Spanning Time: The Starr revolver's roots

Sometimes it is hard to get the right date. There can be so many answers, and each one might have its own degree of “truthiness.”  After a lot of research, sometimes you find out that you had the right answer all along. In this instance, my research into the Starr Arms Company took my right back to the beginning. During the middle of the nineteenth century, the introduction of the assembly lie system in New England spread to the New York area and then followed the newly laid railroad lines from community to community.  One of the new firms that moved to this area because of this development was the Starr Arms Company.

In 1858, Ebenezer Townsend Starr started his new arms manufacturing company in Yonkers, New York.  Starr came from a long line of arms makers – his father and grandfather had made firearms for the government since 1795. The opening years of the Starr Arms, the company received a contract for the production of 3,000 revolvers that would be used by the Navy.  At the Yonkers facility, Starr had already begun in the manufacture of carbines (rifles) and began work on the revolvers.

This is where confusion begins, for if you research the company on the Internet, many of the description’s state that Eben Starr opened his company in Binghamton in 1858 and made those revolvers all in Binghamton. Unfortunately, that is not the date I had believed or the one quoted in other printed histories of the community. Finally, the answer came about by reading the official transcript of testimony given before Congress as to the reason behind the delay in completing the order for those 3,000 revolvers. 

That 1862 written account as the company’s excuse for not competing the order.  Much of it dealt with the lack of new equipment, construction of buildings in both Yonkers and Binghamton, and the need to find acceptable labor.  In the end, was a simple description that stated that the company opened their doors to their new plant in Binghamton in October 1861, and not 1858 which was the patent date for the design of the revolver – the date I had thought was right from the beginning.

The plant was located on Clinton Street, next to the railroad tracks and the impressive building would eventually employ several hundred. Most were unskilled labor who were trained to complete their assigned task in the making of revolvers. The influx of immigrants and workers into the area spurred the growth of the company.  It was the perfect storm for growth – a business built on cheap land, near good transportation, with an influx of cheap labor and low taxes.

With the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861 the opening of the new plant in Binghamton came at an opportune time. Both Colt and Remington were already involved in the manufacture of firearms – both revolvers and rifles for the soldiers. Starr came up right behind them for numbers with the manufacture of 23,000 double-action revolvers from 1862 to 1863. At that time, Colt ended it making single action guns, and Starr was given contract to convert to the new revolver design.  Once again, the Binghamton plant took up much of the burden with some assistance from the Yonkers plant.  Between the two, another 20,000 revolvers were made for the troops between 1863 to 1867.

But troubles brewed ahead for the firm. First, the Civil War ended in April 1865, and so did the contracts for the weapons. Second, Eben Starr seemed to have problems with timely delivery, and with the loss of most contracts, he had to make a decision. The Binghamton plant was closed about 1866. The entire Starr Arms Company closed in 1867, and Eben Starr ended his family’s involvement in firearms. 

The now empty plant would not be empty for long. It was sold to Edward Jones in 1867 to become the Jones Scale Works. General Jones converted the plant and would operate on that site until 1920. At that time, the plant was demolished to make way for the Daniel Dickinson School.

What remains today of our Civil War gun manufacturing plant – nothing except for Starr Avenue.