Oak Ridge in Anderson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project

Photographed by Tom Bosse, December 30, 2017

1. Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project Marker

Inscription. In August 1945, citizens of this Secret City learned, most of them for the first time, that their hard work had made possible a weapon that was instrumental in bringing peace to a world anguished by the brutal, six-year war in which 54 million people died. The remarkable story of Oak Ridge’s $1.1 billion role in the Manhattan Project – the huge national effort to develop the atomic bomb before Hitler’s Germany did – is summarized in this Secret City Commemorative Walk. Beginning in late 1942, thousands of construction workers, engineers, scientists, technicians, and others converged on this quiet East Tennessee farmland to accomplish in just two-and-a-half years a feat unparalleled in history. The top priority work had to be kept highly secret, not only from the public outside the fence, but from most of the workers as well. All their amazing new science and engineering succeeded. An invasion of Japan that would have cost many lives was avoided; the war was finally won. Stroll the Commemorative Walk and learn what was done here from the plaques on monuments along the walkway. Stories of what it was like to live

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here unfold on the historical markers outside the walk. And visit the long walls where are honored some of the thousands who came here to work during the Manhattan Project years or during the first years of exciting peacetime applications of nuclear science and start of transitioning to a “normal” community. The Secret City’s gates were opened to the outside world March 19, 1949.

This Plaque Erected in Honor of the Courageous and Visionary Government Officials Who Planned and Organized the Manhattan Project By the Family of William J. Wilcox, Jr., June 2005.

Erected 2005 by The Family of William J. Wilcox, Jr.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Science & Medicine • War, World II. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee - Oak Hill - Secret City Commemorative Walk series list. A significant historical date for this entry is March 19, 1949.

Location. 36° 0.819′ N, 84° 15.474′ W. Marker is in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in Anderson County. It is at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike (Tennessee Route 95) and South Tulane Avenue, on the right when traveling east on Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Photographed by Tom Bosse, December 30, 2017

2. Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project Marker

Marker located in Alvin K. Bissell Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Oak Ridge TN 37830, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in East Tennessee

and in Greater Knoxville.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Construction Workers (here, next to this marker); Manhattan Engineer District – USAEC (here, next to this marker); 1946 (here, next to this marker); 1945 (here, next to this marker); Y-12 – The Calutron Plant (here, next to this marker); Oak Ridge Schools (here, next to this marker); 1948 (here, next to this marker); 1942 (here, next to this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Oak Ridge.

Also see . . .
1. Secret City Commemorative Walk.

Secret City Commemorative Walk image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tom Bosse, December 30, 2017

3. Secret City Commemorative Walk

(Submitted on January 6, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee.)
2. Manhattan Project. (Submitted on January 6, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee.)
3. Oak Ridge, TN. (Submitted on January 6, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee.)
4. Our Hidden Past- Y-12's First Mission. Video, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Published on Jun 14, 2010 (Submitted on February 3, 2018, by Kenneth Ramagost of Louisiana, USA.)

Photographed by Tom Bosse, December 30, 2017

4. Secret City Commemorative Walk

The Manhattan Project Insignia image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tom Bosse

5. The Manhattan Project Insignia

Credits. This page was last revised on February 6, 2018. It was originally submitted on January 6, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 768 times since then and 37 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on January 6, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.