Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Tennessee Oak Ridge Oak Ridge "The Secret City"

Oak Ridge "The Secret City"

The secret city built by the Manhattan Project.

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Added By
Tammy Mercure
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
A display at American Museum of Science and Energy   Tammy
Women reporting to work in Oak Ridge   Ed Westcott / American Museum of Science and Ener
American Museum of Science and Energy   Tammy
  Tammy
  Tammy
  Tammy
American Museum of Science and Energy   Tammy
Picturesque Tennessee   Tammy
A sign to remember the community that was here before Oak Ridge became a thing.   Wiki User: Brian Stansberry
West Gate   joshua2415sj3 / Atlas Obscura User
  saranoh86 / Atlas Obscura User
International friendship bell   saranoh86 / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The city of Oak Ridge was established by the U.S. government in 1942 to serve as a home base to the Manhattan Project.

Chosen for its remote locale, the entire city had to be built almost from scratch to handle the influx of employees/residents, which ballooned from 3,000 to 75,000 within three years. Very few of the employees, most of whom were women, knew what was being built at the time, or exactly what they were getting into.

Delightful Oak Ridge was, in a lot of ways, just like any quaint southern city—there was an abundance of leisure activities like swimming, a library, 13 grocery stores, an orchestra, and swing dancing. Besides the required badges, guard towers and giant perimeter fence, it was practically a wartime Mayberry. Everyone was quarantined, and their duties left the actual project a mystery, but who would want to leave when they have everything right where they're at, and who were they to question the government who had given them such a comfortable home and stable employment? It wasn't until Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Japan that the fine citizens of Oak Ridge realized what they had become a part of.

Two years after WWII ended, the city was relinquished to civilians. When visiting the city today, you can still see some of the old guard towers on the edges of the city, and experience one of the nation's largest swimming pools still in operation. For $5 with valid U.S. photo identification, you can go on a tour hosted by the American Museum of Science and Energy which includes the old graphite reactors as well as the Y-12 museum in an operational government facility with a billboard right outside that reminds employees to keep secrets a secret.

For a special treat, stop in the museum afterwards to see the brilliant photos of Ed Westcott, the official photographer during wartime. 

The Secret City Festival, complete with WWII reenactors, happens every June.

Related Tags

Manhattan Project Government Atom Bombs Nuclear World War Ii Military

Community Contributors

Added By

Tammy Mercure

Edited By

Rachel, doughalvorsen, joshua2415sj3, saranoh86

  • Rachel
  • doughalvorsen
  • joshua2415sj3
  • saranoh86

Published

March 26, 2013

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.secretcityfestival.com
Oak Ridge "The Secret City"
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37830
United States
36.00888, -84.257149

Nearby Places

B-1 Flat Top in Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

miles away

The Prophet of Oak Ridge's Grave

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

miles away

Alexander Inn

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge

Tennessee

Places 4
Stories 1

Nearby Places

B-1 Flat Top in Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

miles away

The Prophet of Oak Ridge's Grave

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

miles away

Alexander Inn

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge

Tennessee

Places 4
Stories 1

Related Stories and Lists

15 Nuclear History Sites That You Can Visit

List

By Jonathan Carey

Related Places

  • The B-1 Flat Top at the American Museum of Science and Energy.

    Oak Ridge, Tennessee

    B-1 Flat Top in Oak Ridge

    One of the Cemestos prefab homes built to secretly house thousands of Manhattan Project workers.

  • Washington, D.C.

    Russian Ambassador's Residence

    Was there a small "backpack nuke" hidden in the attic? JFK apparently thought so.

  • Museum exhibition and a clock that stopped when the bomb dropped.

    Nagasaki, Japan

    Atomic Bomb Medical Museum

    A sobering scientific reminder of the human damage caused by the advent of the nuclear age.

  • Plot M marker

    Willow Springs, Illinois

    Red Gate Woods

    The final resting place of the world's first nuclear reactor.

  • The hypocenter and surrounding devastation immediately after the detonation of the bomb

    Hiroshima, Japan

    Hiroshima's Hypocenter

    A plaque marks the site directly below the mid-air detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.

  • Junction City, Kansas

    Atomic Annie

    A cannon designed to fire an atomic warhead.

  • The Human Shadow Etched in Stone.

    Hiroshima, Japan

    Human Shadow Etched in Stone

    An eerie reminder to the horrors of World War II.

  • Nye County, Nevada

    Project Faultless Site

    The site of an underground detonation of a megaton nuclear bomb in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.