Farmland chosen for war
Before World War II, the land south of La Porte around Kingsbury was farm country. In 1940, while the United States was preparing for a war it had not yet entered, the War Department picked this area for a huge ammunition plant. The families who farmed there had to sell their land and move.
In all, the government took in more than 13,000 acres, roughly 20 square miles of LaPorte County. Farms, fields and homes became the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant. For the families who left, it meant giving up their homes and farms so the country could arm for war.
Construction ran from 1940 into 1941. The plant was laid out with safety in mind, so that an explosion in one building would not set off the next. Production buildings were spread far apart, and some were partly underground. Indiana Landmarks notes that the storage bunkers stand in parallel rows, carefully spaced to prevent a chain of explosions.
The work itself was loading artillery shells and assembling and packing ammunition. Workers handled the parts that make a round work, such as fuses, boosters, detonators and primers. The state of Indiana describes the plant’s products as shells, cartridges and mortar rounds for World War II and later the Korean War.
The people who worked there
A plant this size needed far more workers than the county could supply. In 1940, the city of La Porte had only about 16,000 residents. Recruiters looked for help in towns up to 50 miles away. At its peak in 1942, more than 20,000 people worked at Kingsbury, and nearly half of them were women.
Housing was a constant problem. With so many new workers arriving, La Porte ran short of places to live. According to Indiana Public Media, local residents were encouraged to rent out their spare rooms.
Victory City becomes Kingsford Heights
To house workers, the government built a whole new town just outside the plant gates. It was first called Victory City, but it soon took the name Kingsford Heights. Plans called for thousands of homes, along with schools and other services. Accounts of its size vary: one history says nearly 3,000 houses were planned, while Indiana Public Media describes more than 2,600 dormitories, trailers and prefabricated homes. Either way, it was a town built from scratch for a single purpose.
After the plant wound down, the people who stayed bought the town from the government and incorporated it. Kingsford Heights is still a small town in LaPorte County today.
After the wars
When World War II ended in August 1945, the plant began shutting down. It was kept on standby, and it went back into production for the Korean War in the early 1950s. Sources disagree on the exact year it closed for good, giving 1959 or 1960.
In 1965, the federal government deeded more than 7,000 acres of the old plant to the State of Indiana. That land is now the Kingsbury Fish & Wildlife Area. Another part of the site became the Kingsbury Industrial Park.
Legend and record
Like many old military sites, Kingsbury has picked up ghost stories. Some lists of haunted places claim that explosions at the plant killed workers. We found no record of deadly explosions there. Indiana Public Media’s history of the plant says it ran for four years without any major accidents, and none of the other histories we read mention a deadly explosion.
The empty bunkers standing in rows in the woods give the place a lonely feel, and that is likely where some of the stories start. The real history is enough: thousands of ordinary people from around the region, many of them women, doing dangerous work for the war effort.
Visiting Kingsbury today
The Kingsbury Fish & Wildlife Area is public land managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. People hunt, fish on the Kankakee River and Tamarack Lake, watch birds and ride bikes on its roads. It is a working hunting area, so wear bright orange in hunting season and obey the signs marking refuges and closed areas.
Do not enter old bunkers or any fenced or posted area. Other parts of the former plant, including the industrial park, are private property. View them from the road and respect private property. For more local history, see our La Porte County history page.
Questions
When was the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant built?
The War Department chose the site in 1940, and the plant was built in 1940 and 1941. It ran through World War II and again for the Korean War.
How many people worked there?
At its peak in 1942, more than 20,000 people worked at the plant, and nearly half of them were women.
Were workers killed in explosions at Kingsbury?
We found no record of deadly explosions there. Indiana Public Media says the plant ran for four years without any major accidents. Stories of deadly blasts are legend, not record.
What is on the land today?
Since 1965, more than 7,000 acres have been the Kingsbury Fish & Wildlife Area, managed by the Indiana DNR. Another part is the Kingsbury Industrial Park, which is private property.
Sources: WKVI: From the WKVI Archives: Kingsbury Ordnance Plant · Indiana Public Media, Moment of Indiana History: Kingsbury Ordnance Plant · The History Museum, South Bend: Kingsbury Ordnance Plant · Indiana DNR: Kingsbury Fish & Wildlife Area · La Porte County Herald-Dispatch: Kingsbury Ordnance Plant history · Towne Post: A Look Back at the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant · Indiana Landmarks: Tour Cold War landmarks in the region (2018) · Wikipedia: Kingsford Heights, Indiana