Indiana Army Ammunition Plant
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The Indiana Army Ammunition Plant was an Army manufacturing plant built in 1941 between Charlestown and Jeffersonville, Indiana. It consisted of
- Indiana Ordinance Works Plant 1 (IOW#1): made smokeless powder
- Indiana Ordnance Works Plant 2 (IOW#2): made rocket propellant
- Hoosier Ordnance Plant (HOP): made propellant charges bags
In 1940 it was announced that the world's largest smokeless powder plant would be built near Charlestown, as the land was close to the Ohio River, giving it the water necessary for making smokeless powder, and the fact that the land was cheap because it was unsuitable for farming and because few individuals lived on it. Actual building of the facility started on September 4, 1940, although officially it started on August 28. At its height, the Plant employed 27,520 people in May 1941, which helped the area recover from the Great Depression.
The plant was run by the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, although owned by the Army. The plant would have 10,655 acres, 1,700 buildings, 30 miles of fence, 84 miles of railroad track, and 190 miles of roads.[1]
The ammunition manufacturing facility was placed into modified caretaker status in 1992 [2]. The grounds are still maintained by ICI America Incorporated although large tracts of lands and buildings are abandoned. It was renamed "Facility One" on May 9, 1995, and renovations commenced that now host 30 industrial companies. Other sections have been donated to various groups; one notable example is the donation of land to the Indiana state government for use as Charlestown State Park.
[edit] References
- ^ A Brief Informal History of Clark County, Indiana by Gerald Haffner (1985), pg 191.
- ^ Cahal, Sherman. "Ammunitions Depot." 24 Nov. 2006 Abandoned. 30 Nov. 2006 [1].
