{"id":3851,"date":"2025-02-26T15:39:11","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T15:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/discovering1920s\/?p=3851"},"modified":"2025-04-02T19:41:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T19:41:16","slug":"the-nixon-nitration-explosion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/discovering1920s\/blog\/2025\/02\/26\/the-nixon-nitration-explosion\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nixon Nitration Explosion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Overview<\/h3>\n\n\n
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The Nixon Nitration Factory after the explosion.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Nixon Nitration Works was a factory that manifactured highly flamable materials like cellulose nitrate and the lack of supervison in the factory caused the huge disater of March 1, 1924 which destroyed forty buildings and killed twenty people at the company’s New Jersey facility on the Raritan River. After the explosion, the Nixon factory was rebuilt into a smaller factory then kept functioning for a while but Lewis Nixon died due to the exposure of the deadly chemicals. Stanhope Nixon was the son of Lewis Nixon who also took over the factory but his son couldnt keep the busines going causing the closore of the nixon factory after a while the location was donated to the state of New Jersey and has since been re-named Edison, near New Brunswick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company was founded by naval architect Lewis Nixon in 1915 to manufacture cellulose nitrate, besides the production of celluloid, this factory used to supply some European nations with gunpowder and other materials for World War 1. When the war ended, these facilities were put to broader uses, were involving other explosive materials and dangerous chemicals The nitrate made the material highly flammable, but at the works cellulose nitrate was maintained in large sheets and had been piled in buildings. Within the works, Nixon leased a building to the Ammonite Company which was salvaging the contents of artillery shells for use as agriculture fertilizer. When the Ammonite building exploded, the shock was felt and the sound heard as far away as Manhattan and Brooklyn. After the initial explosion massive fires spread to other buildings. <\/p>\n\n\n

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THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 2, 1924 Nixon Nitration Works explosionEdison, New Jersey
The top of the front page has a three column headline: “20 KILLED, 100 INJURED AND 12 MISSING IN NIXON, N.J., EXPLOSION WHICH WRECKS 40 BUILDINGS AND IS FELT 50 MILES AWAY”
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Additionally, On March 1, 1924, an explosion, likely originating from an Ammonite Company building within the works that was processing ammonium nitrate from artillery shells, triggered a fire that spread rapidly through the surrounding building The disaster resulted in at least 20 deaths, with dozens more injured, many suffering from severe burns, inhalation of toxic fumes, and blunt force trauma from collapsing buildings and flying debris. Some victims were never recovered due to the intensity of the blast. The explosion leveled approximately 40 buildings within the chemical plant, reducing the once-thriving industrial hub to rubble. Fires burned for hours, fueled by volatile chemicals, making it nearly impossible for firefighters to contain the blaze immediately. Nearby factories and homes were also damaged due to the shockwave and subsequent fires. The explosion released toxic chemicals into the air and local waterways, contaminating soil and water supplies. Given the lack of environmental regulations at the time, the full extent of the damage was not immediately addressed, but the effects likely persisted for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The History<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The workplace accidents\/deaths are connected to how harsh the environment was in the workplace during the 1920s. The United States of America during the 1920s was in the revolutionary era when big factories, industrial work, construction, mining, oil rigs, mechanics, soldiers, hard labor, and big-name companies started to rise. All men had to go to work every day to survive and yet most men died at their jobs in the 1920s. Additionally, workplace injuries\/deaths were common, and, in many cases, labor conditions were nothing less than grueling. Moreover, the main cause of death was not because of the jobs, they were due to exposure to harsh\/deadly chemicals to the body. People were not as knowledgeable as today and many resources we have today they did not have 100 years ago. For example, men who worked in the mines all died due to Tuberculosis and lung cancer for not having the right oxygen mask protection. Mining is one of the deadliest industries, with cave-ins, explosions, and toxic gas exposure causing many deaths. Factories and manufacturing plants also had unsafe machinery with little to no protective measures, leading to crushing, amputations, and fatal injuries. Additionally, the 1920s had very unsafe workplace safety, leading to early labor protections, but this did not change until stricter regulations and enforcement significantly reduced workplace fatalities, like OSHA, ASSP, ANSI, and CSB. These organizations were designed to protect workers from unsafe work environments. During the 1920s, the jobs were extremely limited when it came to women. Additionally, women were only allowed to work as nurses and teachers during the 1920s but given this, women were not exposed to harsh workplace environments as men did. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Company founder Lewis Nixon died on September 23, 1940. He was succeeded by his son Stanhope Nixon who in the year following World War II was unable to make the company competitive in the new post-nitrate plastics industry. In 1951, the company downsized and donated 48 acres of land and a dam to the city of New Brunswick. The site of the Nixon Works is now a part of Middlesex County College and the Raritan Center Industrial Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the book, The Modern Temper chapter three mentions how the country was expanding to the consumer culture in the late 1920s causing many new jobs to arise for the automobile factories due to its 3.7 million car production number. Chapter 3 mentioned how in the 1930s the American Federation of Labor was extremely focused on the labor movement and making the work environment safer. Furthermore, the AFL association was extremely racist because it did not help Mexicans, African Americans, Asians, and women. The connection this book has with Nixon\u2019s Nitration Work is about the industrial expansion of evolution in factories and construction. The Nixon Nitration Company was founded by Lewis Nixon in 1915. The factories manufacture cellulose nitrate and the production of celluloid and other early plastics. The nitrate made the material highly flammable, and the cellulose nitrate was supported in large sheets and had been piled in buildings. There was an explosion that started in one of the buildings, and the fire spread taking down a few nearby buildings along with 20 people\u2019s lives. All those chemical materials stored together made the fire spread much quicker. Additionally, this is just one of the many accidents that happened during the 1920s due to unsafe procedures in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Map<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Over time, the site of the Nixon Nitration Works was redeveloped, with much of the area now consisting of residential and commercial properties. The industrial nature of Nixon faded as Edison, NJ, transformed into a suburban community. Additionally, In 1951, the company downsized and donated 48 acres of land and a dam to the city of New Brunswick. The site of the Nixon Works is now a part of Middlesex County College and the Raritan Center Industrial Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n