Gates to the Secret City

U.S. Government photograph

During the war-time Manhattan Project, the place that would later become known as Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was a closely-guarded secret. Known simply as the Clinton Engineer Works, the sparsely-populated farmland grew into a city of 75,000 people who lived behind a tall, security fence with military police stationed at every gate. Residents were issued identification badges that allowed them to come and go, but every vehicle passing through the gates was carefully searched. Visitors had to be approved in advance, with a gate pass being requested by a resident. One wag observed that it was a great place to live if you didn't like your mother-in-law; she couldn't visit unless invited.

U.S. Government photograph

The secret was out as soon as the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Oak Ridge became not only known but an object of international interest. But it would be almost four more years before the gates were opened to the public. That happened on March 19, 1949, in a ceremony that drew heavy press coverage, movie stars, bands, and the curious. A small explosive set off in the middle of the road symbolized the gates coming down.

 

U.S. Government photograph

U.S. Government photograph

While the city was now open, the rest of the nuclear reservation was not. Gates were erected on each of the roads leading from town to the plants, and the reservation lands were surrounded by high fence as before. Eventually these gates were opened, as well, with security fences then just surrounding each of the plants.

These Cold-War era gate houses are still there and are just as impressive as ever. This particular one has administrative space included, which was used, among other things, to issue passes to plant visitors. In the 1990s we used it as a conference room, a place convenient to meeting participants from different locations.

But it had to be intimidating in its time, with the gun ports on all sides.

The road that passes through this gate is now a public highway, and serves as the city's access to the south and west. It's also undergoing much-needed widening to four lanes. But the guard gates remain and will continue to remain, as the history of the Manhattan Project and Oak Ridge is at last being preserved and promoted.