What Is Manhattan Project National Historical Park?
Manhattan Project National Historical Park preserves the original buildings where the Manhattan Project developed the first atomic bomb between 1939 and 1946!
What Makes It Historical?
On August 2nd, 1939, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt hypothesizing that uranium could be processed into the type of bomb that “might very well destroy [a] whole port together with some of the surrounding territory.”
The laboratory to turn theory into practice opened in spring 1942 as the US Government took over the Los Alamos Ranch School in the mountains of New Mexico. Leading the operation were J. Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves with the help of 1,800 SEDs (Special Engineering Detachment) as technicians and a crew of WACs (Women’s Army Corps) to manage communication! Their deadline to produce Einstein’s theoretical bomb was August 1, 1945!
After many setbacks, which led the Los Alamos Laboratory received its first ready plutonium samples on February 2 of 1945 and tested the first atomic bomb, called “The Gadget” about 200 miles south at the Alamogordo Bombing Range. The shock wave of this bomb test, called the Trinity Test, stretched for 160 miles! This test led to the creation of two implosion bombs used to end World War II: the plutonium-based “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki and the uranium-based “Little Boy” dropped on Hiroshima!
As World War II transitioned into the Cold War, the laboratory in Los Alamos became the center for stockpiling America’s nuclear arsenal and oversaw two more plutonium tests, this time at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in July of 1946. Today, while the Laboratory no longer produces new nuclear weapons, it is responsible for maintaining the nation’s nuclear stockpile under the direction of the Department of Energy. Since it’s an active lab, its historic sites are still inaccessible to the public, but that may change in the future!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer at Los Alamos Historial Society!
- Become a member of the Los Alamos Historial Society!
- Be a responsible visitor! Remember the old adages: Pack out what you pack in! Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints!
How Do I Get There?
475 20th Street
Los Alamos, NM 87544
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit the Park?
Between late May and the end of October, the visitor center is open daily from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM! During the off season, it’s open Thursday to Monday from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM!
More Photos
