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Of all the housing built in wartime Oak Ridge by the Civil Engineering Works, none presented more primitive conditions than the hutments. Only 14-feet by 14-feet in size, the hutments had dirt floors, coal stoves, and no glass windows. In summer when…

Because of the secretive nature of the massive wartime effort to produce the world’s first atomic bomb, Oak Ridge was fenced, and traffic in and out of the city’s seven gates was highly monitored by armed guards. From April 1, 1943, until March 19,…

In addition to long lines, inadequate housing, and shortages of meat and cigarettes, Oak Ridgers also had to contend with mud. With the seeming constant addition of miles of roadways, most of which went unpaved, mud was a formidable obstacle in one’s…

After World War II, Oak Ridge retained its function as a nuclear research center. While scientific experiments continued under the secretive veil of the laboratories and production facilities,
“homemade” experiments—like the link trainer depicted…