Between Darkness & Light | Indiana Army Ammunition Plant

Regarding locations, the former Indiana Army Ammunition Plant is by far the largest location I ever explored and only a tiny percentage of the total area. This massive factory is terribly repeatable, as it was designed to be an enormous plant for the production of smokeless powder during the Second World War. Based on what I’ve read and seen, I spent almost all the time at the Indiana Ordnance Works No. 1 and a bit of the Hoiser Ordnance Works. Either way, this was a single location I spent five hours at, but I still feel that I only saw a little but at the same time seeing a lot.

When the Second World War erupted in 1939 (or 1938, depending on who you ask), the United States had no desire to enter another European conflict. However, that didn’t mean they were not involved; the United States was significantly involved through the lend-lease program. By 1940, there were already rumours that the United States would soon enter the conflict. Not only to keep up with the lend-lease program, they also needed a modern way of producing the powder for ammunition, both small arms and artillery. During their brief involvement in the First World War, the War Department operated seventeen small smokeless powder production plants, all of which had been demolished following the war’s end. In 1940, the department began to purchase large tracts of land along the Ohio River near Charlestown, Indiana. At the site, it was announced that spring would be home to the world’s largest smokeless powder plant; construction started in August, and immediately, Charlestown was flooded with workers and their families. The Indiana Army Ammunition Plant (INAAP) originally consisted of two separate plants; Indiana Ordinance Works No. 1 (IOW 1) would produce smokeless powder for small arms and construction and operations overseen by DuPont Powder Company. The second plant, Hosier Ordinance Works (HOW), started construction in February 1941 by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Works to produce smokeless powder designed for artillery. The company made the powder bags and loaded them with the powder produced. Both plants were similarly set up; parallel production lines would see duplicate buildings with everything spread out so that if the worst happened, it would only affect a single line. A complete fire department, power production, laboratory, staff support, administration and water treatment facilities were also present to allow for fully self-contained operations. The finished products were transported by close to 100 miles of railway tracks and three railway depots, with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad servicing the plant. IOW 1 started limited operations in the spring of 1941 and total production on six powder production lines by February 1942. The HOW lines began limited operations in the Fall of 1941 and were completed in February 1942. Production and employment peaked in the summer of 1943; INAAP employed 30,000 workers and could output nearly 100,000 pounds (45,360 kilograms) of powder daily. Construction of Indiana Ordinance Works No. 2 (IOW 2) was authorised in October 1944 to produce rocket propellant used in anti-tank munitions and aircraft-based rockets in preparation for the invasion of the Japanese home islands and ongoing fighting in Europe. While limited production did start in July 1945, the surrender of Japan in August would see construction at IOW 2 cease along with all operations. At this time, INAAP consisted of 1,700 buildings stretching across 19,200 acres. Operations at IOW 1 and HOW began to wind down, and the US War Department consolidated all three sites under government control and appointed DuPont as caretaker by November 1945. INAAP would be maintained on a 120-day notice to restart production. However, it did see use to produce ammonia nitrate from June 1946 to March 1950 as a high-nitrogen fertiliser shipped to Europe during the reconstruction under the Marshall Plan. During this tim,e tensions on the Korean peninsula escalate. Preparationss were made to restart powder production, with HOW starting in 1951 and IOW 1 in 1952. Operations continued until 1957, and INAAP returned to caretaker status under the Liberty Powder Defense Company in 1959.

It would only be a year before the production of artillery charge bags restarted at HOW in 1960. By 1961, HOW was producing and loading bags and building ignitors for the 105mm artillery pieces, initially the M101A1 and then the M102, for the escalating Vietnam War. It was in 1966 that the site’s one and only accident occurred, an unplanned explosion at one of the storage bunkers; thanks to the site’s layout, only the bunker was destroyed, and no injuries were sustained. The on-site fire department quickly knocked down the fire. IOW 1 would see a restart in 1969 to produce smokeless powder. By 1970, IOW 1 and HOW employed 12,000 workers. The site’s environmental impacts were starting to be felt, and a greenish cloud would often be over the site. The power stations were equipped with an electrostatic precipitator, the ammonia oxidation plant was demolished, and a newer building was completed by 1971. As the US began to pull out of Vietnam, operations at INAAP again started to wind down in 1972, with it being returned to caretaker status under ICI America. During the mid-70s, efforts were made to improve and automate the production of smokeless powder; a new, smaller, automated campus started construction in 1974 near INAAP. The new nine-building site would begin testing in 1978, but by 1983, there appeared to be too many bugs in the system, and the project was shelved. Efforts were made to find some use for the INAAP site, including a new explosives research division and the production of solid rocket boosters for NASA’s shuttle program. Both efforts yielded nothing; a last-ditch attempt saw a minor contract open up and used at IOW 1 from 1991 to 1992 for powder production, but already shut-down operations were commencing. The army officials shut down the post in 1994. Throughout its history, INAAP produced a total of 3.2 billion pounds of powder (145,149,558 kilograms). Every level of government scrambled to get a piece of the nearly 20,000 acres; the problem was environmental remediation. A large section of the property would be cleaned up in 1997, and Charlestown State Park opened. However, it was not until 2001 that an official redevelopment plan saw approval, and demolition and adaptive reuse of buildings started in 2004. The power stations were knocked down in 2011 and 2012, respectively. While at least half the property is now an active industrial park, a whole other section remains intact in 2023.

The April sun was much hotter than I expected, but I was further south than usual in the spring. INAAP was the crowning trip for MAMU (Mid-Atlantic Meetup) V, as the group gathered into many cars to drive across the river. The nice thing about INAAP is that access could be had if you knew where to go after paying for entry into Charlestown State Park and getting a map. The best part is that by going to a state park, not only would our cars be safe, but we would also be able to park and wander without fear of police getting suspicious as the park is massive. Meeting up with the rest of the group, we headed out, following a railway spur into the back of the property. Then, it split into smaller groups to avoid too much attention. While the INAAP site is vast, there were still active patrols in the abandoned section, which meant we had to travel through the brush as much as possible. I had packed way too much kit and was already sweating. After taking a fantastic view from one of the towers, we headed deeper into the site. I’ve been looking through Google Maps at INAAP and realising how much of the site we saw, mainly because there was so much duplication throughout; we hit all the significant areas. I’m unsure which sections we saw, but I’m guessing it was mainly IOW 1. We spent a lot of time outside, as the buildings were rightly spread apart, but how we had to travel made the whole thing feel longer. Sadly, some of the more exciting locations weren’t within our reach, and the massive power stations were already demolished a couple of years before my trip. And the laboratories were too close to the active sections of the property. We spent five hours on the site, and I hurt afterwards. Everyone made it out safely and we hiked back to our cars without incident.

I cannot say I grew as a photographer while visiting INAAP, as I only visited the site once. But I did learn a valuable lesson in what to pack and what not to pack on such a trip. See, I took all the cameras I had at this event. And there were a lot of cameras. I packed my D300, E-P1, Pentax 645, and a 4×5 camera. It was not the lightest load, and being five hours under hot sunny skies did not do well for my well-being. Some photos show how exhausted I looked after walking around the site for five hours. Am I happy with all the images I created on the tri? Yes, even the large format ones turned out beautifully. But was it necessary to take everything? Well, at the time, I thought so; INAAP is a vast location and one that I didn’t know I would get back to. As it is, I have yet to go back to INAAP. So, I wanted to ensure I covered all my bases in one trip, but looking back, that was a mistake. I should have gone with only my D300 and the 14-24mm lens shot as much as possible in the digital realm and left everything else behind. In fact, I changed how I packed for future urban exploration events. Such events would involve a great deal of hiking with minimal camera gear and leave more room for media and, of course, water and snacks.

The one thing I am disappointed in is that I never got to return to INAAP, despite being in the area again, the size and time needed to properly explore the location made it impossible for a second visit. And what also surprises me is how much of INAAP is still standing while so much has been lost. Thankfully there is a historical plaque along Highway 62 that shares the history of INAAP to anyone willing to stop. Despite it being a hard spot to explore, I’ll always remember that one solo trip, both fondly and with self-loathing for the mistakes I made in bringing so much kit. You can see my entire set of images over on Flickr. You can also find a lot more images of INAAP over on Abandoned America, which also provided a lot of the historical research for this post.

Glossary of Terms
Electrostatic Precipitator: An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is a filterless device that removes fine particles, such as dust and smoke, from a flowing gas using the force of an induced electrostatic charge minimally impeding the flow of gases through the unit.

Smokeless Powder: A type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. The combustion products are mainly gaseous, compared to around 55% solid products (mostly potassium carbonate, potassium sulfate, and potassium sulfide) for black powder. In addition, smokeless powder does not leave the thick, heavy fouling of hygroscopic material associated with black powder that causes rusting of the barrel.

Marshall Plan: The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion in economic recovery programs to Western European economies after the end of World War II.

M101A1 Howitzer: The M101A1 (previously M2A1) howitzer is an artillery piece developed and used by the United States. It was the standard U.S. light field howitzer in World War II and saw action in both the European and Pacific theaters and during the Korean War.

M102 Howitzer: The M102 is a light, towable 105 mm howitzer used by the United States Army in the Vietnam War, the First Gulf War, and the Iraq War.