10/18/2026
Pennsylvania Ordnance Works; Alvira, PA
aka Susquehanna Ordnance Depot; Alvira, PA.
Halloween is just around the corner. But Alvira is not to be mistaken for Elvira; Mistress of the Dark. But, the good people of Alvira were subjected to dark times, or the tricks without the treats.
During war, society is expected to make sacrifices. But some sacrifices are indeed very disproportionate.
Young men faced the possibility of getting drafted if their number came up. The best case scenario would be to come home alive, and uninjured. But unfortunately, millions were not that lucky.
Besides humans, some communities get drafted for the war, and have their land and buildings confiscated, for pennies on the dollar; not to mention a severe disruption of their lives. The best case scenario for these communities would be for the land owners to get their original land back......uncontaminated.
It is quite fitting that the shorthand for this place was POW. The Alvirans were prisoners of government's strong arm tactics through eminent domain. In fact, some women were even dragged kicking, and screaming off their property by government agents.
In all, 8,663 acres composed POW/SOD. Much, if not all of it was from family farms. Let's assume that all acreage was indeed confiscated, then here are the numbers:
According to a 1945 Army facilities document, Uncle Sam paid a mere $631,165 for about 13.53 square miles. In 2026 $ that would be worth $13,046,916.
Alvira land owners recieved a mere $72.85/acre in 1945 $. In 2026 $, that would be worth $1,363.67. It must be really nice to get deeply discounted acreage. But, only the government gets that kind of deal.
The problem was in between the wars, the U.S. government completely shuttered their mu*****ns production. Not one WWI facility was left intact. The shortage was so severe that there weren't enough mu*****ns to make it through one day of war, never mind the duration of WWII itself!
So, 77 TNT facilities in all were built around the country at breakneck speed, and some communities like Alvira, PA literally got steamrolled in the process. Except for a handful of buildings that a few contractors or troops lived in, everything in sight was exterminated with extreme prejudice.
Overall, 163 family farms were confiscated, about 580 buildings razed, and 400+ people were displaced. Farmers had to accept around 35 cents on the dollar for their property, AND set up shop elsewhere.
OTOH, Uncle Sam was quite generous with the construction budget. in 1945 $ it cost $41,298,965 to build the TNT factory; one that would be in operation for all of 11 months, or 322 days to be exact. In 1945 $ that would be worth $773,070,737; better than 3/4 of a billion dollars!
Hands down, this has to be one of the most expensive WWII facilities ever; based on its very short life span! The daily cost was $128,257.65 to be exact. (That was just construction; not operations and maintenance.)
This place was known as a GOCO: Government Owned; Contractor Operated. United States Rubber Company hired civilians to produce the mu*****ns; which were stored in 149 domed igloos under soil and trees for camouflage. (Many of them are still around!)
The workers were shipped in on busses with windows completely covered, and taken through windy roads. That was done to keep the location of this place top secret.
Odds are very high that contractors weren't expected to build POW for pennies on the dollar. Likewise with USRC when it came to their production and distribution of TNT.
In fact, for every one dollar that was spent on confiscated land, $65.43 was spent on construction. (This is in 1945 $.)
Perhaps, if one wanted to do some digging they could see which politicians received donations from USRC, and the construction contractors.
Even though TNT production was short lived, the place served other purposes for Uncle Sam. POW subsequently became SOD; a sub depot for Letterkenny OD. (The latter is still active, despite a BRAC "realignment" in the 90s.)
About half the surplus acreage of SOD was turned over the U.S. Bureau of Prisons for Allenwood Federal Penitentiary. (This has happened at numerous other former bases, like Fort Devens, MA; Castle AFB, CA; and Webb AFB, TX for example.)
The one thing that gave displaced Alvira residents hope was, to someday get their land back, and farm again. Slight problem; the soil was contaminated from TNT production. After the European Theater wrapped up, mu*****ns were sent back to stateside depots, and for eventual shipment to the Pacific Theatre. But, SOD was seriously overflowing with incoming shipments, and some of this toxic stuff was stored OUTSIDE, and leeched into the soil.
In addition, 4 igloos stored uranium waste from the ultra top secret Oak Ridge, TN laboratory built for the "Manhattan Project". Eventually there was a radiological survey conducted by the Commonwealth of PA, and they claimed that background radiation levels were normal for the area.
As one can see citizens were getting raw deals from the Federal Government 85 years ago. Coincidentally, there's a national election coming up in 2 weeks. And these days, very few people have faith in our government, both local and national.
The question is, do they retain the incumbents, or go back to the other party; who themselves were replaced just 2 years ago due to incumbent dissatisfaction?
Even though this place has a sad history, it would still definitely be worthy of a pilgrimage. Virtually all of the igloos have survived, and many are unlocked. Thus, allowing one a chance to explore.
This is one of the very few places I can think of where nature is slowly, but surely reclaiming the land the igloos occupy. (Most former depots with igloos are either locked up, the igloos have been razed, or repurposed.) Some pics were borrowed, and some were taken by yours truly from a visit here in September 2020.
