The 1924 Nixon Nitration Works disaster was an

explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generated ...

and

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

that claimed many lives and destroyed several square miles of

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

factories. It began on March 1, 1924, about 11:15 a.m., when an explosion destroyed a building in Nixon, New Jersey (an area within present-day

Edison, New Jersey Edison is a Township (New Jersey), township located in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central Jersey, Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan River, Raritan Valley r ...

) used for processing

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, but does not form hydrates. It is predominantly us ...

."Many are Killed in Explosion: Staten Island is Rocked by Terrific Blast," The Bee (Danville, Virginia), 1924-03-01, p. 1 The explosion touched off fires in surrounding buildings in the Nixon Nitration Works that contained other highly

flammable A combustible material is a material that can burn (i.e., sustain a flame) in air under certain conditions. A material is flammable if it ignites easily at ambient temperatures. In other words, a combustible material ignites with some effort ...

materials."Explosion Kills 30, Rocks New Jersey: Ammonia Plant of the Nixon Nitrate Works Blows up With Roar That Shakes Countryside for 25 Miles; Fire Follows," Middletown Daily Herald, 1924-03-02, p. 1. The disaster killed twenty people, destroyed forty buildings,'Begin Probe of Explosion: Inquiry into Cause of Blast Which Killed 18 and Destroyed 40 Buildings Begins," Lowell Sun, 1924-03-03, at 19. and demolished the "tiny industrial town of Nixon, New Jersey.""Blast Levels a Town: TNT, Being Changed to Fertilizer, Blows Up, Killing 18," Weekly Kansas City Star, 1924-03-05, at 2.

The setting

The Nixon Nitration Works, which included a number of plants, covered about on the

Raritan River The Raritan River is a river of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its Drainage basin, watershed drains much of the mountainous areas in the North Jersey, northern and Central Jersey, central sections of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay near ...

, near

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, in what was then officially known as Raritan Township (later changed to Edison) and unofficially known as Nixon, New Jersey. It was created in 1915 by naval architect and industrialist Lewis Nixon to supply some European nations with

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, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

and other materials for World War I. When the war ended, its facilities were put to broader uses, involving other explosive materials. The company manufactured

cellulose nitrate Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...

(also known as nitrocellulose, guncotton, and several other names), a highly flammable material that was the first man-made

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

. Finished cellulose nitrate was piled in sheets in surrounding buildings. Some from the Works' nitrocellulose buildings sat a storage house leased to the Ammonite Company, which used the building to salvage the contents of artillery shells for use as agricultural

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

. That salvage was performed after the

trinitrotoluene Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and help ...

(TNT) was extracted from the shells at the nearby Raritan Arsenal by the Columbia Storage Company, owned by aeronautic pioneer

Charles A. Levine Charles Albert Levine (March 17, 1897 – December 6, 1991) was the first passenger aboard a transatlantic flight. He was ready to cross the Atlantic to claim the Orteig prize but a court battle over who was going to be in the airplane allowed ...

. The Ammonite building reportedly contained of stored

, plus 15

tank car A tank car (International Union of Railways (UIC): tank wagon) or tanker is a type of railroad car (UIC: railway car) or rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodity, commodities. History Timeline The following major event ...

s that each held of ammonium nitrate in the process of

crystallization Crystallization is a process that leads to solids with highly organized Atom, atoms or Molecule, molecules, i.e. a crystal. The ordered nature of a crystalline solid can be contrasted with amorphous solids in which atoms or molecules lack regu ...

The disaster

The disaster began when ammonium nitrate in the Ammonite building exploded. Windows for a mile around the scene were broken inward and doors were blown from their hinges. The blast shook

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, where business buildings in the Stapleton and

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

neighborhoods rocked, windows rattled, and doors were slammed. It was felt in lower

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and 50 miles away in

Mineola, New York Mineola is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and the county seat of Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 20,800 at the time of the 2020 United Stat ...

.Fertilizer Plant Blows Up
" New York Times, 1924-03-02. The flaming debris from the explosion soon set cellulose nitrate sheets afire in nearby buildings. Fires began to consume other buildings as well, including the offices of the Nitration Works.Jack Carberry, "Survivors tell Graphic Stories of Horror Blast," Ogden Standard-Examiner, 1924-03-02 at 3. Six hours after the explosion, flames were still burning over an area of one square mile. As darkness fell, shifting winds suddenly began fanning the flames toward freight cars on a siding and toward the nearby Raritan Arsenal where 500,000 high-explosive shells were stored. Four of the arsenal's high-explosive magazines had been crushed by the initial explosion and the roofs of two others blown in. Through the efforts of exhausted

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s, the fire did not reach the arsenal.

The human toll

Two days after the explosion, newspapers reported that 18 people were killed, two were missing (and presumed killed), and 15 others remained hospitalized. The blast injured 100 people. The dead included the wife and three children of an employee of the plant who lived 100 yards from the scene, a stenographer working at the plant, and 13 workmen who were repairing the roof of the building where the blast occurred.

Inquiries

Prosecutor John E. Toolan of

Middlesex County, New Jersey Middlesex County is a County (United States), county located in the North Jersey, north-Central Jersey, central part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, extending inland from the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region to the northern portion of the ...

, began an inquiry two days after the blast. Among those summoned to appear for the inquiry were Lewis Nixon, his son

Stanhope Wood Nixon Stanhope Wood Nixon (April 1, 1894 – January 12, 1958) was a vice president of the Nixon Nitration Works during the 1924 Nixon Nitration Works disaster. He later became chairman of the board. He was born on April 1, 1894, in Philadelphia, ...

, and R. Norris Shreve, then president of the Ammonite Co."Investigate Cause Costly Explosion at Nitrate Plant," Olean Times, 1924-03-03, at 1.

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

John W. Weeks also ordered an inquiry, for the more limited purpose of determining whether the Raritan Arsenal was in any way responsible for the explosion. Some theorized that the blast was triggered by small quantities of TNT that remained in the ammonium nitrate at the Ammonite facility after the ammonium nitrate was removed from the shells. Lewis Nixon embraced this explanation. Ammonite disputed this theory, asserting that the average content of TNT in the salvaged ammonium nitrate was only two-tenths of one percent. However, under questioning, Shreve acknowledged that this would have caused of TNT filtered from ammonium nitrate to flow every day into a small stream on the site, and that there might have been "several percent" of TNT in tanks of ammonium nitrate remaining at the site. Major A.S. Casand, commander of the arsenal, also disagreed that residual TNT was to blame, and believed that the explosion was due to conditions in the plant.

Aftermath

In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, federal, state, and local officials considered whether plants containing explosives should be banned from Middlesex County. One month after the disaster, Ammonite sued Nixon Nitration Works for $400,000 in damages, alleging that the explosion was due to the Nixon company's carelessness."Suing for $400,000: Damages sought as a result of explosion at Ammonite Plant," Kokomo Tribune, 1924-04-04, at 25. In 1928, a federal judge dismissed the claims and counterclaims between Ammonite and Nixon Nitration Works, leaving Columbia Salvage Company as the only defendant in the suit. In April 1924, Ammonite Corporation was indicted on fifteen counts of involuntary manslaughter and initially pleaded not guilty. The following year Ammonite pleaded guilty to charges arising from the explosion and was fined a total of $9,000, reflecting a $600 fine for each of 15 employees killed in the blast.Company Fined $9,000 for Explosion Deaths
" ''The New York Times'', 1925-03-28. In May 1924, Nixon Nitration Works was ordered to pay $12,000 to the widow of a victim who worked for that company. Ammonite dissolved in 1926, for reasons attributed to the explosion.N.A. Peppas and R.S. Harland, "Unit Processes Against Unit Operations: The Educational Fights of the Thirties," reprinted in Nicholas A. Peppas, "One Hundred Years of Chemical Engineering," p. 128 (1989) . Ammonite owner Shreve, already a renowned chemical and industrial engineer, later joined the faculty at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

, where he became a well-respected scholar, author, and teacher. A

residence hall A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

at Purdue is named in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Shreve. Charles A. Levine earned a fortune as a result of his companies' contracts with the federal government to salvage shells.Obituary,
Charles A. Levine, 94, Is Dead; First Trans-Atlantic Air Passenger
" New York Times, 1991-12-18. In 1927, he financed an effort to become the first to fly from New York to Paris, only to have Charles A. Lindbergh reach Paris first while Levine's plane was grounded by a restraining order obtained by the navigator he had employed. Levine dissolved the injunction, freed the plane, and became the first transcontinental air passenger, reaching Germany from New York in a flight two weeks following Lindbergh's. Meanwhile, the federal government sued Levine's companies, claiming overcharges for their salvage work. Many lawsuits and prosecutions of Levine and his companies followed, including prosecutions for counterfeiting French coins, conspiring to smuggle

tungsten Tungsten (also called wolfram) is a chemical element; it has symbol W and atomic number 74. It is a metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively in compounds with other elements. It was identified as a distinct element in 1781 and first ...

powder from Canada, and smuggling an alien refugee from a German

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

into the United States from Mexico. The Nixon Nitration Works was rebuilt on the site, and returned to the business of

manufacturing. Lewis Nixon died on September 23, 1940. His son

, who assumed control of the business, had few of his father's qualities, and many vices.Larry Alexander, "Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man who Led the Band of Brothers," p. 223 (2005) . After World War II, the

plastics industry The plastics industry manufactures polymer materials—commonly called plastics—and offers services in plastics important to a range of industries, including packaging, building and construction, electronics, aerospace, manufacturing and transpo ...

evolved from nitrate-based products to

acetate An acetate is a salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. alkaline, earthy, metallic, nonmetallic, or radical base). "Acetate" also describes the conjugate base or ion (specifically, the negatively charged ion called ...

-based products, and the company failed to make the transition. In 1951, as the company shrank, it gave of land, and a dam, to New Brunswick.Frank Emerson Andrews, "Corporate Giving," p. 192 (1993) . The site of the Works is now a part of

Middlesex County College Middlesex College (formerly Middlesex County College) is a public community college with its main campus in Edison, New Jersey, as well as two urban center campuses: one located in the Civic Square government and theatre district of New Bruns ...

and

Raritan Center Raritan Center is a business park located in Edison, New Jersey. Sited on part of the former Raritan Arsenal, the Raritan Center Business Park is a logistics center with office buildings and millions of square feet of light manufacturing or ...

Industrial Park. In 1954, the citizens of Middlesex County's Raritan Township renamed their community by referendum. The name Edison was chosen over Nixon. However, the Nixon name is still used by the local post office and postal district.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nixon Nitration Works Disaster 1924 in New Jersey Explosions in 1924 Edison, New Jersey Fires in New Jersey Industrial fires and explosions in the United States 1924 in the environment Urban fires in the United States Crimes in New Jersey March 1924 in the United States Ammonium nitrate disasters