Oppenheimer’s Secret City Shot Up From Nowhere During WWII — And It Had A Dark Purpose
Today, Oak Ridge in Tennessee is a seemingly normal city with a population of just over 31,000 people. Yet the community was only founded in 1942 when a mysterious settlement was established during World War II. Over the next three years, the population bloomed to 75,000, but the area itself was shrouded in secrecy. Even the people working there had no idea what they were working on — or what J. Robert Oppenheimer had conceived. That is until Oak Ridge’s deadly purpose was finally revealed.
An unremarkable town at a remarkable time
When America officially entered World War II on December 8, 1941 — the day after Pearl Harbor — the public had never heard of either Oppenheimer or Oak Ridge. In fact, Life magazine described the Oak Ridge of 1941 as "just one more pine and oak-stippled rise among the sleepy hills near Knoxville." But General Leslie Groves felt that Oak Ridge was the perfect place for his secret project.
The perfect place for a deadly project
The general had considered other locations for this mammoth undertaking. There were other options in East Tennessee as well as the Shasta Dam in California, two places near Chicago, and a few around Washington state. But it was only Oak Ridge that met Groves' specific demands — and time was of the essence now that the U.S. had suffered an attack on home ground.
The arms race begins
In the days following the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. formally entered World War II. Its citizens were expected to support the nation in its mission, too, meaning life would change dramatically for the average American. Some of these advancements turned out to be more significant than others, though. For one thing, America’s need for weapons increased, and armament factories obviously needed workers.
All hands on deck
But with many men joining the military, the duty of making war-related materials largely fell to women. Communities rallied together, collecting scrap metal to help with the war effort, and families had to make do with rations for their clothes, gas, and meals. So-called “victory gardens” sprang up in a bid to feed the nation with home-grown vegetables. Yet arguably nowhere in the U.S. changed quite as much during World War II as Oak Ridge, TN.
