The Mississippi Ordnance Plant had its moment of glory for four years, a claim on history for the duration of the United States’ involvement in World War II. Since then, its purpose as an industrial park and storage facility means its brief history may become as lost as its crumbling warehouses.
Presley Posey, former branch manager for the Flora Public Library, said, “I was born and grew up near here. My family owned land near there. The United States military needed plants to make gun powder and so they bought 7,000 acres and moved the farmers off that land.” To be precise, 139 families of 511 people were relocated in order to build the Mississippi Ordnance Plant.
Charles Bowering, who relocated with his family from the land purchased by the government, said, “We had to move about a quarter of a mile away in 1942. I was six years old. They built the place in six months. Now, the warehouses are all falling down and some are already down. But the bunkers will be here when we’re all gone.”
The building where the loaded powder bags were made is still standing, though dilapidated. Upon the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this building and the plant itself sprung into action. Five thousand people were employed there, not including the security who guarded them. The plant was even served by its own chapel and chaplains.
The plant cost $13.5 million to fully construct and was put on standby, being one of several such plants around the country. While awaiting work, the plant created its own softball league with four teams. But the assumed work never came; instead the plant was made into a training camp. Mess halls, hospitals, and movie theaters were built to accommodate the coming troops. The plant was capable of supporting 8,000 men at once.
Soldiers from the Women’s Army Corps arrived in March of 1944. They had their own dating room, which could not be attended by those without a date. A large gymnasium was built. This gym would later be taken apart and relocated for use by Flora High School. The plant was finally scheduled to start loading powder in April of 1945. The war continued to rage in the Pacific Theater, despite Germany’s surrender. The plant fulfilled its purpose until August of 1945.
For three months out of the war, the Mississippi Ordnance Plant performed as originally imagined. Afterwards, it became an industrial park named Kearney Park, after the plantation owners who once lived there. These days, the proud buildings are now in states of disrepair and much of the history there has withered away under the strain of weather and age. The hard work of the men and women who worked there, however, will never be forgotten.
