Two new Virginia Historic Highway Markers approved in Pulaski County commemorate home front mobilization in WWII

The Pulaski County Board of Supervisors is pleased to announce the approval and installation of two new Virginia Historic Highway Markers for Pulaski County by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.   The two new historic markers commemorate home front mobilization during WWII in Pulaski County and the surrounding area.

The first marker entitled “World War II Home Front” will direct attention to the area’s transformation with the building of the Radford Ordnance Plant and the New River Ordnance Plant in Dublin during the 1940’s.  Construction on these plants drew more than 20,000 people from around the U.S., changing the area’s economy and infrastructure, resulting in more roads, schools, and commerce, as well as private and government-funded housing developments.  This marker is located near the Dublin Town Center.

The second marker is entitled, “New River Ordnance Plant”, a federal government facility established primarily for the bagging of propellant powder used for firing artillery shells during WWII.  The plant shipped 144,000 tons of powder between 1941 and 1945.  Thousands of employees, many of them women, manufactured bags, loaded them with powder, waterproofed artillery propellants, and made cannon flash reducers.  This marker is located on Bagging Plant Road in Dublin.

Application for these two markers was sponsored by the Board of Supervisors with the assistance of the Pulaski County Courthouses Exhibits Committee and the Pulaski County WWI & WWII Commemoration Committee members.   These markers will serve several purposes including preserving and documenting our county’s history, saluting our WWII veterans and those that worked at the plant, and educating our citizens and others on this extraordinary time in our county and region’s history.

An unveiling ceremony for the two new markers will be held on Friday, October 5, 2018, at the Dublin Lions Club.  This ceremony will be hosted by the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors and members of the Pulaski County Courthouses Exhibits Committee and the Pulaski County WWI & WWII Commemoration Committees.

The Virginia Historical Marker Program is the oldest such program in the nation, beginning in 1927 when a handful of markers were erected along U.S. 1 between Richmond and Mount Vernon.   This program commemorates facts, persons, events, and places prominently identified with the history of our nation, state or region.  There are currently over 2,500 markers erected in Virginia.  Once the markers are approved by the Department of Historical Resources, they are erected and maintained by the Virginia Department of Highways.