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I would imagine it was developed here; I live 2 miles from the arsenal.

Picatinny Arsenal
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Armament Research, Development & Engineering Center
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Picatinny Arsenal

Picatinny Arsenal Picatinny is the site of ARDEC (Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center). ARDEC falls under the major command of AMC (Army Materiel Command) and TACOM (Tank Automotive and Armaments Command). ARDEC's mission is to conduct or mange research, development and engineering for all assigned weapon systems. Currently, its primary mission is research, development, and pilot-plant production of explosives and propellants for the Army. Picatinny Arsenal covers 6,491 acres in Morris County. Picatinny Arsenal is located in the NY/NJ Metropolitan Region approximately 45 miles West of New York City. The arsenal has been in operation for over 100 years, and it was a major source of ammunition in wartime.

On 06 September 1880, the War Department issued Special Order No. 189 which established the "Dover Powder Depot" in Rockaway Township, New Jersey to store gunpowder needed to manufacture ammunition. Four days later, the post was renamed the "Picatinny Powder Depot". It was built on land that had been the site of Mt. Hope Ironworks, including John Jacob Faesch's Middle Forge, that provided munitions for Washington's troops during the Revolutionary War. With his advanced knowledge of European technology, Swiss ironmaster John Jacob Faesch introduced many improvements to Morris County's iron industry. He also directed the iron manufacturing operations that provided the Continental Army with ammunition and ordnance during the Revolution.

In 1907, the installation became Picatinny Arsenal, home of the Army's first smokeless powder factory. After World War I, the arsenal added research and development of large caliber munitions to its mission. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, When World War II started, Picatinny Arsenal was the only plant in the United States capable of making ammunition larger than that for small arms. During the war more than 8,000 people were trained at Picatinny in specialized techniques of munitions and mass production. At the peak of WWII activities, the Arsenal employed in excess of 18,000 people on a three-shift per day, seven day a week basis. In the years from Korea to Vietnam, the prime arsenal mission was to develop and improve large caliber conventional and nuclear munitions. Through the early 1970s, explosives, propellants, and ammunition were manufactured at the installation. By 1977, manufacturing was replaced by the research and development of weapons and small caliber munitions. It was designated the United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) in 1986 and joined TACOM in 1994.

Picatinny Arsenal, like most Army installations, is continuously developing ways to tackle the challenges of downsizing and still provide today's soldiers, sailors, and airmen with the finest armament and munitions in the world. Restructuring initiatives have resulted in increased efficiency and substantial cost savings. The arsenal is committed to sustaining the highest possible quality of life for its workforce while continuing to perform basic research, concept evaluation, advanced development, and full-scale engineering support for production, fielding, and eventual demilitarization. Population served: 3,700 soldiers, civilian employees, dependents, and retirees. Size: 6,400 acres and 4,000,000 square feet of building space.

Picatinny Arsenal is located in Morris County (39 municipalities). Morris County, a 479 square mile county settled in 1685, is steeped in the past. Many place names - Hopatcong, Rockaway, Whippany, Pequannock, Succasunna and more - come from the Lenni Lenape Indians. And many of its roads and highways follow the old Indian trails. At the end of 1992, American Demographics magazine ranked Morris County as the most all-around affluent county in the nation. It was the only county to show up on all nine gauges of wealth used in the study, which was based on 1990 Census. According to the 1990 Census, as well, Morris County's population was 421,361 households. A Census report released in mid-April 1993, listed median family income as $62,749, giving Morris the second ranking in typical family income among the 3,141 counties in the nation. Household Income: $0-14,999: 7.6%; $15,000-24,999: 7.5%; $25,000-34,999: 10.6%; $35,000-49,999: 16.7%; $50,000-74,999: 25.3%; $75,000 plus: 32.2%.

Picatinny Arsenal is located in north-central New Jersey. The Arsenal is rectangular in shape, approximately 8.5 miles long by 1.5 males wide. It is situated in an elongated northeast-southwest trending valley bounded by Green Pond Mountain on the west, Green Pond and Copperas Mountains near the northwestern border, and an unnamed ridge to the southeast. The topography is lowlands in the south and east rising to 1,388 foot elevation in the hills of north-west; lakes, hills, forests in the south and west. Mixture of city, surburban, country environment with population, industry and major office buildings centered in the east and central portion. Green Pond and Copperas Mountains are characteristically rugged, rocky, and steeply sloped with a maximum altitude of 1,200 feet. The southeastern ridge is not as rugged or steeply sloped and has a maximum altitude of 1,100 feet . The valley is drained to the southwest primarily by Green Pond Brook. It has two man made lakes--Lake Denmark and Picatinny Lake.

Precipitation (mean annual) Rainfall 45.9 inches; Snow 35.1 inches. Temperatures monthly average July 83 degrees - January 23 degrees. Chief industrial products include pharamaceuticals; electricial machinery and equipment; chemicals; scientific and controlling insturments; stome; rubber and plastic products; printing; publishing; and fabricated metal products.