Oak Ridge, TN

Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about 25 miles (40 km) west of downtown Knoxville. Oak Ridge’s population was 31,402 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak Ridge’s nicknames include the Atomic City, the Secret City, and the City Behind a Fence.

In 1942, the U.S. government forcibly purchased nearly 60,000 acres (240 km) of farmland in the Clinch River valley for the development of a planned city supporting 75,000 residents. It was constructed with assistance from architectural and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, from 1942 to 1943. Oak Ridge was established in 1942 as a production site for the Manhattan Project—the massive American, British, and Canadian operation that developed the atomic bomb. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Y-12 National Security Complex, and several private nuclear and scientific facilities are still in Oak Ridge, and scientific and technological development plays a crucial role in its economy and culture. In 2016, the element tennessine was named for Tennessee, in recognition of the role Oak Ridge and other institutions in the state played in its discovery.

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