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Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
, about west of downtown
Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. Oak Ridge's population was 31,402 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak Ridge's nicknames include ''the Atomic City'', ''the Secret City'', and ''the City Behind a Fence''. In 1942, the United States federal government forcibly purchased nearly of farmland in the
Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in ...
valley for the development of a
planned city A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
supporting 75,000 residents. It was constructed with assistance from architectural and engineering firm
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...
, from 1942 to 1943. Oak Ridge was established in 1942 as a production site for the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...
—the massive American, British, and Canadian operation that developed the
atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...
. Being the site of
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...
, Y-12 National Security Complex, and several private nuclear and scientific facilities, scientific and technological development still plays a crucial role in the city's economy and culture in general. In 2016, the element
tennessine Tennessine is a synthetic element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Ts and atomic number 117. It has the second-highest atomic number and joint-highest atomic mass of all known elements and is the penultimate element of the Period 7 element, 7th ...
was named for Tennessee, in recognition of the role played by Oak Ridge and other institutions in the state in its discovery.


History

The earliest substantial occupation of the Oak Ridge area occurred during the
Woodland period In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BC to European contact i ...
( – 1000), although artifacts dating to the Paleo-Indian period have been found throughout the
Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in ...
valley. Two Woodland mound sites—the Crawford Farm Mounds and the Freels Farm Mounds—were uncovered in the 1930s as part of the Norris Basin salvage excavations. Both sites were just southeast of the former Scarboro community. The Bull Bluff site, which was occupied during the Woodland and Mississippian (c. 1000–1600) periods, was uncovered in the 1960s in anticipation of the construction of Melton Hill Dam. Bull Bluff is a cliff immediately southeast of Haw Ridge, opposite Melton Hill Park. The Oak Ridge area was largely uninhabited when Euro-American explorers and settlers arrived in the late 18th century, although the
Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
claimed the land as part of their hunting grounds. The European-American settlers who founded these communities arrived in the late 1790s after the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
and after the Cherokee signed the Treaty of Holston, ceding what is now Anderson County to the United States. During the early 19th century, several rural farming communities developed in the Oak Ridge area, namely Edgemoor and Elza in the northeast, East Fork and
Wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
in the southwest, Robertsville in the west, and
Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...
and Scarboro in the southeast. A popular legend holds tha
John Hendrix
(1865-1915), a largely unknown local man, predicted the creation of the city of Oak Ridge around 40 years before construction on the project began. Hendrix lacked any formal education and was a simple logger for much of his life. Following the death of his youngest daughter, Ethel, to diphtheria, and the subsequent departure of his wife and three remaining children, Hendrix began hearing voices in his head. These voices urged him to stay in the woods and pray for guidance for 40 days and 40 nights, which Hendrix proceeded to do. As the story is told, following these 40 days spent in rugged isolation, Hendrix began seeing visions of the future, and he sought to spread his prophetic message to any who would listen. According to published accounts, one vision that he described repeatedly was a description of the city and production facilities built 28 years after his death, during World War II. The version recalled by neighbors and relatives reported: Hendrix, in light of his tales of prophetic visions, was considered insane by most and at one point was institutionalized. His grave lies in an area of Oak Ridge now known as the Hendrix Creek Subdivision. There are ongoing concerns over the preservation of his gravestone, as the man who owns the lot adjacent to the grave wishes to build a home there, while members of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association are fighting to have a monument placed on the site of his grave.


Manhattan Project

In 1942, the United States federal government chose the area as a site for developing materials for the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...
. Major General 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, and utilities such as water and electricity were readily available with the recent completion of Norris Dam. The project location was established within a valley. This feature was linear and partitioned by several ridges, providing natural protection against the spread of disasters at the four major industrial plants—so the plants would not blow up "like firecrackers on a string". In October 1942, the
United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...
began acquiring approximately in the Oak Ridge area for the United States'
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...
. Due to the urgency and secrecy of the Manhattan Project, the Corps' "declaration of taking" was swift and final. Many residents came home to find
eviction Eviction is the removal of a Tenement (law), tenant from leasehold estate, rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosure, foreclosed by a mortgagee (often ...
notices tacked to their doors. Others found out when their children came home from school with a message from the principal: Senator McKellar wants me to tell you to go home and tell your parents you are going to have to find another place to live." There was no further explanation as to why. All the students were told was this: "The government is going to take your property for the war effort." There were several families who had moved to the Oak Ridge area after the displacements by the
Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...
who were displaced again by the Manhattan Project campaign. The average price per acre paid was $46.86. By March 1943 the Corps had removed the area's earlier communities and established fences and checkpoints. Anderson County lost one-seventh of its land and $391,000 in annual
property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or Wealth t ...
revenue. The manner by which the Oak Ridge area was acquired by the government created a tense, uneasy relationship between the Oak Ridge complex and the surrounding towns. Although the area's original residents were allowed to be buried in existing cemeteries, every coffin was reportedly opened for inspection. The Corps' Manhattan Engineer District (MED) managed the acquisition and clearing for what was to be first known as the Clinton Engineer Works. The Y-12, K-25, and S-50, plants were each built in Oak Ridge to separate the
fissile In nuclear engineering, fissile material is material that can undergo nuclear fission when struck by a neutron of low energy. A self-sustaining thermal Nuclear chain reaction#Fission chain reaction, chain reaction can only be achieved with fissil ...
isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...
uranium-235 Uranium-235 ( or U-235) is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238, it is fissile, i.e., it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that exists in nat ...
from natural
uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
, which consists almost entirely of the isotope
uranium-238 Uranium-238 ( or U-238) is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature, with a relative abundance of 99%. Unlike uranium-235, it is non-fissile, which means it cannot sustain a chain reaction in a thermal-neutron reactor. However, it i ...
. The X-10 site, now the site of
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...
, was established as a pilot plant for production of
plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...
using the Graphite Reactor, used to develop full-scale plutonium production at the Hanford Site. During construction of the
electromagnet An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current. Electromagnets usually consist of wire (likely copper) wound into a electromagnetic coil, coil. A current through the wire creates a magnetic ...
s required for the uranium separation process at the Y-12 site, a shortage of
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
forced the MED to borrow 14,700 tons of silver bullion from the United States Treasury as a copper substitute in wire for the electromagnet coils. When the Tennessee Governor Prentice Cooper was officially handed the July 1943 presidential proclamation by a junior officer (a lieutenant)—making Oak Ridge a military district not subject to state control—he tore it up and refused to see the Manhattan Project engineer, Lieutenant Colonel James C. Marshall. The new district engineer, Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Nichols, had to placate him. Cooper came to see the project (except for the production facilities under construction) on November 3, 1943; and he appreciated the bourbon-laced punch served (although Anderson County was " dry"). House and dormitory accommodations to support construction workers contracted to build the Clinton Engineer Works (CEW) in Oak Ridge were basic, consisting of trailers, barracks, and many "hutments" — pre-fabricated five-person huts heated by a central coal-powered furnace. Construction camps were segregated between black workers and white workers. Two of the largest camps were known as Gamble Valley, with up to 4,000 trailer spaces, and Happy Valley which grew from a population of about 5,000 to about 15,000. In addition to trailers and hutments, the camp towns included various recreational buildings (e.g. theaters, bowling alleys), cafeterias, and commissaries. Medical care was provided by Army doctors and hospitals, with civilians paying $2.50 per month ($5 for families) to the medical insurance fund.


Planned community

The location and low population helped keep the town a secret, though the settlement grew from 3,000 to 3,750 in 1942 to about 75,000 by 1945. 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 an enormous camp. The name "Oak Ridge" was chosen for the settlement in 1943 from suggestions submitted by project employees. The name evoked the settlement's location along Black Oak Ridge, and officials thought the rural-sounding name "held outside curiosity to a minimum". The name was formally adopted in 1949. The architectural and engineering firm
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...
was contracted to provide the layout for the town and house designs. John O. Merrill moved to Tennessee to take charge of designing the secret buildings at Oak Ridge. He directed the creation of a town, which soon had of roads, of railroad track, ten schools, seven theaters, 17 restaurants and cafeterias, and 13 supermarkets. A library with 9,400 books, a
symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
, sporting facilities, church services for 17 denominations, and a Fuller Brush Company salesman served the new city and its 75,000 residents. No airport was built, for security reasons. Prefabricated modular homes, apartments, and dormitories, many made from cemesto (bonded cement and
asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...
) panels, were quickly erected. Streets were laid out in the manner of a "
planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
". The original streets included several main east-to-west roads, namely the Oak Ridge Turnpike, Tennessee Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Hillside Road, Robertsville Road, and Outer Drive. North-to-south oriented streets connecting these main roads were designated "avenues", and streets branching off from the avenues were designated "roads", "places", "lanes", or "circles". "Roads" connected two streets, while "lanes" and "places" were dead ends.''For Your Information: A Guide to Oak Ridge'' (United States Engineering Department – Community Relations Section, September 1946), p. 18. The names of the main avenues generally progressed alphabetically from east to west (e.g., Alabama Avenue in the east, Vermont Avenue in the west), and the names of the smaller streets began with the same letter as the main avenue from which they started (e.g., streets connected to Florida Avenue began with "F"). The dramatic population increase, and the secret nature of the project, meant chronic shortages of housing and supplies during the war years. The town was administered by Turner Construction Company through a subsidiary named the Roane-Anderson Company. For most residents, however, their "landlord" was known as "MSI" (Management Services, Inc.). All workers wore badges. The town was surrounded by guard towers and a fence with seven gates.


Segregation and desegregation

Oak Ridge was developed by the federal government as a segregated community, required by the Southern bloc of Democrats in Congress to authorize funding for the project. Due to generally holding lower-ranked jobs, their assigned dwellings were predominantly government-built "hutments" (one-room shacks) located very close to the Y-12 plant, in the one residential area designated as colored. Nichols, the MED District Engineer, was told by the main construction contractor for the K-25 plant that the black construction labor force had a large turnover rate, so Nichols gave permission to set up a separate black women's camp. When Groves visited the plant with K. T. Keller of Chrysler, Keller saw twelve Black women sweeping the 30-foot wide alley between the production units, and said "Nichols, don't you know there is a machine made to sweep a concrete floor like this?" Nichols replied "Sure I do, but these gals can do more than one of those machines". The men now had an opportunity to "fracas" on Saturday night, and labor turnover had reduced. During the war, plans were made for a colored neighborhood of houses equal in quality to those provided for whites, but it was not implemented because of limited resources. After the war, all hutments were dismantled, and a colored neighborhood of permanent houses was developed in the Gamble Valley area of Oak Ridge, which during wartime had been occupied by a white trailer community. Oak Ridge elementary education prior to 1954 was segregated; it was legally part of the Anderson County system though built and operated primarily with federal funds. Black children could attend only the Scarboro Elementary School. Oak Ridge High School was closed to black students, who had to be bused to Knoxville for an education. Starting in 1950, Scarboro High School was established at Scarboro Elementary School to offer classes for African-American students. In 1955, 85 young Black students from the Scarboro community were the first to enter all-white classes in Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High School (now Robertsville Middle School). In 2023, on the 68th anniversary, a Scarboro 85 Monument was erected in Oak Ridge. Robertsville Junior High School, serving the west half of Oak Ridge, was desegregated at the same time as the high school. Elementary schools in other parts of the city and Jefferson Junior High School, serving the east half of the city, were desegregated slowly as African-American families moved into housing outside of Gamble Valley. In 1967 Scarboro Elementary School was closed, and African-American students from Gamble Valley were bused to other schools around the city. The nearby high school in Clinton was desegregated in the fall of 1956. On October 5, 1958, the school was severely damaged after a series of
dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...
explosions. An estimated 75 to 100 sticks of dynamite had been placed in three locations in the building. No one was injured, however the school was closed while being rebuilt. Oak Ridge provided space at a recently vacated elementary school building (the original Linden Elementary School) for the education of high school students from Clinton for two years while Clinton High School was being rebuilt. Following the ''Brown'' decision, public accommodations in Oak Ridge were gradually integrated, which took several years. In 1955, the spring-fed Oak Ridge Municipal Outdoor Swimming Pool, which had been completed in June 1945, became integrated. In the early 1960s, Oak Ridge briefly experienced protest picketing against racial segregation in public accommodations, notably outside a local cafeteria and a laundromat.


Since World War II

Two years after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
ended, Oak Ridge was shifted to civilian control, under the authority of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The Roane Anderson Company administered community functions, including arranging housing and operating buses, under a government contract. In 1959 the town was incorporated. The community adopted a city manager and City Council form of government rather than direct federal control. The S-50 liquid thermal diffusion plant was demolished soon after the war. The K-25 building, where uranium was enriched by the gaseous diffusion process until 1985 as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP), was demolished in 2013–15 under
Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...
as well as the other nearby production and support facilities in the years after. Much of the land associated with the former ORGDP has been transferred or leased for private and federal industrial reuse or dedicated as a National Historic Park. Two of the four major plants created for the wartime bomb production remain in use today: * Y-12, originally used for electromagnetic separation of uranium, is now used for nuclear weapons processing and materials storage and known as the Y-12 National Security Complex. Y-12 is managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration. * X-10, site of a graphite test reactor, is now Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).The Department of Energy (DOE) runs ORNL, a nuclear and high-tech research establishment. In 1983, the DOE declassified a report showing that significant amounts of mercury had been released from the Oak Ridge Reservation into the East Fork Poplar Creek between 1950 and 1977. Circa 1989, a federal court ordered the DOE to bring the Oak Ridge Reservation into compliance with federal and state environmental regulations, such as RCRA. In addition, the Oak Ridge Reservation was put on the Environmental Protection Agency's
National Priorities List The National Priorities List (NPL) is the priority list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for long-term remedial investigation and remedial action (cleanup) financed under the federal Superfund program. Environmental Protec ...
as a
Superfund site Superfund sites are Pollution, polluted locations in the United States requiring a long-term response to clean up hazardous material contaminations. Sites include landfills, mines, manufacturing facilities, processing plants where toxic waste h ...
. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest multipurpose lab in the DOE's National Laboratory system. It is home to the Spallation Neutron Source, a $1.4 billion project completed in 2006, and "
Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...
", one of the world's most powerful scientific supercomputers, which has peak performance of more than one quadrillion operations per second. In June 2018
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
and ORNL unveiled
Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...
, the "world's fastest supercomputer", claimed to be more than twice as powerful as the previous world leader, with a peak performance of 200,000 trillion calculations per second. The Y-12 National Security Complex is a component of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. The DOE's Environmental Management office is conducting an extensive program of
decontamination Decontamination (sometimes abbreviated as decon, dcon, or decontam) is the process of removing contaminants on an object or area, including chemicals, micro-organisms, and/or radioactive substances. This may be achieved by chemical reaction, dis ...
and decommissioning, environmental cleanup, and waste management to remove or stabilize the hazardous residues remaining from decades of government production and research activities. Oak Ridge's scientific heritage is curated in the American Museum of Science and Energy. Its role in the Manhattan Project is preserved in the Manhattan Project National Historical Park (along with sites in Hanford, Washington and
Los Alamos, New Mexico Los Alamos (, meaning ''The Poplars'') is a census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as one of the development and creation places of the Nuclear weapon, atomic bomb—the primary objective of ...
), run cooperatively by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
and the Department of Energy. A bus tour and several virtual tours are available for the public.


Economy

The federal government projects at Oak Ridge are reduced in size and scope, but are still the city's principal economic activity and one of the largest employers in the Knoxville metropolitan area. The DOE — including the Office of Science, the Office of Environmental Management, and NNSA — owns the federal sites and maintains a major office in the city. Several federal prime contractors fulfill different roles on the Oak Ridge Reservation, including Consolidated Nuclear Security, UCOR (an Amentum-led company), and UT–Battelle. The DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information disseminates government research and development information and operates the science.gov website. The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, operated by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, conducts research and education programs for the DOE,
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...
, and other federal agencies. The Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATDD), one of several field divisions of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...
Air Resources Laboratory, is also located in the city. ATDD began under AEC sponsorship in 1948 as a Weather Bureau research office providing meteorological information and expertise for the AEC. Currently its main function is to perform
air quality Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...
-related research directed toward issues of national and global importance. The nuclear industry continues to grow in Oak Ridge following the demolition of the K-25 site. To date, more than 1,700 acres of the Oak Ridge Reservation have been transferred to the community that now house other nuclear companies, including Triso-X (
nuclear fuel Nuclear fuel refers to any substance, typically fissile material, which is used by nuclear power stations or other atomic nucleus, nuclear devices to generate energy. Oxide fuel For fission reactors, the fuel (typically based on uranium) is ...
production), Kairos Power (
small modular reactor The small modular reactor (SMR) is a class of small nuclear fission reactor, designed to be built in a factory, shipped to operational sites for installation, and then used to power buildings or other commercial operations. The term SMR refers t ...
project) and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation. In September 2024, Oak Ridge was selected by Orano USA as the future site of a new multibillion dollar uranium enrichment facility.
Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
operated a manufacturing plant in the city beginning in the early 1980s which closed in 2007. IPIX, Remotec (now a subsidiary of
Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...
), ZYP Coatings, and several other technology-based companies have been founded in Oak Ridge, including
Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France thrice and the UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, Road Race World Championship twice, becoming t ...
's
carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...
-manufacturing business, LeMond Composites. Several
radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...
processing companies, including EnergySolutions, have operations in Oak Ridge. The infrastructure that was new in the 1940s is aging. The once-isolated city is now incorporated into the Knoxville metropolitan area. Oak Ridge is now challenged to blend into the suburban orbit of Knoxville as its heritage as a "super secret" government installation subsides. Changing economic forces have led to continuing changes in the commercial sector. For example, the Oak Ridge City Center, a shopping center built in the 1950s and converted to an indoor
shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...
in the 1980s, sat largely empty in the years leading to its eventual partial demolition and redevelopment. In 2003, the city of Oak Ridge extended its borders west beyond the
Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in ...
boundary for the annexation of the master planned community, the Preserve at Oak Ridge, paving the way for economic growth into the 21st century. In January 2020, the city council of Oak Ridge approved the "Wilson Street Corridor" project plan, intended to develop and construct a downtown area in the city situated along Wilson Street. The plan consists of a
mixed-use development Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...
of retail, residential usage, and restaurants with a primary focus of multi-story residential space.


Geography

Immediately northeast of Oak Ridge, the southwestward-flowing
Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in ...
bends sharply to the southeast for roughly toward Solway, where it turns again to the southwest. After flowing for approximately , the river bends sharply to the northwest at Copper Ridge, and continues in this direction for nearly . At the K-25 plant, the Clinch turns southwest again and flows for another to its mouth along the
Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...
at Kingston. This series of bends creates a half-rectangle formation—surrounded by water on the northeast, east, and southwest—in which Oak Ridge is situated. The Oak Ridge area is striated by five ridges that run roughly parallel to one another in a northeast-to-southwest direction. In order from west-to-east, the five ridges are Blackoak Ridge (which connects the Elza and K-25 bends of the Clinch and thus "walls off" the half-rectangle), East Fork Ridge, Pine Ridge, Chestnut Ridge, and Haw Ridge. The five ridges are divided by four valleys: East Fork Valley (between Blackoak Ridge and East Fork Ridge), Gamble Valley (between East Fork Ridge and Pine Ridge), Bear Creek Valley (between Pine Ridge and Chestnut Ridge), and Bethel Valley (between Chestnut and Haw). These ridges and valleys are part of the
Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands division. The physiographic province is divided into three se ...
physiographic province. The main section of the city is located in the northeast, where East Fork and Pine Ridge give way to low, scattered hills. Many of the city's residences are located along the relatively steep northeastern slope of Blackoak Ridge. The completion of Melton Hill Dam (along the Clinch near Copper Ridge) in 1963 created Melton Hill Lake, which borders the city on the northeast and east. 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 well known as a venue for rowing competitions. Watts Bar Lake, an impoundment of the
Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...
which covers the lower of the Clinch, borders Oak Ridge to the south and southwest. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has an area of , of which is land and , or 5.25%, is water. The highest point is Melton Hill () on the DOE reservation, at elevation .


Climate

Like much of the rest of the state, Oak Ridge has a
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(''Cfa'' in the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
); it is part of USDA
hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
7a. The normal monthly mean temperature ranges from in January to in July, while on average there are 4.3 days where the temperature stays at or below freezing and 39 days with a high at or above per year. The all-time record low is , set on January 21, 1985, while the all-time record high is , set on June 30, 2012, and July 28, 1952. However, temperatures reaching either or are uncommon, having last occurred February 5, 1996 (the date of the all-time record low for February) and July 1, 2012. Precipitation averages annually and reaches a low during late summer. The rainiest calendar day on record is August 10, 1960, when of rain fell; monthly precipitation has ranged from trace amounts in October 1963 to in July 1967.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 31,402 people, 12,008 households, and 7,641 families residing in the city.


2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 29,330 people, 12,772 households, and 7,921 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 14,494 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 86.8%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
(81.8% non-Hispanic), 8.1%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.4% Native American or
Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...
, 2.5% Asian, 0.03%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 2.0% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 4.6% of the population. There were 12,772 households, with 25.2% having children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.2% being
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 12.9% having a female householder with no husband present, 3.9% having a male householder with no wife present, and 38.0% being non-families. 33.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.86. The age distribution was 22.0% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 28.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $48,716, and the median income for a family was $69,333. Full-time, year-round male workers had a median income of $54,316 versus $36,140 for females in the same employment situation. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $30,430. About 10.7% of families and 16.0% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 28.1% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.


Government

Oak Ridge uses the council-manager government system, which was established in 1959 when the city was incorporated. It is governed by a seven-member city council composed of the mayor and six council members. Oak Ridge is represented in the
Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...
in the 33rd District in Anderson County, and the 32nd district in Roane County, by Representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee respectively, both of whom are Republican. In the
Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...
, Oak Ridge is represented in the 5th district in Anderson County and the 12th district in Roane County, by Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee and Senator Randy McNally, and Senator Ken Yager respectively, both of whom are Republican. Oak Ridge is represented in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
by Republican Chuck Fleischmann of the 3rd congressional district. Unlike the rest of Anderson County, Oak Ridge, along with nearby Norris, has voted Democratic in recent federal elections, with the majority of the city having voted for Democratic presidential candidate
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
in 2020.


Education

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. The Oak Ridge school district was ranked number one in the state of Tennessee, and Oak Ridge High School was ranked the number three high school in the state of Tennessee, in the Niche 2017 Best School Districts. Independent schools in the city include the
Montessori The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...
School of Oak Ridge, St. Mary's School, and several preschools. The Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning offers a diverse array of educational opportunities for adults. Roane State Community College has its largest 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 The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...
Forestry Stations and
Arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...
.


Media

Oak Ridge is served by a
daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
, '' The Oak Ridger'', and was for many years the home of AM radio station WATO.


Sports

Oak Ridge has a rowing venue on the Melton Hill Lake that hosts U.S. Rowing events such as the US Rowing Youth Summer National Championship Oak Ridge has hosted cycling events for USA Cycling including the USA Cycling Individual Time Trial National Championships. A
Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
team called the Oak Ridge Pioneers played at the city's Ridgeview Park for one season in 1954. The Oak Ridge Bombers played briefly in 1948 before relocating.


Notable people

Notable persons who were born or lived in Oak Ridge: * Arnold Anderson, chemical engineer on
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...
, consultant for American Indian Policy Review Commission and founder of American Indian Science and Engineering Society * E. Riley Anderson, Tennessee Supreme Court justice * Jennifer Azzi, WNBA player, coach, and Olympic
gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...
ist * General B.B. Bell, retired general, commander of U.S. Forces Korea and previously of U.S. Army, Europe and
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
's Joint Command * Manson Benedict, nuclear engineering pioneer * A. Keith Bissell, member of
Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...
and chairman of Tennessee Public Service Commission * Jane Blankenship, spectroscopist * Mike Caldwell, NFL player and coach * Nikki Caldwell, women's basketball head coach for
LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
* Paulo Campos, Filipino physician and educator noted for his promotion of wider community health care and his achievements in the field of
nuclear medicine Nuclear medicine (nuclear radiology, nucleology), is a medical specialty involving the application of radioactivity, radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Nuclear imaging is, in a sense, ''radiology done inside out'', ...
, for which he was dubbed as "The Father of Nuclear Medicine in the Philippines", became the first president of the National Academy of Science and Technology, and was conferred the rank and title of National Scientist of the Philippines * Kenneth Lee Carder,
United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...
bishop * Lee Clayton, country-rock singer/songwriter, composer of "Ladies Love Outlaws" * Waldo Cohn, biochemist known principally for developing techniques for separation of isotopes necessary for the Manhattan Project * Charles Counts, artist, potter, and author * Trae Crowder, comedian and author * Sheldon Datz, chemist * Dean Dillon, songwriter in the
Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...
. * Charlie Ergen, co-founder and CEO of EchoStar Communications Corporation, parent company of
Dish Network DISH Network L.L.C., often referred to as DISH, an abbreviation for Digital Sky Highway, is an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services and wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The company was originally establ ...
*
Megan Fox Megan Denise Fox (born May 16, 1986) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the family film ''Holiday in the Sun (film), Holiday in the Sun'' (2001), which was followed by numerous supporting roles in film and television, such a ...
, actress * Matthew Friedman, film editor * Jeannine Hall Gailey, author * John H. (Jack) Gibbons, director of Office of Technology Assessment and
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
Office of Science and Technology Policy The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Executive Office of the President (EOP), established by United States Congres ...
* Eugene Guth, physicist *
Elaine Hendrix Katherine Elaine Hendrix (born December 28, 1970) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in ''Dynasty,'' '' Superstar'', '' Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'', the 1995 ''Get Smart'' series, the 1998 remake of '' The Parent Tra ...
, actress * Tee Higgins, NFL player * Alexander Hollaender, one of the world's leading researchers in radiation biology and in genetic mutations and 1983 recipient of the Enrico Fermi Award * Otis Howard,
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
player * Alston Scott Householder, mathematician who invented
Householder transformation In linear algebra, a Householder transformation (also known as a Householder reflection or elementary reflector) is a linear transformation that describes a reflection (mathematics), reflection about a plane (mathematics), plane or hyperplane conta ...
* Mary Gaulden Jagger, radiation geneticist, professor of
radiology Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...
, and political activist who authored some 60 scientific publications and helped lead the desegregation movement in Anderson County * Kathy Johnson, gymnast * Gene Kimmelman, consumer advocate and attorney * Kai-Fu Lee,
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
executive * Doug Martin, football coach * Thomas Mason, physicist and director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 2007 to 2017 * Matt McMahon, basketball head coach * Randy McNally, Tennessee Lieutenant Governor * John O. Merrill, architect * Edgar Meyer,
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
-winning
bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...
* Sarah Monette, author * Karl Z. Morgan, health physics pioneer * Clarice Phelps, nuclear chemist * Ward Plummer, physicist * William G. Pollard, nuclear physicist, author, and Episcopal priest, first director of Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies (now Oak Ridge Associated Universities) * Herman Postma, physicist and former director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory * Ellen Reid, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer * Bobby Richards, NFL player * Mitch Rouse, actor, director, and screenwriter * Danny Sanders, football player * Sophia Schubert, golfer * Cameron Sexton, Tennessee state representative and Speaker of the State House * William Shepherd,
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...
, commander of Expedition 1, first crew on
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
* Clifford Shull,
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
-winning physicist * Louis Slotin, physicist and chemist *
Gore Verbinski Gregor Justin "Gore" Verbinski (born March 16, 1964) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for directing ''Mouse Hunt'', '' The Ring'', the first 3 ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' films, and '' Rango''. For '' ...
, film director of ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' series * Alvin Weinberg, nuclear physicist * Ed Westcott, only authorized photographer in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project * Richard White, actor *
Eugene Wigner Eugene Paul Wigner (, ; November 17, 1902 – January 1, 1995) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who also contributed to mathematical physics. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 "for his contributions to the theory of th ...
, Nobel Prize-winning physicist *
Adam Wingard Adam Wingard ( ; born December 3, 1982) is an American filmmaker. He has served as a film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, actor, and composer on numerous American films. Following an early career as a member of the mu ...
, director *
Herbert York Herbert Frank York (24 November 1921 – 19 May 2009) was an American nuclear physicist of Mohawk origin. He held numerous research and administrative positions at various United States government and educational institutes. Biography Her ...
, nuclear physicist The Oak Ridge Boys draw their name from the group's frequent performances at Oak Ridge National Laboratory during their earliest incarnation under Wally Fowler.


Points of interest

* Alexander Inn (retirement home) * American Museum of Science and Energy * Children's Museum of Oak Ridge * East Tennessee Technology Park * Manhattan Project National Historical Park, National Park Service and Department of Energy site *
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...
* Office of Scientific and Technical Information * United Church, The Chapel on the Hill * University of Tennessee Arboretum * Y-12 National Security Complex


Sister cities

* Naka, Japan * Obninsk, Russia


Notes


References


Further reading

* Charles W. Johnson, Charles O. Jackson, ''City Behind A Fence: Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1942–1946.'' Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1981 * Lindsey A. Freeman, ''Longing for the Bomb: Oak Ridge and Atomic Nostalgia.'' Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2015. * Lindsey A. Freeman, ''This Atom Bomb in Me''. Stanford, CA: Redwood Press, 2019. * Rusell Olwell, ''At Work in the Atomic City: A Labor and Social History of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.'' Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2008.


External links

*
Convention and Visitors Bureau

Historic photos of Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project
{{Authority control Cities in Tennessee Planned communities in the United States Populated places established in 1942 Cities in Anderson County, Tennessee Cities in Roane County, Tennessee Manhattan Project sites Knoxville metropolitan area Company towns in Tennessee 1942 establishments in Tennessee East Tennessee Skidmore, Owings & Merrill World War II Heritage Cities