1940 explosion of an armaments factory in Roxbury, New Jersey, United States
The Hercules Powder plant disaster was an explosion at an armaments factory owned by the
Hercules Powder Company in the
Kenvil section of
Roxbury, New Jersey, on 12 September 1940.[1][2] About 52 people were killed and 100 injured.[1]
The 1940 explosion at the Hercules factory followed another in 1933 that killed six people; in 1989, a third explosion there shattered windows across the town.[7]
^Hochman, Louis C.
"Long-vacant Hercules plant site could get transit village, warehouses", NJ Advance Media for
NJ.com, September 15, 2014. Accessed July 21, 2016. "Hundreds of residents manufacturer high explosives at the Hercules Powder Factory, according to the Roxbury Township Historical Society. Two explosions killed six workers in 1934. Then, in 1940, more than 297,000 pounds of gunpowder blew up at the factory in a series of explosions and fires, leveling 20 buildings in the nearby area. That explosion killed 51 people and injured and burned 200 others, according to the historical society."