E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. The company was established in 1802 by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) and his son Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834) the company began with the production of gunpowder. The du Pont’s purchased a mill site on the banks of the Brandywine River just North of Wilmington, Delaware. During wartime the company was a major supplier for the United States government. During peacetime, the company marketed their product towards sportsmen and hunters.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company was incorporated on May 19, 1903. It was organized as an operating company to consolidate approximately 100 explosives manufacturers controlled by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. These firms represented 95 percent of the powder business in the United States. In 1907, the United States government brought a suit to dissolve the company as an illegal combination under the antitrust law. In 1911 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government, which accepted a plan for breaking up the so-called "powder trust" by forming two new companies, the Hercules Powder Co. and the Atlas Powder Company. The E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company continued in operation with the remainder of its assets. In 1915 all the assets of E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Co. were transferred to the newly incorporated E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. The Powder Company became inactive even though it was not officially dissolved until 1926.