Old Hickory Powder Plant

[Bob Wright]

I saw a photo of the Old Hickory Powder Plant in a Cracker Barrel restaurant here in Memphis.  My uncle worked there just before he joined the US Army.  At the time he worked there it was operated by DuPont and they were producing Cordite for the British.  Cordite was a soft pliable stuff that was extruded.  Before it solidified it could be molded like clay.

 

My uncle made a shapely ladies' leg complete with a dainty high heeled shoe from Cordite and gave it to my mother, very racey at the time!  When I first saw the leg, about 1943 or so, it was maybe six inches from thigh (blush!) to heel.  The last time I saw it, 1985 or so, it had shrunk to about 3 1/2" long, but still perfectly portioned.  It varied in color from charcoal gray to translucent amber.  At my mother's death in 1998 it went to my oldest sister in Florida.  I have no idea of its whereabouts now.

 

I believe Old Hickory's output was for British artillery shells.  I don't know if any was produced for small arms ammunition, but the British used Cordite for awhile after that War.

 

My uncle was Maynard Wright and was on the editorial staff of the Nashville Banner then moved to Charleston, WV as an editor for the Charleston Gazette.

 

Bob Wright

Edited October 25, 2017 by Bob Wright

[mike_f]

I saw a photo of the Old Hickory Powder Plant in a Cracker Barrel restaurant here in Memphis.  My uncle worked there just before he joined the US Army.  At the time he worked there it was operated by DuPont and they were producing Cordite for the British.  Cordite was a soft pliable stuff that was extruded.  Before it solidified it could be molded like clay.
 
My uncle made a shapely ladies' leg complete with a dainty high heeled shoe from Cordite and gave it to my mother, very racey at the time!  When I first saw the leg, about 1943 or so, it was maybe six inches from thigh (blush!) to heel.  The last time I saw it, 1985 or so, it had shrunk to about 3 1/2" long, but still perfectly portioned.  It varied in color from charcoal gray to translucent amber.  At my mother's death in 1998 it went to my oldest sister in Florida.  I have no idea of its whereabouts now.
 
I believe Old Hickory's output was for British artillery shells.  I don't know if any was produced for small arms ammunition, but the British used Cordite for awhile after that War.
 
My uncle was Maynard Wright and was on the editorial staff of the Nashville Banner then moved to Charleston, WV as an editor for the Charleston Gazette.
 
Bob Wright

Where I worked in the 80's did groundwater monitoring for DuPont. Part of it included wells around the site of the powder plant. I was told it was demolished as part of the WWI armistice.

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[Flyboy]

Yep the plant is being demolished even now as Dupont left there years ago. Last they were making was thread.

[ffr1910]

My great grandfather took a mule team and wagon down to Dupont and purchase six granite containers that were reputedly used to store acid for making gunpowder. He, and them my grandfather, used them as cattle feeders on the farm. I now have one of them in my yard that I use as a flower planter-Bill