Category:Trojan Powder, Allentown, Pennsylvania

Trojan Powder Company was a manufacturer of explosives founded in 1904. The company opened an explosives manufacturing plant in Seiple, Whitehall Township which consisted of several large buildings on several hundred acres. It also licenced another plant in California, operated by Pacific High Explosives Company, which manufactured Trojan Powder products under licence.

It's headquarters were origionally located in Paulsboro, New Jersey, however, the company relocated its offices to Allentown after a fire in 1911. The company moved into a large, eleven-story building in Allentown known as the "Hunsicker Building", at 17-19 North 7th Street. The building, erected by Francis P Hunsicker had been completed in November 1911. Hunsicker was a local tobacconist and wholesaler. The building was adjacent to the Allentown Bank Building, and mirrored the architecture of the bank building in the classical revival style, popular at the end of the 19th and beginning of the early 20th century. Trojan Powder subsequently leased office space for its Allentown headquarters in the building, however Hunsicker retained the six lower floors and facilities for other leased office space and for his tobacco interests until his passing in October 1920. His estate, Hunsicker & Company, continued the practice after that.

Trojan Powder was primarily was a manufactrer of high explosives and blasting caps. It produced explosives for both civilian uses as well as the military during both World Wars in which it manufactured various military munitions. Over the years of its operation, the Seiple plant had a series of explosions in 1918, 1940, and 1963 in which 3 workers were killed. All of these were determined to be accidental. In 1967, the company was acquired by Commercial Solvents Corporation was made a division of the corporation, which included the U. S. Powder Company. With the merger, the company was renamed Trojan - U. S. Powder Division. In 1975, it was again acquired by International Minerals & Chemicals (IMC) Group. IMC suspended and later closed the Seiple facility in May 1976 after another explosion at the plant. The explosives plant was closed later that year, and the offices in Allentown on 7th street were also closed.

By the mid-1990s, the other tenants of 17 North Seventh had moved out, and the building began to deteriorate, generally being in a poor state of repair. However, in 2005 it, and the adjacent Allentown National Bank building were purchaced by Penrose Properties of Philadelphia. The buildings were merged into a single building and completely renovated and redeveloped into a Senior Housing Complex, creating 63 one-bedroom units. The building today is fully occupied by seniors in apartments.