On December 1, 1773, George Washington patented 21,941 acres known as the Pocatalico Survey, including the present sites of Nitro, Sattes, Poca, and Cross Lanes. The tract was divided among eight former officers who served in the French and Indian War from 1754 to 1763: Adam Stephen, John Savage, Andrew Lewis, John Wilper, Thomas Bullitt, Peter Hogg, William Wright, and John Fry. Nitro was founded on Nov. 1, 1917, as the site of U. S. Govt. Explosive Plant C. Thompson Sterratt Co. finished the job in eleven months with a work force of 110,000. The project included a town to support a population of 24,000 and cost $60 million. The plant, operated by Hercules Powder Co., made 350 tons of cannon powder daily. Charleston Industrial Corp. bought it in Nov. 1919 and resold it to Monsanto, FMC, and Fike cos.