Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-30-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–20 Lebanon Daily News, PA. “Terrific Explosion wrecked Nixon, N.J. Nitration Plant.” 3-1-1924, 1.

–20 Ramapo College of New Jersey. “Discovering the 1920s. The Nixon Nitration Explosion.”

–20 Syracuse University Libraries. “Nixon Nitration Works.”

–20 Wikipedia. “1924 Nixon Nitration Works Disaster.”

Narrative Information

Ramapo College of New Jersey. “Discovering the 1920s. The Nixon Nitration Explosion.”

“The Nixon Nitration Works was a factory that manufactured highly flammable materials like cellulose nitrate and the lack of supervision in the factory caused the huge disaster 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 couldn’t keep the business going causing the closure 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.

“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…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….”

“…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.

Syracuse University Libraries. “Nixon Nitration Works.”

“The Nixon Nitration Works is best known for the terrible explosion of March 1, 1924 which destroyed forty buildings and killed twenty people at the company’s New Jersey facility on the Raritan River, in what was then Nixon and has since been re-named Edison, near New Brunswick.

“The company was founded by renowned naval architect Lewis Nixon in 1915 to manufacture cellulose nitrate, used in the production of celluloid and other early plastics. 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 others buildings.

“The Nixon Nitration Works rebuilt on the site of the disaster, and returned to the business of cellulose nitrate manufacturing….”

Wikipedia: “The 1924 Nixon Nitration Works disaster was an explosion and fire that claimed many lives and destroyed several square miles of New Jersey factories. It began on Saturday morning, March 1, 1924, when an explosion destroyed a building in Nixon, New Jersey used for processing ammonium nitrate.[1] The 11:15 a.m. explosion touched off fires in surrounding buildings in the Nixon Nitration Works that contained other highly flammable materials.[2] The disaster killed twenty persons, destroyed forty buildings,[3] and demolished the ‘tiny industrial town of Nixon, New Jersey’.” (Wikipedia. “1924 Nixon Nitration Works Disaster.”)

Newspaper

March 1: “New York, Today – Twenty persons were killed, 100 injured and the entire plant of the Nixon (N.J.) nitration works destroyed today when a terrific explosion occurred in the T N T plant adjoining Camp Raritan, according to an estimate of the police at New Brunswick, where most of the injured were taken.

“The shock of the explosion was felt in lower New York, in Brooklyn, and as far away as Mineola, L.I. It was felt distinctly 30 miles away, while houses trembled and windows were shattered in nearby towns.

“Sixteen injured had been accounted for up to 12:30. One had died after arriving at the hospital in New Brunswick.

“Hospitals in Plainfield, New Brunswick, Elizabeth and other towns were urged to rush ambulances to the scene. Automobile trucks were pressed into service.

“Telephone lines in the region of Nixon were down as a result of the explosion, and for half an hour after it occurred, it could not be located.

“There was the terrific shock that caused the thousands on the streets in the nearby towns to pause in horror as the earth trembled beneath them. Police and newspaper men dashed for telephones. An entire county-side knew a mighty force of destruction had been let loose somewhere but frantic efforts to locate the scene were for a time utterly unavailing.

“An hour after the explosion it was still impossible to obtain any definite estimate of the number of dead or injured.

“The Nixon nitration plant adjoins Camp Raritan. The explosion is said to have occurred in the T N T section of the plant. This building was completely demolished, and early reports wre that other buildings were wrecked. The Raritan arsenal apparently escaped because the hospital there was reported caring for injured.

“Army surgeons have taken charge of the work of caring for the injured. Physicians who could be reached quickly were rushed to Nixon fr4om other towns and the army surgeons immediately organized the medical forces as they arrived.” (Lebanon Daily News, PA. “Terrific Explosion wrecked Nixon, N.J. Nitration Plant.” 3-1-1924, p. 1.)

Sources

Lebanon Daily News, PA. “Terrific Explosion wrecked Nixon, N.J. Nitration Plant.” 3-1-1924, p. 1. Accessed 3-30-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/lebanon-daily-news-mar-01-1924-p-1/

Ramapo College of New Jersey. “Discovering the 1920s. The Nixon Nitration Explosion.” Accessed 3-30-2025 at: https://dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu/discovering1920s/blog/2025/02/26/the-nixon-nitration-explosion/

Syracuse University Libraries. “Nixon Nitration Works.” Accessed 3-30-2025 at: https://digitalcollections.syr.edu/Documents/Detail/nixon-nitration-works/287322

Wikipedia. “1924 Nixon Nitration Works Disaster.” Accessed 3/13/2009 at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1924_Nixon_Nitration_Works_disaster

[1] Cites: The Bee (Danville, VA). “Many are Killed in Explosion: Staten Island is Rocked by Terrific Blast,” 1924-03-01, p. 1.

[2] Cites: Middletown Daily Herald. “Explosion Kills 30, Rocks New Jersey: Ammonia Plant of the Nixon Nitrate Works Blows up With Roar That Shakes Countryside for 25 Miles; Fire Follows,” 1924-03-02, p. 1.

[3] Cites: Lowell Sun. “Begin Probe of Explosion: Inquiry into Cause of Blast Which Killed 18 and Destroyed 40 Buildings Begins,” 1924-03-03, at 19.

1924 — March 1, Nixon Nitration Works explosion/fires (40 bldgs. destroyed), Nixon NJ — 20