In a Place with No Roads

The mine’s of the Copper Country were generally self-reliant except for three things which they could not find along the peninsula: coal, iron, and explosives. For that time these items were transported here from elsewhere at high cost to the mine companies. In an attempt to lower these costs, the controlling interests of the Tamarack and Osceola Mines invested in the construction of the area’s first explosives plant at Woodside in 1884. By the turn of the century the plant had come under the control of C&H (who had bought up the Tamarack and Osceola properties) and Dupont (who had bought up the plant’s parent company) but by that time the plant had become obsolete and unprofitable. C&H and Dupont then proceeded to invest in the construction of a new modern plant deep within the Dollar Peninsula in a place that would become known as Senter.

Before its closure, Woodside had the nasty habit of blowing up quite frequently which had resulted in a half dozen deaths and a countless amount of property damage. Dupont was much more concerned with safety, and made sure to place its plant as far from civilization as possible. The site at Senter fit the bill perfectly, sitting deep within the wilderness miles from any civilization. In fact the only access to the site was by rail, along a dedicated spur line which Copper Range built specifically to serve the plant. The plant began operations in 1910 as the Atlas Powder Company.

Due to the remote location of the explosives plant, it’s several hundred employes had to commute to work by train each and every day. Part of Copper Range’s contract with Atlas allowed commuters to ride the train for free - providing they presented this special ticket booth to the conductor. Trains visited the plant only twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

Once arriving to the plant, workers would disembark here at the end of this clearing in the trees. From there they would walk the rest of the way to their respective buildings - scattered across 1800 acres of land. Office workers would simply take a stroll down this tree-lined lane to the building at its end.

This is the plant’s main office, where the administrative work of the business was carried out. On its front entrance is this rather stately columned portico, an interesting detail for a building very few people would actually ever see (except for the workers). Although this was also a sales office, I doubt clients would take the long commute in on the train very often.

Here’s a closer look at that portico. The columns are made from wood and the sandstone foundations hold up the floor. The numbered plaque over the door (”1″), matches up with building’s number on the site’s master plan. It also designates this as the first building built for the plant, which makes sense. The plant had over 240 individual buildings scattered about its massive grounds.

Here’s a close up of yet another opulent detail in what should be a plain utilitarian structure - heavy wood brackets under the eaves. The wasp nest was a more modern addition.

Though this looks like the “rear” of the office building, today its actually the front in relation to the nearby road which runs in front of it. When the building was first built there was no road, so the building faced the most logical point of entry into the site - the railroad spur. After the road was finally laid out to Senter a new entrance to the plant was built along the road. This new entrance faced this side of the house - once the back and now the front. I think I just confused myself.

Here’s an old photograph of the road entrance, which you can see facing the office’s rear. Note the sign warning of everything not to do when at the plant. The fence seen in the photo surrounded the entire property and was topped by razor-wire to keep people out. Gates were placed over all entrances - including over rail lines. This was, after all, and explosives plant.

To learn more about the Woodside Plant, check out Bill Haller’s excellent photo gallery on the subject. Bill also knows almost anything there is to no about the Senter Plant and has literally written the book on the subject. I would like to thank him (and his wife) for being kind enough to escort me through the old Senter plant and allowing me to use his extensive collection of Senter photo’s from his gallery. This series wouldn’t be possible without them.

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