The DuPont Years (1928 1985) By: Jim Krimmel The DuPont Chemical Company was started in 1802 when a French immigrant, E. I. duPont journeyed to America to manufacture gun powder. DuPonts first gun powder plant was located on the Brandywine River near Wilmington Delaware. Later in the 19th century, DuPont expanded into other explosives like dynamite and nitroglycerin but remained an explosives company until 1902. That year, three young duPont cousins T.Coleman, Pierre S. and Alfred I. purchased the company from their older relatives and began to transform it from an explosives manufacturer into a broad, science-based chemical company. Entry into the paints and coatings industry marked DuPonts first effort to diversify beyond explosives. Nitrocellulose, in addition to being a raw material of smokeless powder, was also used as a lacquer to coat brass fixtures. In 1904, DuPont acquired International Smokeless Powder Chemical Company, a leading manufacturer