The story
Founded by William Gurley in 1845.1
Gurley Enterprise was established by William Gurley and Lewis E. Gurley in 1845, brothers who were both alumni of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 1885 Gurley started making Hydrologic equipment and in the early 1900s acquired many new fields including paper testing equipment and thermometers. During World War II Gurley won the Army-Navy ‘E’ Award for their contribution to the war effort. In the 1950s the company started producing optical encoders. During the Cold war era, Gurley manufactured gyroscopes, sextants, star trackers, theodolites, angle dividers, optical positioning systems, and various other precision guidance devices for guided missiles and for space launch vehicles. Teledyne Corporation acquired W. & L. E. Gurley in 1968. In 1993 Gurley was sold again and became Gurley Precision Instruments.
The W. & L. E. Gurley Building in Troy was named a National Historic Landmark in 1983.
From Wikipedia’s article on Gurley Precision Instruments, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3