April 29

Electrons being moved through me using a generator.

1940's Flat-top House at Oak Ridge
An entire city was built from top to bottom during
WWII to work on the Mahattan Project and the making of the atomic bomb.

1940's Furnishings for the Flat-top Houses

Oak Ridge was a complete city built during WWII for workers of the Clinton Engineer Works or CEW. It was an important part in the Manhattan Project that resulted in the first atomic bomb. Within a very short time, thousands of people were living here. Their job was mainly to fuel the bomb by extracting uranium 235 from the more abundant isotope uranium 238. That doesn’t mean much to my little pea brain except that they were refining it. Some of the smartest scientists in the world were here working with scientists in other sites - what an incredible amount of brain power right here. It was very secretive and highly restricted until 1949. There is a tour of the once secret areas but it only goes during the summer. Research continues here at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Today it supports the Dept of Energy today and has a staff of 5,000 brainy folks. Some amazing discoveries will continue to come from this place. The museum has a lot of hands on experiments and some excellent displays that focus on the history of the Manhattan Project plus the uses of fossil fuels and alternative energy. I must say it was almost all beyond me. Thank goodness we didn’t have to take a test before we could leave the building! We did partake in a science experiment on the movement of electrons that was interesting and fun. They have an original 500 square foot “flattop house” from the 1940’s that has period furnishings. It was fun to see being born in that era. There was a whole city of these homes lined up one after another.