Henry Quackenbush

Henry Marcus Quackenbush (April 27, 1847 – September 8, 1933), commonly called "H.M.", was an American inventor and industrialist who founded the H.M. Quackenbush Company in Herkimer, New York. His company was widely known for its air rifles and for the invention of the metal, spring-jointed nutcracker. At the age of 16, he invented the extension ladder, which he patented on October 22, 1867.

Early apprenticeship and invention of extension ladder

Quackenbush was born in Herkimer, New York, in 1847. At age fourteen, he began an apprenticeship at gun manufacturer Remington Arms Co., where he acquired skills as a metalworker and gunmaker. After receiving the patent, Quackenbush began manufacturing ladders himself, until he sold the patent for $500.

In the 1880s, they began mass production of so-called "gallery guns", and the Quackenbush name appeared in carnival and amusement arcade shooting galleries throughout the United States. in Cincinnati, Ohio, leaving metal finishing as their primary remaining line of business. The downsized operation was reconstituted as HMQ Metal Finishing Group, LLC, in 1998, with Frederick H. Hager, the great-great grandson of the founder, as chairman and CEO.

In July 2021, the Herkimer County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) approved a quit claim resolution turning over the former H.M. Quackenbush property on North Prospect Street in Herkimer, New York, to the Herkimer 9 initiative who have plans to revive the site including it having a museum honoring Quackenbush.

In June 2023 the Quackenbush factory site was added to the New York state and United States national registers of historic places.