The Peters Cartridge Company, in Kings Mills, is a favorite of locals when it comes to abandoned or supposedly haunted buildings. Though calling it abandoned isn’t exactly true, but more on that later. While it is commonly called “The Powder Factory,” they didn’t actually make any gun powder at the site. The gun powder was made across the Little Miami River at the Kings Powder facility. The Peters Cartridge Company made shotgun shells and rifle and pistol cartridges., hence the name.
The factory was built in the 1880′s, though I’ve also read a few places that it was built even earlier than that, but most say the 1880’s, so we’ll go with that for now. There is said to have been about 20 explosions, killing dozens of people over the years, before Peters Cartridge sold out to Remington Arms in 1934. One of these explosions destroyed much of the original complex, but it was rebuilt and production went on. The factory continued to manufacture rifle and shotgun ammunition until close to the end of World War II, after which it closed as part of a consolidation by Remington.
Since then, parts of the property have been used for everything from making records and eyeglass lenses & frames, and storing booze made by Seagrams Distillers. Someone tried to turn it into a commerce park at one point, with no success. There’s even been some music videos and movies filmed on the site. But as stated earlier, the building still isn’t abandoned, as a salvage operator and a small printing company still rent space and operate there. In 1985, the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
As the site sits now, it certainly looks deserted, with a high creep factor. Sitting along the Little Miami River, windows broken out, parts of it crumbling, large “No Trespassing” signs…it looks like its straight out of a horror movie. Add in to all that the stories of accidents and deaths over the years, and its no surprise the building has the haunted reputation that it does. Though I actually haven’t heard any specific stories, just that its supposedly haunted. The site is now set to be converted into loft apartments in the coming years, so I guess we’ll have to wait till some tenants get moved in to see what they have to say. You want to check it out yourself? Now? Forget about it. They have a STRICT no trespassing policy, and the site is patrolled regularly looking for violators. So don’t even think about it.
The Peters Cartridge Company is located at 1915 Grandin Rd. in Kings Mills, Ohio.
Can you visit this location?
No. This is a privately owned building. They don’t allow visitors, and will prosecute trespassers.
Creepy Cincinnati 
I have always wanted to go inside that building, but definitely not worth the trespassing charge.
I have been in this old factory for about 2 weeks working for an engineering firm. The structure is extremely dangerous: no rails, large holes in the upper level floors, infestations of rats and bats. It is not worth risking getting seriously injured without anyone to help you. RAS
Awesome! Glad you finally got this posted!
Lol yeah I’m a little tardy with it. I have some old newspaper clippings about various accidents there to add, but I’ll have to do it later
LOL I saw one on some site that said people were “blown to smithereens.” Such great journalism!
[…] the creepy but awesome abandoned building? Well, the good folks… dude?… Rick over at Creepy Cincinnati just wrote a piece about it, with actual history and detail about the building. Check it […]
We grew up in Mason and during the 90’s we had a lot of fun exploring the inside of The Powder Factory. There was no one there at that time. Only once did we get caught by a cop patrolling, who told us to leave b/c it was dangerous. The inside was great. There were holes in the floors and windows with metal staircases. There was a way to get on the roof and hang out. Once we climbed up inside the tower to the top. Another time, we found a spray painted pentagram with candles. There are several other small buildings around that property that were fun to explore as well.
I’ve been in the building a handful of times as a teenager… once while looking out a window in a stairwell, a friend and I heard footsteps go down the stairs above and behind us. That was the most distinct experience I had, before my friend started declaring very loudly that he did not believe in ghosts haha.
I’m a photographer, and I’m hoping to do a model shoot at the building. I’m aware that it isn’t a good idea to go in, but any idea what the policy is regarding just walking around the outside of the building? I really don’t want a criminal trespassing charge!
im a model and have always wanted to shoot there I go there every weekend pretty much and nothing has ever been said to us we even parked in the property and were there for hours its awesome. if you still want to do a shoot I would be down im very experienced in modeling and knowing my way around the property.
there is a park literally right next to it so you probably wont get in trouble// as long as you don’t go inside (there is fencing so the only way you would get in trouble is if you go inside them)
are you familiar with where I can get a permit to do photography here??
I’ve been in this place at least a dozen times when I was in high school about 8 years ago I actually got caught with several friends and there were so many of us they let us go. Once we got chased off by a couple guard dogs. The easiest way to get in undetected is go around and enter through the back rather then the main gate and as long as you are quiet and don’t shine light towards the street you should be fine. However it is very dangerous in the woth holeS in the flore with 20-30 for fall on concrete. It’s very creepy in there with the grafiti and where people have killed animals and left them.
Just visiting my parents and pass by the factory. We are curious what the
Newly uncovered round brick building at the rivers edge might’ve been.
by chance would anyone know if anything is going on there as of this coming summer (summer 2017) ? i love old places n i love walking through them to take photos
I’ve been in the factory before (I’m 12) (we had permission from the owner and I was with a officer) its pretty cool. there isn’t a lot of stuff in there besides rubble and trash. in one of the rooms there was a shopping cart full of old dirty clothes and shoes. the whole reason we where there was because we where picking up left over mulch from when they where planting trees. on one of our trips we saw kids up on one of the roofs and we had to call the cops (ya know, no trespassing) it was such a cool experience
Lived in Cincinnati for 22 years. Friends and I used to go there every now and then. I’ve been inside twice and explored as much as possible. It’s creepy and dangerous, for certain, but no ghosts that I ever witnessed. The fact that it sits directrly on the riverbank often helps with the myths because the river makes creepy sounds at night when it gets windy.
The clock tower staircase is accessible – or was – about halfway up – but the metal staircase eventually rusts out and is unsafe. Most of the ground floor is just dirt and trash and stuff. The scariest thing you’re going to see there is a raccoon or stray cat. There was a photographer who posed a pentagram and some crap for photos, which gave rise to a lot of myths about satanic worshippers – but that was never real.
The upstairs where the skybridge used to connect the building to the actual powder factory on the other side is completely blocked off with sandbags and crap. Or, again, was – it’s 2019 now.
Without permission – not with. The last time we went there, around 2009, we tried to park on the bike trail across the street and police appeared out of nowhere and harassed us, despite the fact that we literally never even left the car. Searched the car with a K9 unit even.
Local S.W.A.T uses it as a training facility on occasion, for building entry and stuff like that. There’s security posted nearby all the time and they do have cameras.