In Depth

Lammot du Pont established the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880 after failing to convince his uncle, Henry du Pont, to enter the dynamite business. Located on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, Repauno was founded on Lammot’s belief that dynamite would replace traditional blasting powder for use in building railroads, highways and other major construction projects nationwide. But Henry du Pont’s fears about the dangers of the new chemical compound were also well founded. In 1884 Lammot and several other Repauno workers died in an explosion at Repauno.

DuPont took over controlling interest in Repauno after Lammot’s death, and stayed at the forefront of the chemical industry due in part to efforts carried out there. Chemists working at Repauno’s Eastern Laboratory, established in 1902, developed new processes for manufacturing trinitrotoluene (TNT) and other explosives. By the 1920s, Repauno had become the world’s largest producer of dynamite. During the next two decades, the plant diversified and military explosives were only 25 percent of total production by World War II. With expanded chemical facilities, Repauno began to produce dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), a chemical intermediate used in manufacture of Dacron® and DuPont products.