Section 04 of 6
Kenvil
The explosives town · formerly McCainsville
1,806 Population (2020)
$81,250 Median household income
$338,800 Median home value
40% below Roxbury's township-wide median of $134,519.
Kenvil was home to the second dynamite plant in the United States, opened in 1872 by the Atlantic Giant Powder Company to supply the region's iron mines. Hercules Powder acquired it in 1913 and added smokeless powder.
On September 12, 1940, the plant blew up in a chain of explosions that killed about 51 people. Earlier blasts in the 1930s had killed six; another in 1989 shattered windows across town. The facility closed in 1996.
- Second U.S. dynamite plant (1872)
- Hercules explosion, Sept. 12, 1940 — about 51 killed
- Plant closed 1996
Where it sits in the township
ACS 2019–23 five-year medians. Lower Berkshire Valley omitted — sample too small.