Firearm Factory of the Month: Taughonic Falls Gun Mill

This one goes way back, back to the War of 1812. 

In the State of New York, just north of Ithaca there is a creek (river?) that runs down through a gorge on its way to Cayuga Lake.

Anyone that knows old gun factory history will now that before electricity factories needed waterpower to run their equipment and creeks and rivers with natural falls are a perfect place to get that waterpower.

In 1814 a gun factory was built along Taughannock Creek, upstream from the 3 falls. It was in a bend in the creek where the water cascades over the shale.

Taughannock Creek has three falls (not including the shale cascades shown above) the tallest of which falls 215 feet, the smallest a series of small falls with 15 feet of elevation loss.

The name of the factory was Taughonic Falls Gun Mill, the spelling was different then. There is some debate where the name came from and how it was supposed to be spelled. Some say the name means "great fall in the woods" from a combination of Iroquois and Algonquin languages or could be the name of a chief of the Lenni Lenapi tribe who supposedly died near the falls after a battle.

The factory was built to supply rifles, under contract, to the U.S. government during the war of 1812 (1812-1815).

Built in 1814 and used for a year or so, the remaining gun parts were shipped to an arsenal in Connecticut. It is unknown if the old gun mill was used for anything after it closed.

Many of the pictures of the mill were taken in the latter part of the 19th century as that is when camera use started to take off.

The factory was destroyed in the flood of 1935. It was the evening of July 7th, heavy rains caused the creek to overflow its banks taking out the old gun mill, a bridge and some park buildings. The gun mill's remains went over all three of the falls and I assume ended up in lake Cayuga.

More pictures of the gun mill:

The former location of the old gun mill is easy enough to find, there is a bend in the river where Jacksonville Road, Taughannock Park Road and Falls Road meet.

Sources:

File:The Old Gun Factory of 1812, Taughannock, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.png - Wikimedia Commons

Taughannock Falls State Park - American Byways

History | Taughannock Falls State Park

Taughannock Falls State Park - Wikipedia