Pine Bluff Arsenal

Pine Bluff Arsenal (1941-Present) - A U.S. Army arsenal established in 1941 during World War II as the Chemical Warfare Arsenal in present day Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas. Renamed Pine Bluff Arsenal in 1942. Active military installation. History Established by U.S. Army on 2 Nov 1941 as a chemical weapons facility built on 14,944 acres near Pine Bluff, Arkansas. During World War II the arsenal made magnesium and thermite incendiary munitions and produced lethal gases and chemical compounds installed in artillery shells and bombs. The arsenal came to employ some 10,000 civilians, had a military garrison of about 350 troops and some 900 buildings. After World War II in the 1950s the arsenal began producing lethal biological pathogens including anthrax spores that could be dispersed through the air until President Richard Nixon banned the production and use of biological weapons. On 16 Nov 2010, arsenal officials announced that the last of the chemical agents stored there had been destroyed. As of 2011, the arsenal makes smoke, incendiary, and pyrotechnic devices and tests chemical defense clothing. Active military installation. Current Status Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2511976 Location: Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas. Maps & Images Lat: 34.3325 Long: -92.086667 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 223' Sources: Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 55 Links: Wikipedia - Pine Bluff Arsenal Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture - Pine Bluff Arsenal Visited: No