OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Tuesday marks 75 years since the secret about Oak Ridge was formally let out of the bag. On March 19, 1949, its gates opened to the public after the city was built to help lead the Manhattan Project — the U.S. effort to build an atomic bomb.
The city was built to be temporary, constructed after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bought around 60,000 acres of rural farmland in East Tennessee and built homes, amenities and enrichment facilities. It was known as the "Secret City," and was the spot where military leaders and scientists oversaw the enrichment of uranium for atomic weapons.
More than 75,000 people lived in the city and around 80,000 workers helped with projects in the city. Construction on major facilities began in 1943 and around 60% of the $2 billion Manhattan Project went to Oak Ridge.
Following the bombing of Hiroshima, headlines ran that named Oak Ridge. One newspaper reported the Secret City had more than 425 buildings, and noted that it was one of three production centers.
"Atomic super-bomb, made at Oak Ridge, strikes Japan," one headline read, published on Aug. 6, 1945.
People would have to wait around four years after the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki before the city opened to the public. In 1959, it became a self-governing city.
On Tuesday, Oak Ridge leaders and the American Museum of Science and Energy hosted a public anniversary reception. They have worked to make sure the city's history is preserved, and the tale of the Secret City is well-known in East Tennessee.
