The Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant was originally known as the Sunflower Ordnance Works. Established in 1941 on 10,747 acres, it was the world's largest smokeless powder plant. Although owned by the U.S. government, the plant was operated by the Hercules Powder Company.

During World War II, the Sunflower Ordnance Works produced more than 200 million pounds of propellants and employed as many as 12,067 people. Following the war, the plant was placed on partial standby. And in March 1947, the contract with Hercules Powder Company expired. When the plant was placed on complete standby in June 1948, the government took over maintenance and security. In 1951, the Sunflower Ordnance Works was brought out of standby due to the Korean War. Once again the operation of the plant was contracted out to Hercules. This time the plant produced more than 166 million pounds of propellants, with employment of up to 5,374. The plant then went into standby again in June 1960.

The name of the plant was changed from the Sunflower Ordnance Works to Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant (SFAAP) on August 1, 1963. Two years later the plant was reactivated to support the Vietnam War by producing in excess of 145 million pounds of propellants, before it returned to standby status in 1972.

A major facility modernization program was started in August 1967. The program included the construction, between 1975 and 1979, of a facility for the production of nitroguanidine. This facility was the first of its kind in North America and began production in 1984 and continued until 1992, when the plant was again placed on standby. Early in 1998, SFAAP was declared excess by the U.S. Army, and the General Services Administration began the process of selling the site to Sunflower Redevelopment which still contains over 900 building on the property.