As the U.S. entered World War I and nitrate was needed for weapons, President Woodrow Wilson approved building two nitrate plants and a dam (Wilson Dam) in what is now Muscle Shoals. The entire construction site included 1,700 temporary buildings and 236 permanent buildings, according to the city of Muscle Shoals. Pictured here is the U.S. Nitrate Plant 2 under construction on March 5, 1918. Photo from the University of North Alabama Collier Library Archives via the Library of Congress.
This article appears in the December 2025 issue of Business Alabama.
