West Virginia Ordnance Works 1942 Magnet

The West Virginia Ordnance Works (WVOW) was an ordnance manufacturing facility constructed and operated by the US Army during World War II. Located just outside of Point Pleasant, West Virginia in Mason County, the 8,323 acre facility produced trinitrotoluene (TNT) based munitions. The facility had a design capacity of 720,000 pounds of TNT per 24-hour period, and operated 7 days a week, 3 shifts per day. TNT production was suspended at the facility in August 1945, following the end of the war, and the facility was transferred from the War Department to War Assets Admin. in late 1946. Now known as the 'TNT Area,' the land has been repurposed for public use, and is where the first known sighting of the "Mothman" occurred in November 1966.