Visit us at WWW.NAVALORDNANCEPLANT.ORG

For half a century, the U.S. Naval Ordnance Plant (NOP) at South Charleston, West Virginia, was an essential element of American naval might. Built during the First World War and serving as the first Navy shore facility west of the Appalachian mountains, this single factory produced more than half of the Navy's armor and gun barrels during World War II. Though sold to private industry by the Kennedy administration, the massive structures of the former NOP have continued to house a veritable hall of fame of American industry, including the production of more than 15,000 M113 armored personnel carriers, American Motor Corporation, Volkswagen America, and more recently, Gestamp.

This is the online photo archive for CENTURY STRONG, the South Charleston Interpretive Center's ongoing project to preserve over one hundred years of essential American industrial history at the NOP. For more information and resources, visit www.NavalOrdnancePlant.org.