Miami Powder Company operated a

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

manufacturing complex on the

Little Miami River The Little Miami River ( sjw, Cakimiyamithiipi) is a Class I tributary of the Ohio River that flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 26, 2011 through five counties ...

Goes Station, Ohio Goes Station (also known as Goes) is a small unincorporated community in northern Xenia Township, Greene County, Ohio, United States. It sits at the intersection of Snively Road and U.S. Route 68 between Xenia and Yellow Springs. The communi ...

from 1855 to 1925.

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

s growing along the banks of the Little Miami River provided the

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

required for gunpowder. Production was approximately 75 percent rifle powder and 25 percent blasting powder.

History

Brothers by the name of Chapman built a

mill pond A mill pond (or millpond) is a body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill. Description Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam or weir (and mill stream) across a waterway. In many places, the com ...

dam on the Little Miami River about 1825 to power a mill manufacturing

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor m ...

s. About 1846 Benjamin Carlton and the Austin brothers of the

Austin Powder Company Austin Cartridge Company was an Austin Powder Company subsidiary manufacturing cartridge ammunition for small arms. The company made shotgun shells and rimfire cartridges from 1895 until purchased by Western Cartridge Company in 1907. History A ...

formed the Austin & Carlton Powder Company to convert the mill to the manufacture of gunpowder. Joseph W. King purchased the Austin & Carleton

powder mill A powder mill was a mill where gunpowder is made from sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal. Milling steps Crude grinding and mixing operations such as the Frankford Powder-Mill of Philadelphia were a cottage industry until the industrial revolution ...

in 1855 and expanded it as the Miami Powder Company including a steam power plant and employee residences for the

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

of Goes Station. In 1872 Miami Powder Company formed the United States Gunpowder Trade Association, popularly known as the powder trust, with

American Powder Mills American Powder Mills (1883–1929) was a Massachusetts gunpowder manufacturing complex on the Assabet River. It expanded to include forty buildings along both sides of the river in the towns of Acton, Massachusetts, Acton, Concord, Massachusetts, ...

, Austin Powder Company,

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

Hazard Powder Company The Hazard Powder Company is a former American manufacturer of gunpowder and explosives. It was located in Hazardville within the town of Enfield, Connecticut. History The company was founded on the Scantic River in 1835 by Allen Loomis ...

Laflin & Rand Powder Company Laflin & Rand Powder Company was a gunpowder and early smokeless powder manufacturer notable for producing the smokeless powder used by United States Army infantry rifles from 1896 to 1908, which included the period of development of the M1903 Sp ...

, and

Oriental Powder Company Oriental Powder Company was a gunpowder manufacturer with mills located on the Presumpscot River in Gorham and Windham, Maine. The company was one of the four largest suppliers to Union forces through the American Civil War. History The Presumpsc ...

. In 1877 Joseph King built the King's Great Western Powder Company at

Kings Mills, Ohio Kings Mills is a census-designated place in the southwestern corner of Deerfield Township, Warren County, Ohio, United States, on the western shore of the Little Miami River. Located along I-71 twenty miles northeast of Cincinnati, it is less tha ...

which later became the

Peters Cartridge Company The Peters Cartridge Company was a company located along the Little Miami River in Kings Mills, Ohio, which specialized in gunpowder and ammunition production. Founded in 1887 by Gershom Moore Peters, the company supplied military ammunition to va ...

. A boiler explosion on 1 March 1886 ignited 2500 kegs of powder in a storehouse which disintegrated killing three men, leaving a crater deep and causing an "earthquake" felt in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. Two men were killed in a 1920 explosion, and the company closed after a 1925 explosion destroyed several buildings.

References

{{Reflist Ammunition manufacturers Explosives manufacturers Gunpowder mills