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| Label would have been on a wooden keg or tin can of black powder. Courtesy Maynard Historical Society |
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| Millstone in the woods, likely deposited by an explosion. Ruins of a building, including bent one inch diameter steel rods and broken timbers, about twenty yards away. |
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| Same stone, uncovered; estimated weight 4,000 pounds. Dimensions are 58 inches across and 16 inches thick. |
Thoreau’s journal mentions the gunpowder mills several times. Passing by on an 1851 walk to
Two years after Thoreau's first journal entries there was an
explosion at the mill. Thoreau wrote: “About ten minutes before 10 a.m. I heard
a very loud sound and felt a violent jar which made the house rock and the
loose articles on my table rattle... I jumped into a man’s wagon and rode
toward the mills.
"Arrived probably before half past 10:00 a.m. There
were perhaps 30 or 40 wagons there. The kernel mill had blown up first and
killed three men who were in it said to be turning a roller with a chisel… and
fragments mostly but a foot or two in length were strewn over the hills and meadows,
as if sown, for 30 rods [165 yards]. Three other buildings were destroyed or
damaged.
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| Courtesy Maynard Historical Society |
"Some of the clothes of the men were in the tops of the
trees where undoubtedly their bodies had been and left them. The bodies were
naked and black. Some limbs and bowels here and there, and a head at a distance
from its trunk. The feet were bare, the hair singed to a crisp. I smelt the
powder half a mile before I got there."
Henry David Thoreau was rubbernecking at the site of the
gunpowder mills that Nathan Pratt built in 1835 and owned until 1864. Because
of the dangerous nature of gunpowder, this type of operation was typically
composed of modest-sized wooden buildings quite a distance apart. Under
subsequent ownerships by the American Powder Company, American Powder Mills and
American Cyanamid Company, the operation grew to some 40 buildings scattered
over 401 acres, employing at times as many as 70 men and women (the latter to
assemble cartridges).
Descriptions of the time mention willow tree trunks being
brought in from Sudbury
to make the charcoal, and of unshod mules being used to pull wagons within the
mill compounds because of the fear that horseshoe shod horses might strike
sparks. Coming off work, men would leave their gunpowder-soiled clothing in the
changing room and wash thoroughly - including their hair - before changing into
clean clothes to go home.
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| "DEAD SHOT" watch fob (Internet download) Click on any photo to enlarge. |
American Powder Mills added production of smokeless powder,
including the renowned brand "Dead Shot," but continued making black
powder. Interestingly, during World War I the facility's entire production was
contracted to the Russian government. And why weren't they selling to the U.S. ? Because
DuPont had an exclusive contact.
The first fatal explosion mentioned in historic records occurred
in 1836. The Concord Freeman newspaper reported that three men were blown to
bits and a fourth succumbed hours later to burns and fractures. Various records
documented 23 explosions - most with fatalities. A New York Times article told
of five deaths in a multi-building series of explosions on May 3, 1898. A September
4, 1915 explosion was heard as far away as Lowell
and Boston . The
last three explosions on record took place in 1940; the mills were closed
shortly thereafter.
Soon after gunpowder manufacture ceased ownership of most of the
land in Acton devolved to W. R. Grace, an
international chemical company, and later still to various business sites such
as the Stop & Shop
Plaza and the car dealerships on both sides of the river Concord 's municipal power
company.
Tax records show that in addition to the various mill buildings the facility included boarding houses for workers and also a small gauge railroad. The latter was probably used to bring raw materials in and finished goods out to the regular railroad. The engine could have been a fireless steam locomotive - meaning that it operated off a pressurized tank filled with superheated water at a site distant from the actual gunpower manufacturing buildings. This would eliminate the risk of a trains' smokestack cinders setting off fires and explosions. Oh, and the A.O. Fay shown as President in the label was the son of A.G. Fay, previous owner, who died in an explosion in 1873.
Tax records show that in addition to the various mill buildings the facility included boarding houses for workers and also a small gauge railroad. The latter was probably used to bring raw materials in and finished goods out to the regular railroad. The engine could have been a fireless steam locomotive - meaning that it operated off a pressurized tank filled with superheated water at a site distant from the actual gunpower manufacturing buildings. This would eliminate the risk of a trains' smokestack cinders setting off fires and explosions. Oh, and the A.O. Fay shown as President in the label was the son of A.G. Fay, previous owner, who died in an explosion in 1873.
