Picatinny Arsenal

Images of America: New Jersey

by John Warden Rae

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Picatinny Arsenal was the only munitions plant in the nation capable of producing anything larger than small arms ammunition. Today, it is a sprawling reservation devoted to research and development of new weapons, both conventional and nuclear. With an introduction written by New Jersey Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen, this photographic history traces Picatinny Arsenal's role as the major ammunition research, development, and manufacture site from the Revolutionary War through Desert Storm. Picatinny Arsenal shows dramatic pictures of the Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition explosion in 1926, which leveled much of the arsenal, the rebuilding of the arsenal by the WPA, its role in the post-war era, and its museum. Taken mostly from Picatinny Arsenal's archives, over 200 images capture the lives of people, both military and civilian, who made Picatinny what it is today.

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 14, 1999