Glen Canyon Park

You are walking into a space that hides a volatile past beneath its peaceful trails. In 1868, this canyon served as the site of the first dynamite factory in the United States. Under a license from the inventor Alfred Nobel, the Giant Powder Company manufactured high explosives here, tucked away from the city's population centers for safety. That precaution proved necessary when a massive explosion leveled the facility in 1869. Today, a plaque near the Elk Street entrance marks the location of this industrial history, which is officially registered as California Historical Landmark number one thousand and two.