37 became the standard issue shotgun for the LAPD and NYPD and is still circulating used firearm dealers’ shelves today.
Along with their shotguns, Ithaca produced the M1911 pistol, some of which were used in WWII. They also designed model 37s, with attached bayonets and short barrels, for trench warfare of the same war. Ithaca continued to support their country and also produced the M3 Grease Gun for the U.S. military during the Korean War. Ithaca would continue manufacturing firearms for the next 30 years, becoming the leading industrial company in Tompkins County.
The Smith family ran the Ithaca Gun Company for the duration of their lives, eventually with no one left to run the company, in 1967, it was sold to a Colorado based company, Jerry Baldritch & Assoc. This company went on to buy several other defunct businesses including; 10X Clothing, Atlantic Dinghy, and American Fiberglass. Later on, after acquiring those companies, Jerry Baldritch & Assoc. became General Recreation Inc. The new company continued production for several years, but unfortunately the story of Ithaca guns only goes downhill from here. Eleven years after their acquisition of Ithaca Guns, General Recreation Inc. attempted and failed to move production to Colorado. This set back, along with others involving their other companies, sent the company into bankruptcy. In 1978 they filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which resulted in the factory shutting down on December 20, 1978 and the loss of jobs to over 100 employees. During this period of financial troubles, General Recreation Inc. sold off all of their subsidies except the Ithaca line.
Fortunately their troubles pass (for a short time), and Ithaca’s production started up again only several months after the shutdown. During this time, in 1980, Ithaca firearms were sold to the Royal Thai Army in order to arm farmers against communist infiltrators.
Regrettably, General Recreation’s luck ended, and in September 1985, they filed bankruptcy again, leading to a complete shutdown of business. This shutdown brought the end of Ithaca firearm production in Ithaca forever.
Ithaca’s factory would empty out of workers and machinery and remain that way for the rest of time. Eventually, as environmental worries began to set in years later, the Federal Government would step in for cleanup of lead contamination and the property was quarantined off. Between 2002 to 2004, 6,000 tons of lead contaminated materials were removed from the factory site, Ithaca Falls area and Fall Creek area. This process was funded under the Superfund remediation effort (a U.S. federal program designed to fund the cleanup of sites contaminated with hazardous substances and pollutants). The Ithaca Gun Company name received scrutiny for the contamination and pollution of the region, the main pollutant being led. Later on, in March of 2006, the Ithaca based factory was condemned. Numerous plans to demolish the plant and redevelop the land failed over the years, mostly due to the cost of remediation (the ’02-’04 cleanup cost $4.8M) and community objection to construction proposals. Again, years later in 2015, it was discovered that the Falls Creek factory required even more cleanup of pollution and contamination materials. It appears that the Ithaca factory leaked massive amounts of lead into the area. This new cleanup project cost $400,000. Now the original home to the model 37 sits empty and abandoned, covered in graffiti and other various debris. It’s obvious that the building and surrounding area have become home to many delinquent trespassers, leaving their marks as they come and go. Thankfully Ithaca’s story doesn’t end there. In 1987 a new company, Ithaca Acquisitions, Inc., took the company over and moved production to King Ferry, NY, about 20 miles north of Ithaca. Ithaca Acquisitions biggest change to the company, next to moving the production facility, came with the name change of the model 37, to the Ithaca Model 87. Ithaca Guns ran for several years, and with the new started production, sold the 1989 design of the Mag-10 shotgun to Remington, who produced it as the Remington SP-10. Ithaca Acquisitions, Inc. seemingly ran the company well, but in 1996 Ithaca Gun Company, LLC, took over production. Their first order of business after acquiring the company was to change the classic pump action shotgun’s name back to the Ithaca Model 37. Ithaca Gun Company, LLC had had production running continuously for nearly ten years when Cayuga County granted them a $150,000 development loan. In 2005, with this loan, Ithaca Gun Company, LLC attempted to move production to Auburn, NY. Within the same year, after failing to find a functional facility for production, the company flops. This was the third stop in production of Ithaca firearms, spread out through four separate companies. BUT IT DOESN’T END THERE.
Once again, Ithaca changed hands, this time to Ithaca Guns USA, LLC. Unfortunately for these new owners, Ithaca Gun Company, LLC, left them without a home for production. Ithaca Guns USA, LLC was operated by Floyd Marshall who owned a tool and die company in Ohio. After purchasing the assets and rights to Ithaca Guns, Marshall moved all physical assets to Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Sadly, production was never reinstated due to Marshall failing to secure neither stare nor local funding over a two year period. They were forced to sell the company, after just two short years, in 2007.
