In 1906 the E. I. Du Pont de Nemours Company purchased land in Douglas County for a dynamite factory. The local manufacture of dynamite was important with the extent of the use of dynamite in mines and quarries in the area. Railroads and plentiful labor in the Denver area made sparsely populated Douglas County the right place for the plant. The name Louviers came from the Du Pont family home in the Norman region of France. By 1908 Du Pont had built homes for the employees not far from the powder facilities. The town that developed was named the same as the dynamite plant, a company town from the beginning. The Louviers Club was built in1917 replacing a smaller clubhouse that was built in 1908 for the recreational use of the employees. One of the popular activities at the clubhouse was the bowling alley. This building is on the National Register of Historic Places as is the town. The artifacts in this exhibit date from the heyday of Du Pont's ownership of the town and dynamite manufacturing. By the early 1960s Du Pont divested itself from control of the town and deeded infrastructure to Douglas County as well as selling homes and land to the residents. 1971 saw the end of dynamite operations in Louviers but the town continues to prosper. Artifacts used in this exhibit were gifted to Douglas County by members of the Louviers Historical Foundation. The photographs are courtesy of the Douglas County History Research Center, donated to the County from the Louviers Historical Society, the Dolph and Ann Campbell Collection, the Obie Oblander Visual Material Collection. References: Appleby, Susan Consola. Fading Past, 2001. p.122 Douglas County Libraries, Louviers: A Quintessential Company Town.
