private industry firearms predecessor w.h. baker company founded ithaca new york united states 1880 1880 founder leroy smith and william henry baker headquarters upper sandusky ohio u.s. area served global key people david dlubak products shotguns and rifles parent ithaca acquisition inc website www.ithacagun.com the ithaca gun company is a manufacturer of shotguns and rifles originally established in ithaca new york in 1880 . contents 1 history 1.1 production 1.2 lefever guns 1.3 fall creek 1.4 reorganization 2 references 3 further reading 4 external links history edit over the years ithaca made numerous firearms most notably the ithaca 37 shotgun . production edit ithaca became famous for building firearms based on expired patents owned by remington arms in 1989 remington purchased a design from ithaca the mag 10 shotgun which they produced as the sp 10 . ithaca also produced the m1911 pistol during world war ii and the m3 grease gun during korean war both for the united states military . its 12 gauge shotguns were the standard used by the los angeles police department and new york police department and even sold to the royal thai army in the early 1980s to arm farmers against communist infiltrators . 1 its hunting shotguns were known for their fine decorative work typically waterfowl or hunting dogs . 2 ithaca gun co. annie oakley gun 1916 around 1877 leroy smith went into business with william henry baker . they moved the w.h. baker company which manufactured double and triple barreled shotguns from center lisle new york to syracuse . 3 in 1883 baker smith and several partners moved to ithaca and established the original ithaca gun company . 4 the company was responsible for much of the early industry of tompkins county especially during world war i and world war ii 5 and counted among its later patrons john philip sousa and annie oakley . 6 lefever guns edit the lefever arms company 1883 1916 was a manufacturer of guns in syracuse new york founded by daniel myron lefever 1835 1906 who was an american gun maker popularly known as uncle dan lefever . he is best known as the inventor of the hammerless shotgun first introduced in 1878 . the company was in the business of gun manufacture until 1916 when they were incorporated with ithaca gun company in ithaca new york who continued with the lefever gun production until 1921 . 7 fall creek edit the original factory was located in the fall creek neighborhood of the city on a slope later known as gun hill where the nearby waterfall supplied the main source of energy for the plant . in later years the company came under criticism regarding environmental pollution of fall creek especially by lead which led to a superfund remediation effort . various plans to demolish the derelict plant and to redevelop the land failed over the years on account of the cost of remediation and community objection to construction proposals . the factory was condemned in march 2006 and only the smokestack presently remains . an apartment project has been proposed for the site . 8 despite having moved 6000 tons of lead contaminated material between 2002 and 2004 at a cost of 4.8 million 9 it was still necessary to perform even more clean up at the superfund site in 2015 . 10 reorganization edit the company was controlled by the smith family until 1967 when it was sold to a colorado company jerry baldritch & asso . which later after buying 10x clothing atlantic dinghy and american fiberglass became general recreation inc. and in 1971 aprox . made a public stock offering on the nyse . general recreation encountered financial problems in the late 1970s selling off all its subsidiaries except ithaca gun . after a failed attempt to move manufacturing to colorado it filed for chapter 11 reorganization in december 1978 shuttering the plant on december 20 for several months . 11 general recreation filed for bankruptcy a second time in september 1985 . 12 in 1987 new owners ithaca acquisition inc. moved manufacturing to king ferry new york . in 2005 it received a 150 000 development loan from cayuga county 13 and in may of that year moved to larger facilities in auburn . 14 after being unable to facilitate an operational manufacturing facility in auburn the owners sold all of ithaca s assets trademarks and manufacturing rights to the marshalls from upper sandusky ohio . the physical goods were relocated to floyd marshall s 30 years tool and die shop where all prints programs and processing were converted to cnc machine tools . unable to secure state or local financing assistance with the startup conversion the marshalls were forced to sell the company in the best interest of the company s name and its people . 15 dave dlubak purchased the company in june 2007 and it continues to operate in upper sandusky ohio . it has undergone a revamp with newer manufacturing equipment and still employs many of the people from floyd marshall s original staff . references edit associate press june 30 1982 . ithaca gun co. has thai order . the new york times . johnson kirk october 15 2000 . ithaca journal ; sweet fishing and a gorgeous gorge if you don t mind all that old lead . the new york times . snyder walter 1999 . the ithaca gun company . southern pines cook & uline . p. 15 . isbn 978 0 9629469 2 9 . historical overview of the ithaca gun company . retrieved 2008 06 23 . o toole molly november 28 2007 . gun factory building has hazardous history . cornell daily sun . archived from the original on november 22 2008 . retrieved september 26 2015 . gleason anne november 30 2005 . 125 year old company sold off at auction . the auburn citizen . recent trade developments . the horseless age volume 37 e. p. ingersoll new york . n.y. june 15 1916 . retrieved september 11 2010 . o toole molly november 30 2007 . clean up construction to rejuvenate ithaca gun site . cornell daily sun . archived from the original on november 22 2008 . retrieved september 26 2015 . epa finishes 4.8 million cleanup at ithaca gun . us epa . 29 october 2014 . retrieved 13 september 2015 . reynolds nick 9 september 2015 . epa to remove contaminated soil at ithaca falls . ithaca journal . ithaca ny . retrieved 13 september 2015 . heff alan january 23 1979 sickler named president of the ithaca gun company cornell daily sun upi september 5 1985 ithaca gun parent firm to reorganize schenectady gazette p. 8 broach louse hoffman june 23 2005 . ithaca gun loses buyer closes its doors . the auburn citizen . broach louise hoffman may 6 2005 . ithaca gun reloads in auburn . the auburn citizen . ithaca gun company 2013 catalog page 4 the ithaca gun company a brief history retrieved 2013 09 01 further reading edit snyder walter claude . the ithaca gun company from the beginning . spencerport n.y. cook and uline pub 1991 . isbn 0962946907 external links edit ithaca gun company epa to begin site work preparation at ithaca gun company site gun site cleanup raises concerns . wikimedia commons 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