In the 1940s, the US Army established an enormous ammunition manufacturing plant near Charlestown, Indiana. The plant would manufacture a few specific things: rocket propellant, propellant charge bags, and, most famously, smokeless gunpowder. Word spread of the coming plant, and very quickly, people interested in jobs began flocking to the area. River Ridge, Indiana, was born!

Between 1940 and 1942, approximately 13,000 people moved to Charlestown and the area surrounding the soon-to-be-finished ammunition plant. Construction finished, and the plant opened in 1942—just in time for World War II. The newly minted town predictably went nuts, and jobs exploded. River Ridge became a neighborhood on the premises of the Ammunition Plant for high-ranking officials and their families; shops and amenities began appearing nearby.

During this time, the River Ridge Post Office saw a 300% increase in mail volume; soon enough, the neighborhood also had a baseball diamond, basketball courts, horseshoe pits, a pool, and more. It was alive and vibrantly so.

At its peak, the Army Ammunition complex boasted more than 800 buildings; 17 of those were homes. World War II and subsequent conflicts provided the plant with seemingly endless work. Over the most productive years, the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant had literally tens of thousands of employees.

The plant managed to stay afloat fairly well in the decades after World War II; it faithfully produced gunpowder for several international conflicts the US was involved in up until the end of the Vietnam War.

The town of River Ridge was slowly dying, however; families moved away, and one by one, homes and businesses began shutting their doors forever. The River Ridge neighborhood began to decay without anyone left to care for it or keep it up. In August 1991, the US Army decided to cease production completely. This call sealed River Ridge's fate forever.

Okay, so maybe the abandonment of this once-lively neighborhood wasn't exactly "mysterious," but it's always very weird to watch flourishing homes and entire towns turn totally desolate over the course of just a few years. In 1997, 6,000 acres of plant grounds were formally transferred to the Clark County Reuse Authority. The remaining land, approximately 4,000 acres, was donated to what is now the Charlestown State Park.

After the war in Vietnam ended, production at the plant decreased dramatically. Layoffs began around that time, and thus, it was clearly the beginning of the end. It wasn't about to die out without a fight, though. Over the years, many ideas for repurposing the plant were dreamt up, though ultimately, nothing ever came to fruition. By 1987, fewer than 1,000 employees remained, and the plant and the surrounding town were in decline.

But nowadays, River Ridge Commerce Center in southern Indiana, near Jeffersonville, is a prominent business and industrial park developed on the grounds of the former Indiana Army Ammunition Plant. The former military site has been transformed into a vital economic hub, providing space for various businesses and industries while creating numerous jobs in the region. The development of River Ridge represents a successful repurposing of a decommissioned military facility into a driver of local economic activity.

Intriguingly, Charlestown State Park is also the site of an abandoned theme park. Read more about the abandoned theme park on the same grounds as what used to be River Ridge, Indiana. Have you ever visited this state park and the abandoned memories it holds? Tell us about it in the comments! And if you do go exploring, make sure to grab some sturdy boots at Backcountry.com.