Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (U.S.)

The Twin Cities Ordnance Plant (TCOP) was established in 1941 as part of the War Department’s government-owned, contractor-operated war materials production program. Federal Cartridge Corporation (FCC) was awarded the contract to construct and operate the plant, which resided in Mounds View Township (later apportioned as the cities of Arden Hills, Mounds View, and New Brighton) and whose mailing address was New Brighton, Minnesota. Construction began August 28, 1941, and production of .30 and .50 caliber cartridges began on February 2, 1942. TCOP produced more than four billion rounds by war’s end and at its peak (July 1943) employed approximately 26,000 people-more than half of whom were women.

Production ceased in July 1945, the Army’s contract with FCC was terminated in March 1946, and TCOP was put on standby. The Army’s Ordnance Department assumed plant management, renaming it the Twin Cities Arsenal on April 1, 1946. In response to the Korean War, the Arsenal resumed production in August 1950 when the federal government again contracted with FCC. In August 1958, the Arsenal was again put on standby.

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