Remington Arms — Ilion Works
The Ilion works combined generations of metalworking, firearms production and changing company identities. A remembered machine, model, department, factory building or canal-side route can help distinguish one period of employment from another.
Begin with the right place and the right years
Large industrial employers changed ownership, expanded across multiple buildings and employed people in very different departments. A precise gate, building, shop, contractor or period often tells more than the company name alone. The history below supplies landmarks for reconstructing a personal work history.
A timeline to help place a memory
1828–1831
The Remington family acquired land near the Erie Canal; the gunmaking operation moved to Ilion in 1831.
Mid-1800s
Gun barrel forging, boring and rifling were part of an expanding factory complex.
1861–1865
Civil War demand increased the importance of firearms production.
1870s–1880s
The company diversified into other manufactured products, including typewriters; financial and ownership changes followed.
1888 onward
The arms works passed to new ownership, and the Remington name continued through changing corporate arrangements.
1914–1918
The factory expanded for First World War military production, including rifles for Allied forces.
1991
The Remington Society reports that researchers gained access to original Ilion factory production ledgers, correspondence, photographs and shop drawings.
Different work areas, different memories
Forging and barrel shops
Hammers, boring machines, rifling machines and grindstones offer different sensory and occupational cues.
Assembly and finishing
A remembered rifle or shotgun model may narrow the period and department.
Factory records
Production ledgers, drawings and historical photographs may help identify a shop or product line.
Canal and village
Steele Creek, the Erie Canal and the village street pattern connect the plant to everyday travel and community life.
Questions that may open a memory
- Do you remember a gun model, machine, department, shop foreman or production line?
- Was the employment at the Ilion arms works rather than another Remington location?
- Does a family photograph show a plant building, a union gathering or a work badge?
- Was the person a machinist, toolmaker, assembler, inspector, maintenance worker or office employee?
Dates on a calendar, union papers, family photographs, newspaper reports, shop drawings, payroll records and remembered coworkers can supply independent anchors for a story that begins with only a place name.
Connect a remembered detail to records
Start with the period, location and actual assignment. Compare those details with historic maps, company and agency records, product histories and the memories of people who worked nearby. H&S can assist with reconstructing occupational and other possible exposure histories when someone is facing mesothelioma.
Start with what you remember → How workplace histories are investigated → Explore New York worksites →
Historical source register
- Mohawk Valley history — Ilion and Remington industrial development
- Remington Society of America — factory research and archival records
- New York State Senate — Remington historical resolution
Source histories describe a place over time. The individual building, employer, dates and job duties still need to be matched to the person whose story is being reconstructed.