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All the United States Ohio Kings Mills Peters Cartridge Company
AO Edited

Peters Cartridge Company

An abandoned munitions factory with a shot tower continues to wage war on the surrounding environment.

Kings Mills, Ohio

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Markdb96
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Peters Cartridge Company   Rwetruck on Wikipedia
July 2021   anderson1146 / Atlas Obscura User
  anderson1146 / Atlas Obscura User
Inside the abandoned Peters Cartridge Company.   Samuel W. Smith/CC BY 4.0
Inside the Peters Cartridge Factory.   Samuel W. Smith/CC BY 4.0
An ominous shot of the abandoned Peters Cartridge Company.   Samuel W. Smith/CC BY 4.0
Updated to residential living   anderson1146 / Atlas Obscura User
  anderson1146 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The Peters Cartridge Company in Kings Mill, Ohio, was once an integral part of a local munitions production industry, but now the abandoned factory weeps lonely heavy metals into the soil.

Built in the 1860s, the large building complex was established to support the Peters Cartridge Company. The factory began by producing shot and cannonballs for the Union Army during the Civil War, and then continued to produce American munitions into the 1950s. Throughout all this time, the factory used the shot tower method to produce munitions, using their tower emblazoned with a giant "P". Workers would ascend steep stairs to the very top of the tower. Once there they would pour molten lead through a copper sieve. While falling through the length of the hollow tower, the lead would cool and form into perfectly round balls. These would land in a basin of water, or in the case of the Peters tower, a creek, to be cooled further. Once done they were musket bullets or shot.

The factory had its share of accidents. In 1890 several train cars loaded with gunpowder collided and exploded, killing twelve factory workers. There were a number of fire and machinery accidents as well, leaving employees maimed and physically disabled. 

Before the factory finally closed, the site was repurposed to press vinyl for Columbia Records, but eventually, nothing was being made in the tall brick buildings. It remains mostly the same, minus a few buildings of the sprawling complex that have been repurposed. The rest is overgrown and decaying, inhabited only by squatters, cats, and allegedly, ghosts. It was even the set for a 2002 horror movie. 

The old equipment and leftover materials led to copper, lead, and other contaminants penetrating into the ground, which made the ruins a Superfund clean-up site. 

As the factory buildings are extremely dilapidated, local police supervise the Peters Cartridge Company closely. Urban exploration is not advised, as floorboards are rotten and elevator shafts are empty in the buildings.

Update February 2018: The current owners are trying to develop the site and are now awaiting final certification from the EPA that the site’s ground is no longer contaminated prior to further redevelopment.

Update June 2018:  Approval has been granted and an architect selected to convert a portion of the facility into a craft brewery.

Update July 6, 2021: The location is now a restaurant/brewery business. 

Related Tags

Abandoned Factories Intriguing Environs Shops Ruins Shot Towers Ecosystems

Know Before You Go

The main building has been opened as upscale apartment building and the powerhouse is now a large venue space. Cartridge Brewing occupies the smaller building where they also serve Detroit Deep Dish pizza.

Community Contributors

Added By

Markdb96

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Martin, Christopher Roehl, Molly McBride Jacobson, loriOH...

  • Martin
  • Christopher Roehl
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • loriOH
  • peteypemberton
  • msilver
  • haleighgantner
  • anderson1146

Published

September 24, 2012

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Sources
  • http://www.forgottenoh.com/Peters/peters.html
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peters_Cartridge_Company
  • http://bloomfieldschon.com/peterscartridgefactory/01/
Peters Cartridge Company
1415 Grandin Road
Kings Mills, Ohio, 45034
United States
39.351511, -84.242482
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