Oak Ridge, Tennessee

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Oak Ridge is an incorporated city in Anderson and Roane Counties in East Tennessee, about 25 miles northwest of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 people at the 2000 census. The portion of the city located in Anderson County is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the portion located in Roane County is included in the Harriman, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area; both of these areas are components of the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN Combined Statistical Area. Oak Ridge's nicknames are the Atomic City, the Secret City, The Ridge and the City Behind the Fence.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography and Climate 3 Demographics 4 Economy 5 Education 6 Points of interest 7 Sister cities 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History

Before 1942 the area which now comprises Oak Ridge was rural, including several farm communities: Robertsville, Edgemoor, East Fork, Elza, Bethel, Scarboro, and Wheat. These communities were by far overshadowed by their neighbors: Knoxville in Knox County; Clinton, in Anderson County; and Kingston, in Roane County.

According to local tradition, John Hendrix (1865-1915), an eccentric local resident regarded as a mystic, prophesied the establishment of Oak Ridge some 40 years before construction began. Upset by the death of his young daughter and the subsequent departure of his wife and remaining family, he became religious and told his neighbors he was seeing visions. When he described his visions, people thought he was insane; for this reason, he was imprisoned for a time. One vision that he described repeatedly was an uncannily accurate description of the city and production facilities that were built 28 years after his death. The version recalled by neighbors and relatives was recorded as follows:

"In the woods, as I lay on the ground and looked up into the sky, there came to me a voice as loud and as sharp as thunder. The voice told me to sleep with my head on the ground for 40 nights and I would be shown visions of what the future holds for this land.... And I tell you, Bear Creek Valley someday will be filled with great buildings and factories, and they will help toward winning the greatest war that ever will be. And there will be a city on Black Oak Ridge and the center of authority will be on a spot middle-way between Sevier Tadlock’s farm and Joe Pyatt’s Place. A railroad spur will branch off the main L&N line, run down toward Robertsville and then branch off and turn toward Scarborough. Big engines will dig big ditches, and thousands of people will be running to and fro. They will be building things, and there will be great noise and confusion and the earth will shake. I've seen it. It's coming."^[1]

The area was chosen by the federal government as a site for developing materials for the Manhattan Project in 1942. Maj. Gen. 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. Both water and electricity were readily available. And because the area was sited within a 17-mile (27-km) long valley, and the valley itself was linear and partitioned by several ridges, providing natural protection against disasters between the four major industrial plants -- so they wouldn't blow up "like firecrackers on a string".

The location and low population also helped keep the town a secret. Although the population of the settlement grew from about 3,000 in 1942 to about 75,000 in 1945, and despite the fact that the K-25 uranium-separating facility by itself covered 44 acres (178,000 m²) and was the largest building in the world at that time, Oak Ridge was kept an official government secret. It did not appear on maps. It wasn't even named until 1949, referred to instead as the Clinton Engineering Works (CEW). All workers wore badges and the town was surrounded by guard towers and a fence with seven gates.

Beginning in late 1942 the United States Army Corps of Engineers began acquiring more than 60,000 acres (240 km²) for the CEW under authority of the Corps' Manhattan Engineer District (MED). The K-25, S-50, and Y-12 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. During construction of the magnets which were required for the process that would separate the uranium at the Y-12 site, a shortage of copper forced the MED to borrow 15,000 tons of silver bullion from the United States Treasury to fabricate into wire for the electromagnet coils as a substitute^[2]. The X-10 site, now the location of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was established as a pilot plant for production of plutonium.

Because of the large number of workers recruited to the area for the Manhattan Project, the Army planned a town for project workers at the eastern end of the valley. The time required for the project's completion caused the Army to opt for a relatively permanent establishment rather than a camp of enormous size.

The architecture firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill was contracted to provide a layout for the town and house designs. Prefabricated modular homes, apartments, and dormitories, many made from cemesto (bonded cement and asbestos) panels, were quickly erected. Construction personnel swelled the wartime population of Oak Ridge to as much as 70,000. That dramatic population increase, and the secret nature of the project, meant chronic shortages of housing and supplies during the war years.

The use of the atomic bombs against Japan demonstrated to the world what the hard-working people at Oak Ridge had been working on. Two years after World War II ended, Oak Ridge was shifted to civilian control, under the authority of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). In 1959 the town was incorporated and a city manager and City Council form of government was adopted by the community rather than direct federal control. Three of the four major facilities created for the wartime bomb production are still standing today:

• K-25, where uranium was enriched by the gaseous diffusion process until 1985, is now being decommissioned and decontaminated.
• Y-12, originally used for electromagnetic separation of uranium, is still in use for nuclear weapons processing and materials storage.
• X-10, site of a test graphite reactor, is now the site of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Oak Ridge's scientific heritage is explored in the American Museum of Science and Energy.

[edit] Geography and Climate

Oak Ridge is located at 35°59′18″N, 84°17′11″W (35.988230, -84.286312)^GR1. Politically it is part of East Tennessee; physiographically it is in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 232.9 km² (89.9 mi²). 221.6 km² (85.6 mi²) of it is land and 11.3 km² (4.4 mi²) of it (4.86%) is water.

The Melton Hill Lake portion of the Clinch River borders the city on the east and south. The lakefront on the east side of the city is a popular recreation area with bicycling trails and picnic areas lining the shore. The lake is also well-known as a venue for rowing competition.

Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Rec High °F	75	79	86	92	93	101	105	103	102	90	85	78
Norm High °F	45.9	51.6	61	70.5	77.8	84.9	88.1	87.2	81.1	71.1	59	49
Norm Low °F	27.2	29.5	36.6	43.8	53.4	61.7	66.4	65.2	58.8	45.7	36.4	29.8
Rec Low °F	-17	-13	1	20	30	39	49	50	33	21	0	-7
Precip (in)	5.13	4.5	5.72	4.32	5.14	4.64	5.16	3.39	3.75	3.02	4.86	5.42
Source: USTravelWeather.com [2]

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 27,387 people, 12,062 households, and 7,695 families residing in the city. The population density was 123.6/km² (320.1/mi²). There were 13,417 housing units at an average density of 60.6/km² (156.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.96% White, 8.18% African American, 0.30% Native American, 2.10% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.76% from other races, and 1.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.93% of the population.

There were 12,062 households out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.4% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,950, and the median income for a family was $57,087. Males had a median income of $45,149 versus $27,500 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,793. About 8.0% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.5% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Economy

The federal government projects at Oak Ridge are reduced in size and scope, but are still the city's principal economic activity and one of the biggest employers in the Knoxville metropolitan area. The Department of Energy owns the federal sites and maintains a major office in the city. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest multipurpose lab in the Department of Energy's National Laboratory system, and is also home to the Spallation Neutron Source, a 1.4 billion dollar project slated for completion by 2010. The Y-12 National Security Complex is a component of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. Bechtel Jacobs is the Department of Energy's primary contractor conducting an extensive program of decontamination and decommissioning, environmental cleanup, and waste management that aims to remove or stabilize the residues remaining from decades of government production and research activities. The Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information, which disseminates government research and development information and operates the Science.gov Web site, is located in the city. The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, operated by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, conducts research and education programs for the Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies. The Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATDD) is one of several field divisions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Air Resources Laboratory, is also located in the city. ATDD began under AEC sponsorship in 1948 as a Weather Bureau research office providing meteorological information and expertise for the AEC. Currently its main function is to perform air quality-related research directed toward issues of national and global importance.

Boeing operates a manufacturing plant in the city. IPIX and several other technology-based companies have been founded in Oak Ridge. Wackenhut provides security services for DOE's local facilities, employing about 900 people.

The infrastructure that was new in the 1940s is aging, and the once-isolated city is now incorporated into the Knoxville metropolitan area. Oak Ridge, a proud city with historic international implications, is now challenged to blend into the suburban orbit of Knoxville while its heritage as a "super secret" government installation subsides. Changing economic forces have led to continuing changes in the commercial sector. For example, the Oak Ridge City Center, a shopping mall built in the 1980s by Crown American, is largely empty and scheduled for partial demolition and redevelopment into a more open type of shopping development.

[edit] Education

Oak Ridge's city school system is consistently ranked among the best public school systems in the nation^[3]. The city operates a preschool, four elementary schools enrolling kindergarten through grade 4, two middle schools enrolling grades 5 through 8, and one high school enrolling grades 9 through 12.

In an August 2004 referendum, city voters approved an increase in local sales taxes to fund a 55 million dollar "rebuilding" project for Oak Ridge High School. Following demolition of one wing of the main building, construction on the first wall of the new building began in April 2005. Temporary classrooms were set up to house science classes; they will continue to be used for different purposes as the multi-year project progresses.

Roane State Community College has a branch campus in Oak Ridge. Independent schools in the city include the Montessori School of Oak Ridge (preschool and kindergarten), St. Mary's School (Roman Catholic, pre-kindergarten through grade 8), and several preschools.

[edit] Points of interest

• Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• University of Tennessee Arboretum
• East Tennessee Technology Park - Formerly known as the K-25 Site
• United Church, The Chapel on the Hill
• Children's Museum of Oak Ridge
• US DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI)
• American Museum of Science and Energy

[edit] Sister cities

Oak Ridge has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

• Obninsk, Russia
• Naka, Ibaraki, Japan

[edit] References