‘A huge relief, but then a sense of sadness’ | East Tennessee’s ties to the Manhattan Project

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - The Manhattan Project helped changed warfare during the 1940’s as the U.S. began to develop the atomic bomb.

One of three sites chosen for it was in Oak Ridge. There wasn’t much in the city during this time.

“There wasn’t anything here but scattered farm land. Marginal farm land at that and a few farm houses scattered out throughout the reservation as it was called,” Oak Ridge History Museum volunteer Don Hunicutt said.

The people who were living there during World War II began to notice some changes during the war though.

“People in the communities in the surrounding areas noticed strangers in the valley. Those strangers were surveyors. They were surveying their property,” Hunicutt said.

One of the main reasons Oak Ridge was chosen for this project is becaus