Unexplained Eviction
The place was teeming with activity. There was a flurry of construction, but no one could have guessed what purpose it was going to serve.
By 1943, a mysterious, sprawling town had seemingly popped up overnight.
Overnight Mystery
The new town was now referred to as Oak Ridge, and was originally designed to house a population of about 13,000.
Furtive secrecy surrounded the town and those who were building it kept very tight lips. To make matters even more peculiar, the town of Oak Ridge didn’t appear on any maps.
No Ordinary Town
The entire vicinity of Oak Ridge was soon completely encompassed by a fence with guard towers and armed guards constantly on patrol.
The geography surrounding Oak Ridge also ensured limited access to the community, with the Clinch River and Cumber Mountains serving as natural borders.
Prohibited Area
Only authorized personnel could enter the secretive grounds and a great many efforts had been taken to keep it that way.
Barbed wire fences and signs warning of “Prohibited Zones” and “Restricted Areas” made sure that anyone who wasn’t already aware knew they weren’t welcome.
Looming Infrastructure
Although access into Oak Ridge was tightly restricted, the mysterious town behind the fence was conveniently connected to hundreds of miles of road and railway tracks.
That meant, transport would be easily accessible for whatever they were doing or making in the mysterious town.
Booming Population
It had only taken about a half year to build the town from scratch, but by 1945 the secret town flourished and its population had exploded to 75,000.
It would take an army of people to help with the task at hand, which was one of the biggest covert government operations ever.
The War Effort
Despite the wartime rationing during World War II, the residents of Oak Ridge had fresh produce, unlimited food stamps and fistfuls of cash during the time.
Elsewhere in the country, populations were struggling with food and resource shortages ―but not in this rare, secluded city.
A Clandestine Anomaly
On the rare occasion that an Oak Ridge resident would venture out of their secretive society, they would be easily recognizable. Due to the rushed pace at which the town was built, a thick layer of mud blanketed Oak Ridge and marked the shoes of its residents.
Even if these people were noticeable, they’d mysteriously stick to themselves and refrain from answering too many questions. But that wasn’t all.
Covert Government Ops
A few years after its secretive establishment, Oak Ridge, Tennessee became the fifth-largest city in the state.
Not only that, but this hidden city located inconspicuously in Appalachia was incredibly consuming one-seventh of ALL the electrical power produced in the entire country!
Guzzling Energy
The question as to why a population, that wasn’t even close in size to the biggest cities in the U.S., was using so much energy was unfathomable.
Questions and curiosity abounded for those who noticed, but it wasn’t just outsiders who were shielded from the truth.
Insider Secrets
Those who were in charge of Oak Ridge didn’t want to leave the secrecy that the town unknowingly depended on for success to chance.
Ominous signs were placed all around town warning residents not to talk about the top secret projects they were working on, especially if they were on their way out of town.
Cautionary Signs
“Loose talks helps our enemy so, let’s keep our trap shut,” read one sign. “Who me? Yes you.. Keep mum about this job,” read another.
But it wasn’t just outsiders whom the residents of Oak Ridge were implicitly instructed to keep secrets from.
Fraught Families
Even those who worked on the same project in the secret Tennessee town didn’t necessarily know how their labors were related.
Workers were simply instructed to twist knobs, flip dials and push buttons without necessarily knowing what it would do.
Isolated Information
Everyone in Oak Ridge was simply told that: “Everything will be taken care of.”
It would even take 50 years before some employees would make the shocking realization about just what had been going on there all along.
Residents Of The Reserve
Apart from the abnormalities in the infrastructure of Oak Ridge, it was the only city in the country without unemployment.
Not only that, but everyone in the town could afford good health coverage! It may seem too good to be true, but uncertainty persisted under the uncommon exterior.
Too Good To Be True?
The quickly-erected government-built houses in Oak Ridge, otherwise known as hutments, gave the whole location an overall feeling of discerning temporariness.
The residents weren’t exactly sure what it all meant, and inevitably rumors began to spread about the mysterious activities.
Speculation Spreading
American patriotism and governmental wartime propaganda fueled the secrecy that was necessary for Oak Ridge to ultimately achieve its final objective.
To accomplish such a feat, military ads for jobs in town were careful not to mention too many specifics or draw too much attention.
Blind Patriotism
It was critical that no one find out about the objective of Oak Ridge’s work, or even know that it existed.
Enticed by the relatively good conditions and ingrained with a crucial sense of secrecy, the residents didn’t even try to contest the suspicious way of things too much.
Abiding By Off-Limits
It wasn’t until August 6, 1945, that the masses in Oak Ridge finally understood what they’d been a part of. Everyone had rushed to one of the town’s main public gather areas ― Jackson Square ― where a commotion was going on.
It was then that the employees of Oak Ridge finally made the unimaginable realization.
Moment Of Shock
Some people were rejoicing in celebration and others cried in mourning when they learned of the astronomical impact their effort had on world history.
Either way the people of Oak Ridge viewed what had happened, it was indisputable that they had been told the truth about one thing: their work would help end the war.
The Unbelievable Truth
The Allies and Axis had been in a heated nuclear weapons race during World War II, and the first to produce an atomic bomb would essentially be capable of mass destruction and victory.
The idea for Oak Ridge to serve as the headquarters for the Manhattan Project came in response to the urgings of one of history’s most famous figures.
Nuclear Arms Race
Having escaped from Germany and Italy, scientists Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi settled in the U.S., where they helped influence American government and military officials to keep progress on their nuclear pursuits a secret from their enemies.
But how could they manage to keep such a huge undertaking a secret?
Systematic Secrecy
Oak Ridge wasn’t the Manhattan Project’s only secret city. In fact, the joint American-British-Canadian program that led to the development of the first nuclear weapon relied on three secret cities.
Apart from Oak Ridge there was also Hanford/Richland in Washington state and Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Secrets Revealed
During World War II, the K-25 facility in Oak Ridge was actually the largest building in the world at the time. The city also housed one of the nation’s first centers for nuclear medicine and radiation therapy.
While Oak Ridge may still have something of a lesser-known reputation, you’ve definitely heard of its most famous counterpart.
Legacy Of The Manhattan Project
After the war, the secret status of Oak Ridge was lifted and the city was shifted from military to civilian control.
The fences and guard towers that encircled the city were also dismantled and the government sold the town’s houses to the public.
Oak Ridge Today
Although the war ended in 1945, it wasn’t until 1959 that the town was officially recognized and placed on the map.
And while the town’s top-secret classification was finally declassified, the nuclear facilities there had an equally as surprising fate.
Half-Life
In light of its historical significance, Oak Ridge and its fellow sites where the atom bomb was secretly developed are to become national parks.
These days, though, American citizens can take tours of parts of the original standing nuclear facilities in Tennessee. In fact, the tour is so popular that there’s a waiting list for registration.
Popular Site
Meanwhile, the permanent population of the once-secret town has dwindled since its wartime heyday.
Nowadays, some 30,000 people call Oak Ridge, Tennessee home. However, the town’s legacy isn’t only that of the headquarters of the Manhattan Project.