The Dittmars Powder Company was owned by Carl and Marea (Krueger) Dittmar. A patent was granted to Carl Dittmar on January 18, 1870 for nitro-glycerine safety powder, which was made and sold as “Dualin”, safe against the shocks of travel. He started his business in the Boston area; in 1878 Carl Dittmar moved from Boston and settled in Binghamton, NY. In 1883 he became ill, and returned to Germany, where he died. His wife, Marea (Krueger) Dittmar, became owner of the business, now located in The Bronx. Marea’s brother, Max Krueger, helped run the company.
Carl Dittmar believed in safety. Each phase of production occurred in a separate house on the property. There was a nitro house, a boiler house, and other separate houses used for mixing, packing, drying and storing purposes. The factory was situated at the intersection of Palmer and Stillwell Avenues. On one corner a large mound of dirt was apparent, which is where they stored explosive materials in the bunker. On another corner was a large metal building, where they stored their wagons and trucks. Elsewhere in the area is where they mixed the materials to create the explosives.
When the business closed in Baychester, the large land area was kept in the Krueger family. They built their homes on the old dynamite property between Palmer and Boller avenues. In the early 1960's the abandoned bunker hill and wagon building were still there. The kids would hang out on the bunker hill, and play in the wagon building.
The Dittmar factory had many explosions in it's life in Baychester, breaking windows in all the houses in the neighborhood and for many miles around. It was reported that people thought there was an earthquake!
On April 21, 1881, 5,000 pounds of nitro sugar exploded, followed shortly by a second explosion of 10,000 pounds of highly explosive powder, leveling every building of the factory complex in Binghamton. The explosion was felt for 30 miles. Binghamton filed legal action, and Dittmar moved the business to the Hudson River area.
1886 Sept. 30: An explosion occurred, killing four men: Earnest Dralen/Drahan, age 35 - left a widow and 3 children in Germany; John Rusch/Rush/Roesch, age 28 - single; Max Shafbolt/Safboldt/Trashbrodt, age 22 - single; John/Ernest Rinehart/Rheinhart/Reinhardt, age 24 - single. The multiple spellings of the names were as reported in the different newspapers. The cause of the explosion was due to a pair of hunters who were shooting squirrels nearby. Foreman Max Krueger advised them of the danger of shooting near the factory. Evidently they didn't listen! One shot ended up in the factory, and the whole place exploded. The explosion was felt for miles. All buildings in the nearby vicinity suffered from shattered windows from the concussion. All the windows in John Elliott's Bay View Hotel on Pelham Bridge were blown out. Even the blacksmith shop of Thomas Dunwoddie in Westchester was affected. At the time of the explosion, the factory was packaging product to be used in the new Croton Aqueduct excavation.
1887 March 8: Six hundred pounds of nitro-glycerin exploded at the Mary A Dittmar dynamite works at Baychester . One man was killed: Henry Altinger, age 23. Another newspaper mis-named the deceased as Henry Bahr. The concussion of the explosion was felt in every house in Baychester, and as far away as Fordham, Mount Vernon, Portchester, and New Rochelle, and Long Island. Three men were at work: Henry Altinger and Bernard Fischer, workmen; and Max Krueger, the superintendent. The cause of the explosion was due to an employee allowing the mixture to get so hot above safety temperatures that the mixture exploded. The nitro house was demolished, leaving a hole 15 feet by 360 feet circumference.
1890 April 5: An explosion occurred around 2 pm., killing two men who worked at Ditmar powder mill, James Kelmeir and Max Schultz. Houses in the vicinity were damaged. The Baychester railroad station was also damaged. The building was destroyed, leaving a hole 6 feet deep and 20 feet long.
1893 November 8: The packing house of Dittmar’s dynamite factory at Baychester was exploded by 500 pounds of dynamite and 300 pounds of nitro-glycerine . One employee, Frank Leonard, was blown through the roof, but escaped serious injury. The building, a large, low frame structure, was completely demolished. Windows in many houses in the area were broken.
It was dangerous to work in a dynamite factory. To read some of the newspaper articles about the explosions, click here.