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Oak Ridge, TN
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Oak Ridge is an incorporated city in Anderson and Roane Counties in East Tennessee, about 25 miles northwest of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 people at the 2000 census. The portion of the city located in Anderson County is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area, while the portion located in Roane County is included in the Harriman, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area; both of these areas are components of the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN Combined Statistical Area. Oak Ridge's nicknames are the Atomic City, the Secret City, The Ridge and the City Behind the Fence.
HistoryPre-Manhattan ProjectBefore 1942 the area which now comprises Oak Ridge was rural, including several farm communities: Robertsville, Edgemoor, East Fork, Elza, Bethel, Scarboro, and Wheat. These communities were by far overshadowed by their neighbors: Knoxville in Knox County; Clinton, in Anderson County; and Kingston, in Roane County.
HistoryPre-Manhattan ProjectBefore 1942 the area which now comprises Oak Ridge was rural, including several farm communities: Robertsville, Edgemoor, East Fork, Elza, Bethel, Scarboro, and Wheat. These communities were by far overshadowed by their neighbors: Knoxville in Knox County; Clinton, in Anderson County; and Kingston, in Roane County.
According to local tradition, John Hendrix (1865-1915), an eccentric local resident regarded as a mystic, prophesied the establishment of Oak Ridge some 40 years before construction began. Upset by the death of his young daughter and the subsequent departure of his wife and remaining family, he became religious and told his neighbors he was seeing visions. When he described his visions, people thought he was insane; for this reason, he was imprisoned for a time. According to several published accounts, one vision that he described repeatedly was an uncannily accurate description of the city and production facilities that were built 28 years after his death. The version recalled by neighbors and relatives has been reported as follows:
"In the woods, as I lay on the ground and looked up into the sky, there came to me a voice as loud and as sharp as thunder. The voice told me to sleep with my head on the ground for 40 nights and I would be shown visions of what the future holds for this land.... And I tell you, Bear Creek Valley someday will be filled with great buildings and factories, and they will help toward winning the greatest war that ever will be. And there will be a city on Black Oak Ridge and the center of authority will be on a spot middle-way between Sevier Tadlock’s farm and Joe Pyatt’s Place. A railroad spur will branch off the main L&N line, run down toward Robertsville and then branch off and turn toward Scarborough. Big engines will dig big ditches, and thousands of people will be running to and fro. They will be building things, and there will be great noise and confusion and the earth will shake. I've seen it. It's coming."
Manhattan ProjectIn 1942 the federal government chose the area as a site for developing materials for the Manhattan Project. Maj. Gen. Leslie Groves, military head of the Manhattan Project, liked the area for several reasons. Its relatively low population made acquisition affordable, yet the area was accessible by highway and rail. Both water and electricity were readily available. Tennessee was a right to work state, so there were no Union rules or wages to deal with. Finally, the area was sited within a 17-mile (27-km) long valley, and the valley itself was linear and partitioned by several ridges, providing natural protection against disasters between the four major industrial plants -- so they wouldn't blow up "like firecrackers on a string".
The location and low population also helped keep the town a secret. Although the population of the settlement grew from about 3,000 in 1942 to about 75,000 in 1945, and despite the fact that the K-25 uranium-separating facility by itself covered 44 acres (178,000 m²) and was the largest building in the world at that time, Oak Ridge was kept an official government secret. It did not appear on maps. It wasn't even named until 1949, referred to instead as the Clinton Engineering Works (CEW). All workers wore badges and the town was surrounded by guard towers and a fence with seven gates.
Beginning in late 1942 the United States Army Corps of Engineers began acquiring more than 60,000 acres (240 km²) for the CEW under authority of the Corps' Manhattan Engineer District (MED). The K-25, S-50, and Y-12 plants were each built in Oak Ridge to separate the fissile isotope uranium-235 from natural uranium, which consists almost entirely of the isotope uranium-238. During construction of the magnets which were required for the process that would separate the uranium at the Y-12 site, a shortage of copper forced the MED to borrow 15,000 tons of silver bullion from the United States Treasury to fabricate into wire for the electromagnet coils as a substitute. The X-10 site, now the location of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was established as a pilot plant for production of plutonium.
Because of the large number of workers recruited to the area for the Manhattan Project, the Army planned a town for project workers at the eastern end of the valley. The time required for the project's completion caused the Army to opt for a relatively permanent establishment rather than a camp of enormous size.
The architecture firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill was contracted to provide a layout for the town and house designs. Prefabricated modular homes, apartments, and dormitories, many made from cemesto (bonded cement and asbestos) panels, were quickly erected. Construction personnel swelled the wartime population of Oak Ridge to as much as 70,000. That dramatic population increase, and the secret nature of the project, meant chronic shortages of housing and supplies during the war years.
The news of the use of the first atomic bomb against Japan on August 6, 1945 revealed to the people at Oak Ridge what they had been working on.
Since World War IITwo years after World War II ended, Oak Ridge was shifted to civilian control, under the authority of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). In 1959 the town was incorporated and a city manager and City Council form of government was adopted by the community rather than direct federal control. Three of the four major facilities created for the wartime bomb production are still standing today:
K-25, where uranium was enriched by the gaseous diffusion process until 1985, is now being decommissioned and decontaminated. Y-12, originally used for electromagnetic separation of uranium, is still in use for nuclear weapons processing and materials storage. X-10, site of a test graphite reactor, is now the site of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Currently, the Department of Energy runs a nuclear and high-tech research establishment at the site and performs national security work. Tours of parts of the original facility are available to American citizens from June through September. The tour is so popular that there is a waiting list for seats.
Oak Ridge's scientific heritage is explored in the American Museum of Science and Energy.
Geography and climateOak Ridge is located at (35.988230, -84.286312). Politically it is part of East Tennessee; physiographically it is in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 89.9 square miles (232.9 km²), of which, 85.6 square miles (221.6 km²) of it is land and 4.4 square miles (11.3 km²) of it (4.86%) is water.
The Melton Hill Lake portion of the Clinch River borders the city on the east and south. The lakefront on the east side of the city is a popular recreation area with bicycling trails and picnic areas lining the shore. The lake is also well-known as a venue for rowing competition.
EducationOak Ridge's city school system is consistently ranked among the best public school systems in the nation. The city operates a preschool, four elementary schools enrolling kindergarten through grade 4, two middle schools enrolling grades 5 through 8, and one high school enrolling grades 9 through 12.
In an August 2004 referendum, city voters approved an increase in local sales taxes to fund a 55 million dollar "rebuilding" project for Oak Ridge High School. Following demolition of one wing of the main building, construction on the first wall of the new building began in April 2005. Temporary classrooms were set up to house science classes; they will continue to be used for different purposes as the multi-year project progresses.
Roane State Community College has a branch campus in Oak Ridge. Other higher education organizations present in the community, but not offering classes locally, include the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and the University of Tennessee Forestry Stations and Arboretum.
Independent schools in the city include the Montessori School of Oak Ridge (preschool and kindergarten), St. Mary's School (Roman Catholic, pre-kindergarten through grade 8), and several preschools. The Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning offers a diverse array of educational opportunities for adults.
Notable people from Oak RidgeThe following are notable people who were born, educated, resided, or worked in Oak Ridge:
E. Riley Anderson, Tennessee Supreme Court justiceJennifer Azzi, former WNBA player and Olympic gold medalistGeneral B.B. Bell, general in command of U.S. Forces Korea since 2006 and previously in command of United States Army, Europe and NATO's Joint CommandManson Benedict, nuclear engineering pioneerKenneth Lee Carder, United Methodist Church bishop Lee Clayton, country-rock singer/songwriter, whose song 'Industry' (1981) is a highly critical account of his childhood in Oak RidgeSheldon Datz, chemist Charlie Ergen, billionaire co-founder and CEO of EchoStar Communications Corporation, the parent company of Dish Network Megan Fox, actress John H. (Jack) Gibbons, Director of the Office of Technology Assessment and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Eugene Guth, physicist Elaine Hendrix, actress Alston Scott Householder, mathematician who invented the Householder transformationKai-Fu Lee, Google executiveRandy McNally, Tennessee State SenatorEdgar Meyer, Grammy Award-winning bassist Sarah Monette, authorWard Plummer, physicist William Shepherd, American astronaut who served as commander of Expedition 1, the first crew on the International Space Station Clifford Shull, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Gore Verbinski, film director best known for his direction of Pirates of the Caribbean series Viper (born Stephanie Green), porn actress Alvin Weinberg, nuclear physicist Ed Westcott, only authorized photographer of the Manhattan Project Eugene Wigner, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Herbert York, nuclear physicistPoints of interest Oak Ridge National Laboratory University of Tennessee Arboretum East Tennessee Technology Park - Formerly known as the K-25 Site United Church, The Chapel on the Hill Children's Museum of Oak Ridge US DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) American Museum of Science and EnergySister citiesOak Ridge has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
Obninsk, Russia Naka, Ibaraki, JapanExternal links Official-City of Oak Ridge Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau The Oak Ridger (daily newspaper) The Oak Ridge Observer (weekly newspaper) AMSE American Museum of Science and Energy, Oak Ridge,TN Southern Appalachia Railway Museum Children's Museum of Oak Ridge Official-Oak Ridge National Lab Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture Oak Ridge Schools Atomic Heritage Foundation Historic Preservation of Manhattan Project Sites at Oak Ridge My Nuclear Childhood
Annotated bibliography on Oak Ridge from the Alsos Digital Library
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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