Ownership of the massive Badger Plant is divided between the Ho Chunk Nation, the USDA and the Sauk Prairie Recreational Area.
The Badger Army Ammunition Plant is shown before its demolition.
One of the remaining buildings of the Badger Plant is framed by the Baraboo Hills in the background.
A handful of Badger Plant buildings remain; at one time it had more than 1,400 buildings. Most of them were demolished in an effort to return the land back to farming and recreational use.
Motorcycle police at the Badger Ordnance Works plant near Baraboo, Wisconsin, patrolled the fence line of the plant between 1942 and 1945. One of the guards is Lyle Lilly (1916-1911). The sign reads, 'Badger Ordnance Works, An Arsenal of Democracy, Protecting Our Country, Promoting Safety.' Photo was taken about 1944.
Art Posbeck in a driving class Feb. 21, 1947, checks his field of vision on equipment from the Badger Ordnance Works. Watching him from left are Dick Gettle, Bob Wise and Billy Gatz. The photo was published Feb. 24, 1947, in the Wisconsin State Journal. -- photographer Arthur M. Vinje, 1888-1972
The Bass farm in the town of Sumpter in Sauk County, Wisconsin, is acquired in 1942 by the U.S. government for the Badger Ordnance Works. It was originally owned by the photographer's father, Isaac Bass. Pictured about 1900 are the photographer's mother, Lorinda Bass, brother Frank Bass holding his son Floyd, sister Rhoda, and children Cary and Everetta Bass. -- photographer Dr. Edward A. Bass
Looking south in about 1892 at the Sauk Prairie are, from left, the photographer's brother, Frank Bass; Mrs. Edward (Ada Burlingame) Bass and her daughter, Everetta, sitting on the boulder; and the photographer's sister, Rhoda Bass. A split-rail fence separates the rocky hillside from a field. Headstones in Pioneer Cemetery are just visible beyond the field, on the left. Ferry Bluff is in the background, right. The Badger Ordnance Works later occupied this part of the Sauk Prairie in the town of Sumpter in Sauk County, Wisconsin. -- photographer Dr. Edward A. Bass
Editor's note: A story about the Badger Village was published in the July 14 issue of Agri-View.
There is very little left of what was once considered the largest ammunition plant of its kind in the world. Nicknamed the “Arsenal of Democracy,” the Badger Ordnance Works was comprised of more than 10,000 acres of a complex city that employed more than 6,000 workers at its peak.
The area is now owned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forage Center, the Ho-Chunk Nation and the Sauk Prairie Recreation Area. Visitors can see remnants of the arsenal buildings, but nothing to show the scope and size of the operation that was used during World War II, the Korean conflict, and the Vietnam War.
The Badger Ordnance Works was built in record time to answer the call for ammunition during World War II; it was one of six ammunition plants in the country. Work began at least six months before Pearl Harbor and the U.S. involvement in the war. Sauk Prairie, Wisconsin, seemed an ideal place for the plant. There was speculation that proximity to AO Smith Company, where aerial bombs were built, and JI Case, where shell casings were made, was a factor – but that was never proven.
Although the government reimbursed people for their land, many of the owners didn’t want to sell – but had no choice. Of the 800 buildings that stood on the 79 farms that were bought, all but 85 were dismantled. Those remaining were used by construction crews during the building of the Badger Ordnance Works. Crops were harvested or destroyed, and fences removed.
Hercules Powder Company was contracted to build and operate the plant, with several sub-contractors used to hasten construction. It took 12,000 workers to build the plant. Rather than one big building, the plant consisted of many buildings spread out across the acreage to prevent explosions and fires.
The original purpose was the production of smokeless powder, the ingredient needed to propel a bullet from a gun to its target. Needs for making the powder included areas for acid production, nitroglycerin and oleum, among other ingredients. The plant also produced rocket propellant and EC powder used in grenades and blanks.
The buildings had berms around them made of dirt, red brick or concrete so that any accidental explosions were diverted upward and away from other buildings. Buildings of more than one story had outdoor escape slides for employees.
The first ammunition line went to work in January 1943. Workers started their days by entering a set of buildings for clocking their time cards. From there they proceeded to a row of changing rooms. They were spot-checked for matches, lighters, cameras, tools for drawing or taking notes, guns and alcohol. The people working on the production line wore rubber-soled shoes and flame-retardant coveralls. Others wore wool to protect them from acids.
During WW II women were nicknamed the “Hidden Army of America;” they comprised a third of the plant’s workforce. The army claimed working at the plant was safer than housework, and they may have been right because there were few accidents. In the early months of the plant opening, workers were transported from Jamaica to fill open spaces in the production lines. Workers worked seven days on with one day off, and alternated the three shifts.
Although the plant was safe for the workers, it wasn’t necessarily healthy.
Verlyn Mueller, a former plant worker, said, “Safety was No. 1. People who worked in the rocket area, the nitro was heated during the processing and gave off fumes. People would go on vacation who worked with nitroglycerin. They would have a heart attack. Nitroglycerin dilates the blood vessels so the heart doesn’t have to work so hard.”
Employees found that taking away the nitro fumes made the heart work harder, causing the heart problems.
At the end of World War II the rocket-propellant line was kept operating while other parts of the plant were dismantled; some of the equipment was donated to local schools. Of the land, 4,189 acres were sold.
Olin Corporation took over in March 1951 during the Korean War, with 5,022 employees. After that war ended the plant was kept open with 2,100 workers – until 1957 when it had a $10 million rehabilitation. In July of that year employee numbers decreased to 921 while it was held on stand-by because of the Cold War.
In 1963 it was renamed the Badger Army Ammunition Plant. The plant was again opened, in 1966, to produce propellants for the Vietnam War; employment increased to 5,390.
After the Vietnam War the army leased 3,030 of open acres. One-third of those acres were cropped, with a mandate that the crops grown on the land could not be a part of any price-support program or in excess supply. The rest of the acreage was grazed by 400 cows; trees and shrubs were planted in spots.
The plant was last operated in March 1975. But in true bureaucratic fashion, a massive $400 million modernization was done between then and its complete shutdown in 1998. A total of about 796 million pounds of smokeless powder were produced during its lifetime. Surprisingly, there were few explosions related to the camp – with a total of 10 fatalities. Clean-up of the chemicals – especially asbestos – and concrete has been a massive undertaking that is still in process.
This is an original article written for Agri-View, a Lee Enterprises agricultural publication based in Madison, Wisconsin. Visit AgriView.com for more information.
LeeAnne Bulman writes about agriculture from her farm overlooking the beautiful Danuser Valley on Wisconsin’s west coast. When not writing she helps her husband on their small grain and beef farm. Email genwim2@gmail.com to reach her.
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Badger Village and Badger Ordnance Works were built between Baraboo and Madison, Wisconsin.
BADGER VILLAGE, Wis. – It was an amazing phenomenon when Badger Village was built between Baraboo and Madison. There were 500 dwellings on 38 …
Ownership of the massive Badger Plant is divided between the Ho Chunk Nation, the USDA and the Sauk Prairie Recreational Area.
The Badger Army Ammunition Plant is shown before its demolition.
One of the remaining buildings of the Badger Plant is framed by the Baraboo Hills in the background.
A handful of Badger Plant buildings remain; at one time it had more than 1,400 buildings. Most of them were demolished in an effort to return the land back to farming and recreational use.
Motorcycle police at the Badger Ordnance Works plant near Baraboo, Wisconsin, patrolled the fence line of the plant between 1942 and 1945. One of the guards is Lyle Lilly (1916-1911). The sign reads, 'Badger Ordnance Works, An Arsenal of Democracy, Protecting Our Country, Promoting Safety.' Photo was taken about 1944.
Art Posbeck in a driving class Feb. 21, 1947, checks his field of vision on equipment from the Badger Ordnance Works. Watching him from left are Dick Gettle, Bob Wise and Billy Gatz. The photo was published Feb. 24, 1947, in the Wisconsin State Journal. -- photographer Arthur M. Vinje, 1888-1972
The Bass farm in the town of Sumpter in Sauk County, Wisconsin, is acquired in 1942 by the U.S. government for the Badger Ordnance Works. It was originally owned by the photographer's father, Isaac Bass. Pictured about 1900 are the photographer's mother, Lorinda Bass, brother Frank Bass holding his son Floyd, sister Rhoda, and children Cary and Everetta Bass. -- photographer Dr. Edward A. Bass
Looking south in about 1892 at the Sauk Prairie are, from left, the photographer's brother, Frank Bass; Mrs. Edward (Ada Burlingame) Bass and her daughter, Everetta, sitting on the boulder; and the photographer's sister, Rhoda Bass. A split-rail fence separates the rocky hillside from a field. Headstones in Pioneer Cemetery are just visible beyond the field, on the left. Ferry Bluff is in the background, right. The Badger Ordnance Works later occupied this part of the Sauk Prairie in the town of Sumpter in Sauk County, Wisconsin. -- photographer Dr. Edward A. Bass
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