Oak Ridge – The Secret City

About this event

How do you create a city of 75,000 people – in secret?

aerial view of K-25, one of three uranium-enrichment facilities in Oak Ridge, 1945. US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY/ED WESCOTT Our November presentation will cover the selection, development and operation of Oak Ridge, TN, a secret city created in support of the Manhattan Project where uranium was enriched to supply fissionable material for the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

There were only 3000 people in the area when the US government bought over 100 square miles – 64,000 acres – of land in 1942. Planned for 15,000 people, Oak Ridge grew to 75,000 by the end of the Second World War, and most of them had no idea why they were really there – thanks to carefully compartmentalized work.

What really went on in the secret city of Oak Ridge during World War II? Find out in this fascinating talk by retired Army officer David LaCroix.

Doors open at 6:45 pm. There is a brief meeting at 7:15, followed by the talk. Free and open to the public.

The featured photo shows the Calutron Girls who separated uranium at Y-12 building in Oak Ridge without knowing what they were working on. (US Dept. of Energy Photo)

Oak Ridge remains a center of scientific research and nuclear production today.

About the Speaker

David LaCroix is a member of the Stoneham Historical Society and former Stoneham resident. He graduated from Stoneham High School in 1975 and earned a B.S. (Management & Economics) from Worcester State College in 1979 and a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 1982. David was commissioned as a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Army where he served for 26 years (active and reserve) and retired as a Colonel. David also served as a civilian attorney for the Departments of the Navy, Defense, and Interior where he retired after 32 years of service. He and his wife reside in Gettysburg, PA where he is a volunteer for the Gettysburg Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that partners with the U. S. National Park Service to sustain the Gettysburg National Military Park. He gave a 2025 presentation on Gettysburg at SHSM.

Atomic Cloud of Hiroshima, Japan August 6 1945. At the time this photo was made, smoke billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima while smoke from the burst of the first atomic bomb had spread over 10,000 feet at the base of the rising column.