Bluebonnet Ordnance Plant facts for kids

The Bluebonnet Ordnance Plant was a big factory near McGregor, Texas. During World War II, it made important things for American soldiers. These included TNT, bombs, and other explosive materials. It was one of only four such factories in the United States during the war.

What Was the Bluebonnet Ordnance Plant?

Before the factory was built, the land near McGregor, Texas, was important for farming. It had rich soil. In 1879, two major railroads, the Santa Fe Railroad and the Cotton Belt Railroad, crossed paths there. The town of McGregor grew to over 1,200 people by the 1920s. This growth helped set the stage for the factory to be built later.

Building for War

When the United States joined World War II, the country needed many more factories to make war supplies. The National Gypsum Company, from Buffalo, suggested that the United States Department of War buy their large property near McGregor, Texas. This property was about 18,000 acres.

On March 7, 1942, the War Department agreed. National Gypsum leaders worked with Army engineers in Waco, Texas, to design the new factory. Offices for this big project were set up in the Waco Armory and the Waco library.

Making Bombs and Explosives

The National Gypsum Company ran the plant, but the military watched over everything. Major Paul Van Tuyl named the factory "Bluebonnet Ordnance Plant." He chose this name because the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas.

The factory started making bombs on October 16, 1942. Every day, more than 1,100 cars and trucks brought workers to and from the plant. Many workers came from other states or regions.

The plant mainly made TNT and ammonium nitrate. These materials were used to fill bomb casings. The factory focused on three types of bombs:

• Armor-piercing bombs (to break through strong defenses)
• General-purpose bombs (for many different uses)
• Fragmentation bombs (which break into many pieces)

Bluebonnet also made other military products. These included 105-mm high explosive shells and demolition blocks. At its busiest time, the plant had 5,732 workers. The factory stopped making products on August 14, 1945, when the war ended.

After the War

After World War II, the factory changed what it made. It started making solid rocket propellants, which are fuels for rockets. Several companies operated the site over the years:

• Phillips Petroleum Company (1952–1958)
• Astrodyne Incorporated (1958–1959)
• Rocketdyne (1959–1978)
• Hercules Inc. (1978–1995)

In 1995, Hercules moved its operations. This ended the making of explosive materials at the McGregor site.

From Rockets to Space Travel

Over time, parts of the old Bluebonnet Ordnance Plant were used for other things. Some land became used for farming research. Other parts became an industrial park.

Later, a company called Beal Aerospace built rocket engine testing facilities there. They went out of business in 2000. Today, the upgraded facilities are used by SpaceX. It is their Rocket Development and Test Facility. This is where SpaceX tests its rockets.

Some wood from the old Bluebonnet Ordnance Plant was even used to build a pizzeria in Waco in 2016.