On July 20, 1942, a tremendous explosion rocked the James River valley outside of Clifton Forge, VA. Windows were blown out of houses in the nearby town of Glen Wilton, and a bright flash of light could be seen in the sky from as far away as Lexington. A building at the Virginia Ordnance Works had gone up in a huge fireball.

Over sixty years later, the ruins of the once-great military munitions plant stand as a forgotten monument to that fateful night.

Walking through the grounds of the former TNT factory is truly eerie. Concrete monoliths rise from the forest floor, covered in Virginia Creeper and Poison Ivy. The layout makes no sense... buildings are scattered everywhere. Near the top of a hill I find concrete supports that would have held up steel tanks. What was in those tanks... Heating oil? Diesel fuel? Acid?

As I work my way through the property, I find the remains of more and more buildings. Some are mere slabs on the forest floor, others have walls that rise above my head. I can't tell what any of them were for. Oddities abound, too... such as strange piles of rock, old road and possibly railroad beds, and depressions into the hillsides (was this where the more explosive chemicals were stored?). At the bottom of the hill, I find a larger building, with a basement level still partially accessible in the foundation. An angled fire brick embossed with the words "TOP REFRACTORY" lies in the nearby creek, suggesting that this building was a power or heating plant.

I camped out on the grounds of the old Ordnance Works. A storm came up the valley in the evening... every crack of thunder reminding me of the accident that caused this plant to be shut down, dooming it to be a forgotten footnote in Virginia history.

Update, December 2003:

During the fall, I made several return trips to the Virginia Ordnance Works, including a camping trip with fellow explorer Random. I also made requests for information from numerous government agencies under the Freedom of Information Act, and was rewarded with a treasure trove of historical maps and data.

Here is an old map I obtained from the Army Corps of Engineers, showing (with fairly good accuracy) the layout of the plant, with the buildings identified:

The Corps was also kind enough to provide me with historic photos and detained information about almost all of the buildings on the site. Impressively, the foundations of almost all of the buildings are still intact, as well as the road and railroad beds. Using this map, it's easy to navigate the old Ordnance Works site and to find most of the ruins.

Unfortunately, a preliminary report I received from an environmental agency has revealed that there are unhealthy levels of lead, TNT, arsenic, and numerous other compounds and chemicals remaining in the ground on the site. No doubt that much of this is due to the poor environmental regulations in place at the time the plant was in operation, as well as possibly shoddy clean-up operations of the past. Although the site is likely safe to visit, until more information is obtained I would keep in mind that the soil and water may be tainted with small amounts of hazardous chemicals. So... don't eat the dirt, and certainly don't start any large fires!

As with most of the location on the VT Underground website, I have a fairly extensive collection of information on the Virginia Ordnance Works, both in print and on CD-ROM. Unlike most other locations, though, the Ordnance Works is on public property, and may be freely visited by anyone. Therefore, I don't mind making the maps, reports, newspaper clippings, etc... that I have available to the public. Feel free to e-mail me for more information.

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