Manhattan Project National Historical Park

Manhattan Project National Historical Park. Los Alamos Historic District Walking Tour. In 2004, President George W. Bush signed legislation for the National Park Service (NPS) to investigate whether the Manhattan Project - an ambitious scientific and engineering endeavor that forever changed the world - should be the subject of an NPS unit. After more than decade of research and community input, President Barack Obama signed the park into existence in 2015. Run jointly by the NPS and Department of Energy, it is a non-contiguous park, with three sites located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The park preserves portions of the World War II-era sites where the United States developed the world's first atomic weapons., Because of the nature of the science being explored during the Manhattan Project - explosives work, for example - and the nature of the Los Alamos landscape with its mesas and canyons, the Los Alamos park sites within the community and surrounding area are also non-contiguous. The Manhattan Project National Historical Park Visitor Center, staffed by NPS rangers and volunteers, provides visitors guidance and insight into each location. Discover and explore Los Alamos and find the living quarters of a rare World War II-era dormitory. A Performing Arts Center, formerly a cafeteria for Manhattan Project personnel, provides a scene steeped in history. A hike on Kwage Mesa brings visitors to a gorgeous point that overlooks the site of important radiological work. Areas "behind the fence" at the still-active Los Alamos National Laboratory, show where and how scientists and technicians frantically worked to end World War II. A virtual tour of the behind the fence sites is available on the Lab website (visit www.lacnm.com/oppie to view)., Below left. Dr. J.R. Oppenheimer and Gen. Leslie Groves, with other scientists and military personnel standing at ground zero following the Trinity Site test, July 16, 1945; Below right: Two military personnel standing next to a mock-up of the Fat Man device undergoing a "shake test" to replicate what it would experience in the bomb bay of a bomber (photos courtesy LANL); Right top to bottom: Personnel at Los Alamos enjoying a day out near Anderson Overlook, circa 1940s; Life in Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project was less than ideal. Prefabricated homes were constructed quickly to accommodate the scientists and military personnel and their families, and lacked many comfort amenities, circa 1940s. (photos courtesy LANL); Maria Martinez, a well-known and influential potter from San Ildefonso Pueblo, talks with Nobel Prize physicist Enrico Fermi at an event just after the end of world war two. (photos courtesy Los Alamos Historical Society); Lab was located along Trinity Drive during the Manhattan Project, circa 1940s (photos courtesy LANL), Pick up a copy of the Historical Walking Tour Guide at the Los Alamos History Museum, Bradbury Science Museum, Los Alamos Nature Center, any of the Visitor Centers, or one of the visitor guide kiosks around town. Download one by scanning the QR code, or go to visitlosalamos.org.