Editing Oak Ridge, Tennessee (section)

===Manhattan Project===
[[File:Oak-ridge-bethel-valley-road-tn1.jpg|right|thumb|The Bethel Valley [[Oak Ridge gatehouses|Checking Station]]]]
In 1942, the United States federal government chose the area as a site for developing materials for the [[Manhattan Project]]. 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 {{convert|17|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} 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".<ref>Johnson and Jackson, ''City Behind a Fence'', 6–8.</ref>

In October 1942, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] began acquiring approximately {{Convert|59,000|acre|ha}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Oak Ridge Site Acquisition |url=https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Places/OakRidge/oak-ridge-acquisition.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217160214/https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Places/OakRidge/oak-ridge-acquisition.html |archive-date=17 December 2024 |access-date=7 February 2025 |website=U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information}}</ref> in the Oak Ridge area for the United States' [[Manhattan Project]]. 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]] notices tacked to their doors. Others found out when their children came home from school with a message from the principal: [[Kenneth McKellar (politician)|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."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/oak-ridge-national-laboratory | title=Inside Oak Ridge, the Secret Government Town Built to Help Construct the First Atomic Bomb | date=July 24, 2019 }}</ref> There were several families who had moved to the Oak Ridge area after the displacements by the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] who were displaced again by the Manhattan Project campaign.<ref name=":0" /> The average price per acre paid was $46.86.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Y-12 Shift Change.jpg|thumb|right|Workers leaving the Manhattan Project's [[Y-12 plant]] at shift changing time, 1945]]

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]] 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.<ref>Johnson and Jackson, ''City Behind a Fence'', pp. 41–47.</ref> Although the area's original residents were allowed to be buried in existing cemeteries, every coffin was reportedly opened for inspection.<ref name="wickware19460909" /> 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 National Security Complex|Y-12]], K-25, and [[S-50 (Manhattan Project)|S-50]], plants were each built in Oak Ridge to separate the [[fissile]] [[isotope]] [[uranium-235]] from natural [[uranium]], which consists almost entirely of the isotope [[uranium-238]]. The [[X-10 Graphite Reactor|X-10]] site, now the site of [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]], was established as a pilot plant for production of [[plutonium]] using the Graphite Reactor, used to develop full-scale plutonium production at the [[Hanford Site]].

During construction of the [[electromagnet]]s required for the uranium separation process at the Y-12 site, a shortage of [[copper]] forced the MED to borrow 14,700 tons of [[silver bullion]] from the [[United States Department of the Treasury|United States Treasury]] as a copper substitute in wire for the electromagnet coils.<ref>{{cite web|title=14,700 tons of silver at Y-12|url=https://www.y12.doe.gov/sites/default/files/history/pdf/articles/07-10-11.pdf|access-date=January 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027161629/https://www.y12.doe.gov/sites/default/files/history/pdf/articles/07-10-11.pdf|archive-date=October 27, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

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.<ref>* {{cite book |last=Groves |first=Leslie |author-link=Leslie Groves |url=https://archive.org/details/nowitcanbetolds00grov |title=Now it can be told: The Story of the Manhattan Project |publisher=Harper & Brothers |year=1962 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nowitcanbetolds00grov/page/26 26], 27 |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{sfn|Nichols|1987|pp=99–100}} 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 "[[Alcohol laws of Tennessee|dry]]").{{sfn|Nichols|1987|pp=117-9}} 

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 [[Commissary (store)|commissaries]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manhattan Project: Places > Oak Ridge > CONSTRUCTION CAMPS |url=https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Places/OakRidge/oak-ridge-camps.html |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=www.osti.gov}}</ref> Medical care was provided by Army doctors and hospitals, with civilians paying $2.50 per month ($5 for families) to the medical insurance fund.{{sfn|Nichols|1987|pp=121-4}}