Senate Resolution No. 1565

BY: Senator BRESLIN

COMMENDING the Honorary Committee for the Ninth
Annual Holiday Celebration for the Watervliet
Historical Society Museum, and paying tribute to The
John S. Tilley Ladder Company on May 19, 2017

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize the
achievements of those individuals and businesses which substantially
contributed to the economic vitality of their communities and the entire
Empire State; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
commend the Honorary Committee for the Ninth Annual Holiday Celebration
for the Watervliet Historical Society Museum, and to pay tribute to The
John S. Tilley Ladder Company on Friday, May 19, 2017, at the Watervliet
Senior Center in Watervliet, New York; and

WHEREAS, Born in 1806, John Tilley, a resident of Grafton, New York,
established a cooperage business, head linings and coopers tools; he
also manufactured ladders; in 1855, he moved to West Troy, which became
Watervliet in 1896, and concentrated on manufacturing ladders and
scaffolding; his son, John S. (Sullivan) took over the business after
his father died in 1878; and

WHEREAS, Originally founded as a shop at First Avenue and Second
Street, The John S. Tilley Ladder Company moved to a modest rectangular
commercial building with double loading doors at the first and second
story of the building in 1886; a 1903 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows
that the store had become a small complex comprised of a three story
building where sawing and planning was done, five dwellings, and several
lumber sheds of various sizes; and

WHEREAS, John S. Tilley filed several patents related to
improvements to his step and extension ladders, and ladder hooks in
1886, 1887, and 1896; his goal was to increase ladder strength and make
them easier to operate; in 1907, a trade journal reported that the
Company had doubled its manufacturing capacity because of demand for
ladders, scaffolding, staging ladder hooks, and brackets, as well as
flag poles; and

WHEREAS, The complex was burned to the ground in a catastrophic fire
in July of 1915; a new 30,000 square feet, two-story brick factory was
built between First and Second Streets; under the luminous leadership of
John S. Tilley's son-in-law, Herman B. Gaffers, the plant more than
doubled in size with the 1924 construction of a three story brick
masonry building, joining the original building; and

WHEREAS, John S. Tilley advertised in trade magazines and displayed
products at trade shows, such as the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, and
the International Convention of the Master Painters in 1923; and

WHEREAS, By the 1930s, Tilley Ladders were being shipped throughout
the United States, to Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and South Africa; and


WHEREAS, In January of 2004, the John S. Tilley Ladder Company
closed its factory after 149 years of sparkling success; and

WHEREAS, Over the years, the John S. Tilley Ladder Company
positively impacted the industry it represented, and in doing so,
enhanced the economic vitality of Watervliet, and the entire State of
New York; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend the Honorary Committee for the Ninth Annual Holiday Celebration
for the Watervliet Historical Society Museum, and paying tribute to The
John S. Tilley Ladder Company; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to Thomas A. Ragosta, President, Watervliet Historical
Society.