Between 1905 and 1975, a massive explosives plant produced millions of pounds of TNT in rural northern Wisconsin. During World War I, the plant was the largest producer of TNT in the world.

Throughout the plant's existence, several fatal explosions and accidents occurred, killing a total of 36 people. The operations also severely degraded the property's environmental health and impacted the surrounding area. Cleanup continues at the site to this day. However, many locals already have no idea that the plant ever existed.

The E.I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company, more commonly known as simply DuPont, is an American chemical manufacturing company that opened the Barksdale Explosives Plant in 1905. The plant was located in a remote section of northern Wisconsin on Lake Superior and led to the development of a small community known as Barksdale. However, many of the plant's employees lived in the neighboring town of Washburn.

By World War I, the plant employed about 6,000 people and produced millions of pounds of TNT and other explosives each year. This number ebbed and flowed over the plant's lifespan as the demand for explosives changed with time until the plant's eventual permanent closure in the 1970s. 

Several explosions and accidents resulted in a total of 36 people losing their lives while working at the explosives plant. The worst incident occurred in 1952, when an explosion killed 8 people and resulted in windows shattering 3 miles away.

After the plant's closure, the environmental impacts of the operations were highly scrutinized. Groundwater on the property was found to be significantly contaminated, and the property remains closed off to this day as DuPont continues to fund environmental cleanup. Pollution was also discovered in several off-site wells, though a study found it posed no significant threat to human health. Nevertheless, in 2004, DuPont paid for the construction of a water pipeline that allowed Barksdale residents to receive water from the neighboring city of Washburn instead of potentially contaminated groundwater closer to the DuPont site.

I created this story because, as a former resident of Washburn, I never heard about the DuPont plant until I stumbled upon mentions of it in history books while researching an entirely different topic. When I tried to find more information about the plant, I found few easily digestible online sources, so I hope this story provides a quick, accurate overview of the plant's history.