Manhattan Project Park: Walk through Wheat

Posted at 8:36 pm July 4, 2024
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

You can walk through Wheat with a National Park Service ranger on Saturday, July 13, and learn more about the history of this community before the Manhattan Project.

Wheat was in an area that is now west Oak Ridge, and it was one of the communities displaced by the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.

The free July 13 walk is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

“As you walk the former townsite, rangers will discuss the families and communities the Manhattan Project displaced in late 1942,” the National Park Service said. “Stops include George Jones Memorial Baptist Church, Roane College site, and Crawford Cumberland Presbyterian Memorial.”

Visitors should park and meet for the walk at the Wheat Greenway gravel parking lot on Blair Road, 0.25 miles (.45 kilometer) north of the intersection with the Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The walk is approximately one and a half miles on gravel paths and trails. The trail to the Roane College site includes a slight incline. Wear comfortable shoes and bring water to drink.

Reservations or registration are requested. For more information, contact Ian Wilder at (865) 482-1942 or here.

Oak Ridge is part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park along with Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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