Leupold & Stevens

Leupold & Stevens, Inc. is an American manufacturer of telescopic sights, red dot sights, spotting scopes, and binoculars located in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. The company, started in 1907, is family owned and has been run by five generations of the family.HistoryLeupold & Stevens was founded by the German immigrant Markus Friedrich Leupold and his brother-in-law Adam Voelpel in 1907, under the name Leupold & Voelpel. At the time, the company specialized in the repair of survey equipment. In 1911, Leupold & Voelpel was contracted by John Cyprian Stevens to manufacture a water level recorder he had designed and patented. After the initial success of the product, he was made partner in 1914 and the company was renamed Leupold, Voelpel, and Co. Besides the first water level recorder, the company invented several other innovative pieces of equipment, such as the Telemark water recorder which was patented in 1939. This device could transmit water level information via telephone, allowing for remote monitoring of water resources to become feasible.In 1942, the company name was changed to its present form, Leupold & Stevens. Surveying equipment, rifle scopes, and related products are sold under the "Leupold" name, while water monitoring instrumentation, such as level and flow recorders, are marketed under the "Stevens" brand.After World War II Leupold & Stevens began making gun scopes after Marcus Leupold failed to hit a deer with his rifle. His scope fogged up and he is reported to have exclaimed "Hell! I could build a better scope than this!" as the deer bounded off. By 1979, the Leupold scopes were generating twice the total revenue of Stevens instruments.