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

Construction Workers

Photographed by Tom Bosse, December 30, 2017

1. Construction Workers Marker

Inscription. Starting with farmland in November 1942, 110,000 construction workers in two-and-a-half years built two huge uranium-235 production plants, Y-12 and K-25, at a cost of $759 million; X-10 and S-50, at a cost of $23 million; and the town for those who worked at the plants to live in, at a cost of $96 million. Bringing together so many skilled and unskilled laborers at the height of World War II was extremely difficult because U.S. war work needed them everywhere. Construction union leaders and their organizations made heroic efforts in helping the War Manpower Commission, U.S. Employment Service, and the Army find the thousands needed. The Oak Ridge bus systems grew to be the 9th largest in the U.S., daily bringing in as many as 20,000 workers, including those from the surrounding counties who could not find living quarters here. At K-25, where the construction work force approached 25,000 in May 1945, a complete town, called by its residents Happy Valley, was built at the work site for workers and their families. It has long since disappeared. In April 1944 the peak employment of construction workers was reached with 47,000

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

building the plants and the town, now rapidly growing into a city. By the war’s end in August 1945, 218 million man-hours had been devoted to rushed construction in Oak Ridge, yet the rate of disabling injuries was only a quarter of the rate for all U.S. construction industry – a remarkable safety record. The success of the construction work for the Manhattan Project is a lasting tribute to the patriotism, dedication, skill, and hard work of the untiring construction workers.

Erected in Honor of the Construction Workers of All Skills, Crafts, and Trades Who Labored here, by the Cooperative Agreement of Labor and Management (CALM), June 2005.

Erected 2005 by Cooperative Agreement of Labor and Management (CALM).

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Science & Medicine • War, World II. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee - Oak Hill - Secret City Commemorative Walk series list. A significant historical month for this entry is April 1944.

Location. 36° 0.819′ N, 84° 15.474′ W. Marker is in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in Anderson County. It is at the intersection

Photographed by Tom Bosse, December 30, 2017

2. Construction Workers Marker

of Oak Ridge Turnpike (Tennessee Route 95) and South Tulane Avenue, on the right when traveling east on Oak Ridge Turnpike. 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: 1945 (here, next to this marker); Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project (here, next to this marker); 1946 (here, next to this marker); 1942 (here, next to this marker); 1943 (here, next to this marker); Oak Ridge – Secret City (here, next to this marker); Manhattan Engineer District – USAEC

Secret City Commemorative Walk image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tom Bosse, December 30, 2017

3. Secret City Commemorative Walk

(here, next to this marker); X-10 – The Clinton Laboratories (here, next to this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Oak Ridge.

Also see . . .
1. Secret City Commemorative Walk. (Submitted on January 6, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee.)
2. Oak Ridge, TN. (Submitted on January 6, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee.)

Photographed by Tom Bosse, December 30, 2017

4. Secret City Commemorative Walk

Credits. This page was last revised on January 8, 2018. It was originally submitted on January 6, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 523 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 6, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.