In a time when conspiracy theories run rampant through the U.S., one might be skeptical to believe everything they hear about the government. The idea of the government coming in and taking over a part of your town, building up a city, and running a completely secret operation right under your nose is seen as crazy, and most people frown upon those who believe this is happening. However for the people of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, this was a reality for a great number of years.

In 1942, the federal government decided to move to Oak Ridge, Tennessee and make it the hub until 1946. In these short four years, the government came in, used eminent domain to take peoples’ land, and built up an entire city; including: schools, homes, movie theaters, and anything you could imagine. The Manhattan Project had begun. Hordes of military families moved to Oak Ridge, bringing the population from just 3,000 to 75,000. While these families were working in top secret conditions, they had no idea what they were really doing. It wasn’t until news of the first atomic bomb that was dropped on Japan in August of 1945, that the people of Oak Ridge knew what they had been working on.

It’s incredible to think that an entire town can be built, side-by-side with the most dangerous weapon in the world, just a few miles away from the major U.S. city of Knoxville, without any outsider’s knowledge. If you are looking to move to Knoxville, but want to live in a quainter, outer-lying town, Oak Ridge movers are happy to help move you in to our historical city.