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Kenvil's Hercules Powder Company was a leading manufacturer of gunpowder & military explosives. Its September 1940 explosion is a mystery, & Brian Lynch shares research & evidence about the event.
In September of 1940, the Hercules Powder Company in Kenvil was a leading manufacturer of gunpowder and military explosives. Germany had invaded Poland a year earlier, and Europe was engulfed in war. Production at the plant was upgraded to produce millions of pounds of gunpowder for our allies and U.S. stockpiles. Then, on the same day, Italy's army entered Africa, and Germany began overnight bombings of London; Hercules blew up. Eighty-four years later, the cause of that explosion remains a mystery. But, recent research and a rediscovered news account shed light on that terrible event. This presentation reviews evidence to help solve the mystery.
Brian Lynch is a retired resident of Mine Hill, a DEP-certified stream monitor for the Black River in Kenvil, and a volunteer for the Raritan Headwaters Association. His environmental concerns and advocacy work pertaining to the toxic clean-up of the former Hercules Powder property sparked his interest in the company's history and the mystery surrounding the 1940 explosion.
The Roxbury Township Public Library is a municipal library serving the communities of Succasunna, Ledgewood, Landing, Berkshire Valley, Port Morris, and Kenvil. Residents of the township are eligible to a free library card which enables access to 2.8 million items across the Morris Library Alliance including digital books, museum passes and more.
