- States:
- NPCA Region: Southwest
- Est. Date: 2015
Air Quality Conditions
View the Polluted Parks ReportVisibility
Unsatisfactory
Health
Unsatisfactory
Nature
Significant Concern
Climate Change Threats
This historical park encompasses three separate sites that were involved in the top-secret development of the atomic bomb during World War II. It includes the laboratories and living quarters of the Manhattan Project scientists in Los Alamos, New Mexico; the site of the world's first industrial-scale plutonium reactor, known as the “B Reactor” in Hanford, Washington; and three facilities for enriching uranium at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Together, these sites tell the story of why and how the first atomic bomb was built and the consequences it had on society. It is one of very few sites in the National Park System devoted to science and technology.
Working in the Dark at Oak Ridge
Roughly 75,000 people worked at the uranium enrichment facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at the height of World War II — most of them young women who traveled to this "secret city" far from their homes for the promise of steady, good-paying jobs that would help the war effort. These workers were completely unaware of the type of weapon they were creating or the impact the atomic bomb would have on the world.
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Blog Post
10 Parks You Helped Put on the Map
NPCA and its supporters have worked for a century to protect every one of our national park sites — and to expand our National Park System to include more…
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Blog Post
The 8 National Parks Devoted to Women’s History
Women comprise more than half of the population and make history virtually everywhere. Yet, only eight U.S. national park sites specifically commemorate some aspect of women’s history.
More about Manhattan Project
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Read more about From a Top-Secret Mission to a Public Park
Blog Post From a Top-Secret Mission to a Public Park A Q&A with Atomic Heritage Foundation founder Cynthia Kelly on her quest to preserve the history of the Manhattan Project as part of America's newest national park.
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Read more about National Park System Welcomes Manhattan Project National Historical Park
Press Release National Park System Welcomes Manhattan Project National Historical Park NPCA celebrates addition of Manhattan Project National Historical Park as 409th national park
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Read more about Preserving the Stories of Atomic City: A Q&A with Denise Kiernan
Blog Post Preserving the Stories of Atomic City: A Q&A with Denise Kiernan A new book shares some of the fascinating history behind the young women who unknowingly helped build the first atomic bomb at what could soon become the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
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Read more about Preserving the Manhattan Project
Blog Post Preserving the Manhattan Project A new historical park could preserve three separate sites that were instrumental in the making of the atomic bomb during World War II. One woman has spent more than a decade working to preserve the once-secret history of these places.
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