Apache Powder Historic Residential District

The Apache Powder Historic District is architecturally significant under National Register Criterion C. The seven Craftsman Bungalows and two Period Revivals represent the distinctive characteristics of their types. They are excellent examples of the late 19th and early 20th century American and Revival movements which were. spread, in the vernacular sense, across the United States by contractor builders. These styles were very popular at the time the Apache Powder Company opened its operations nine miles southeast of Benson in the early 1920s. The houses and park were built for its management personnel. Significant in the history of Benson, the Apache Powder Company played a major role in serving to stimulate Benson's economy. Bringing manufacturing to Benson after the close of the railroad era was a strong factor in preventing the town from further declining during those years.

On June 11, 1920, a group of the larger mines from several western states and Mexico incorporated the Apache Powder Company under the leadership of Charles E. Mills. Charles Mills, a mining engineer with a degree from Harvard University, originally came to Arizona in 1888 to work for the Copper Queen mine in Bisbee. He became one of Arizona's leading financiers, being instrumental in the formation of Valley Bank, of which he was president at the time of his death in 1929. The Apache Powder Company became the largest independent producer of nitroglycerin explosives in the country and was one of the best examples of a cooperative industry in the United States. Its primary objective was to furnish high-quality explosives to the mining industry of Arizona, New Mexico, northern Mexico and other adjacent territories. It was located near Benson, in Curtiss, Arizona, because of the town's proximity to the majority of customers and because the dry climate was considered beneficial to the production of high-grade powder. In addition, the hilly terrain provided an excellent natural means of separating the various operations involved in the dangerous production of explosives. With approximately 140 buildings scattered over 700 acres, the Apache Powder Company was a community in itself, and employed hundreds of people, even during the Depression. Many of them lived onsite in accommodations provided by the company as well as in Benson.

For its management personnel, the Apache Powder Company purchased land on West 6th Street from the Benson Schools in 1925. The individual lots were sold to eight of the officials of the company, who subsequently built homes. A company evacuation hospital, at 209 West 6th Street, was also built at this time. A few years later, owing to a disagreement between the company and some of its officials, Apache Powder repurchased the properties from the owners. The residences were then rented at minimal rates, providing housing for company employees. In the late 1970s or early 1980s, the company sold all the houses in the district but still holds the mortgages on three of the properties. The one and three-quarters acres of land on the north side of West 6th Street, which Apache Powder Company converted to a park, was deeded to the City of Benson in the 1960s.

According to R. D. Willis, the Chief Executive Officer of today's Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc., the Apache Powder Company originally produced black powder-based explosives but began to produce nitroglycerin in the late 1920s and early 1930s. For reasons of cost and safety, the company switched to ammonium nitrate-based explosives in the 1940s. In the 1950s, the company converted to the DuPont Process, producing ammonium nitrate from anhydrous ammonia and air.

Apache Powder Company changed its name to Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc. on April 1, 1990, to better reflect its current business which is the manufacture of ammonium nitrate and detonating cord as well as ammonium nitrate solution and urea ammonium nitrate solution for fertilizer. The mining industry is its first commitment, comprising approximately seventy-five percent of its sales volume. In addition, Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc. sells fertilizer to cotton, wheat, pecan, citrus, lettuce, alfalfa, and asparagus growers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico.

The current ownership of the corporation since the mid-1980s is Phelps Dodge, Magma Copper, Cyprus Copper, Southwest Energy, and the four heirs of Charles E. Mills. The plant now occupies 1040 acres and the corporation is in the process of expanding its production facilities an additional fifty percent. Eighty-five to eighty-seven percent of the employees reside in Benson and nearby St. David, Arizona. Although raw materials such as natural gas, anhydrous ammonia and PETN (used in making detonating cords), are purchased elsewhere, Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc. obtains its petroleum, diesel fuel, food and services (such as medical care) from Benson.

The seven Craftsman Bungalows and two Period Revivals in the Apache Powder Historic Residential District are in good condition. Some have undergone alterations such as porch infills, rear additions, window alterations or kitchen remodels. However, these modifications are minor, or within the historic era, and the general integrity has not been compromised.

The Apache Powder Company gave Benson a badly needed economic boost and played a crucial role in the development of the Apache Powder Historic Residential District in the 1920s. In a very short period of time, a cohesive group of residential buildings was built. These serve as excellent examples of the Craftsman Bungalow and Period Revival styles which were popular throughout the United States at that time.