Thomas-Morse Aeroplane Factory

The 1882 bird’s eye view of Ithaca shows an extensive complex of multistory factory buildings and smokestacks at the site now known as the Aeroplane Factory. An 1888 Ithaca map shows a complex owned by the Ithaca Organ and Piano Company on both the north and south banks of The Inlet on Brindley Street. 

The factory at what is today 120 Brindley Street was later used by the Cornell Incubator Manufacturing Company, which made chicken incubators and portable chicken houses. It was founded by Ezra Cornell, the son of the founder of Cornell University, and then later sold to Cornell Heights developer Edward Wyckoff. 

The Thomas-­-Morse Aircraft Corporation owned a factory at this site from 1918 to 1923. According to the Sanborn map of 1919, the building is listed as “not in operation” and the buildings vacant. At that time, the complex of buildings was much more extensive than it is today. In 1923, Thomas-­-Morse sold the factory to the Robinson & Carpenter lumber company, who owned it until 1949. Ithaca city directories show the Thomas-­-Morse plant at the Brindley Street location from 1915 (when the Thomas Brothers Aeroplane Company incorporated) until 1929, so it’s possible that the company rented the factory before 1918 and after 1923. A 1929 city map shows the building used by Morse Products.

Finding Aids from relevant collections in the archives of The History Center in Tompkins County:
Guide to the Aviation Collection, V-1-5-6
Guide to the BorgWarner/Morse Collection, V-64-1-1, Box 3 Thomas-Morse Aircraft (1914-1929)
Guide to the “Chuck” Smith Ithaca Aviation Collection, V-64-8-7


At least 134 employees of the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation are included on the 1920 census. To find them follow these instructions:
Select Data on the menu bar, then select 1920 US Census from the dropdown menu. 
From the 1920 census database click the Filter button, then click select field name and choose Industry from the dropdown menu. 
Then click "contains" and select "contains one of" from the dropdown menu and 
copy and paste the following terms into the text box: plane Aircraft Thomas
Click the submit button.