Hercules Explosive Plant Site, California

In 1893, California Powder Works moved its black powder production from Santa Cruz to this then remote area, up the shore from the new Giant Powder Works plant. The company was later renamed Hercules, one of the first companies to be formed by judicial decree, as part of the break-up of DuPont's monopoly in the explosives industry. By 1917, it was the most productive TNT plant in the United States. With the invention of nitroglycerine, Hercules evolved into a chemical and fertilizer company, producing formaldehyde, methanol, and anhydrous ammonia. Other plants owned by the company went on to produce rocket motors for ICBMs. The plant closed in 1977, and the land around the plant began to be developed into a residential area and an office park, a process which continues. The headquarters building for the Hercules Company has been spared from the bulldozers that removed most of the plant. It was built in 1913, and has walls that are one foot thick, to protect the managers from an accidental explosion.