Ashland Hercules

The Ashland Hercules plant, located on 170 acres between West 7th Street and Highway 42 in northeast Hattiesburg, opened in 1923. It was originally known as the Hercules Powder Co. In 1966 it changed its name to Hercules Inc. In 2008 the Hercules company was purchased for $3.3 billion by Ashland Inc. On February 25, 2009, Ashland announced it was closing the plant by the end of the year.