Los Alamos, New Mexico has had several nicknames over the years: Secret City, The Hill, Atomic City, and Site Y. The city exists because it grew up around the Los Alamos Laboratory where the world’s first atomic weapons were secretly developed. Current national security projects continue at the laboratory today. Los Alamos is also the home of one-third of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The other park units are in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington. We will explain why the park spans three sites later in the post. In the meantime, enjoy your tour of the Los Alamos unit.
Where is It?
The city of Los Alamos sits in the foothills of the Jemez Mountains about 33 miles northwest of New Mexico’s capitol city of Santa Fe. The visitor center is located at 475 20th Street and is a good place to begin the self-guided walking tour of the historic sites and museums. The park is free to visit, although the Los Alamos History Museum requires an admission fee. Click here to access the park’s website.
The History Begins With the Los Alamos Ranch School
Ashley Pond, Jr., a Detroit, Michigan native and one of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders during the Spanish American War, founded the Los Alamos Ranch School in 1917. Pond’s love of the outdoors, ranching, and New Mexico’s fresh air are what drove him to establish the prep school that catered mainly to the sons of wealthy east coast families.
The government paid almost a half million dollars for the school and 50,000 acres of surrounding land. In December 1942, the school’s director received notice that the school was to be surrendered to the government as a matter of utmost importance in the prosecution of the war. 
The Alamos Ranch School closed after its last graduation in January 1943, and the military moved in. Nine months later, a secret laboratory had been built and work was underway for the development of atomic weapons. Along with it a secret city was quickly springing up for the project’s workers and their families. Meanwhile, Hanford, Washington and Oak Ridge, Tennessee were also becoming top secret worksites for other phases of the Manhattan Project.
Historic Sites
Our walking tour began at the park’s visitor center. The delightful lady working in the office gave us information about the historical sites and also told us about the filming sites of the (then) upcoming movie Oppenheimer. Click here to view a YouTube movie trailer.
We then walked down the street called Bathtub Row. The homes on Bathtub Row were originally built to house the Ranch School’s faculty. With Project Y’s new homes and dormitories – hastily built for the purpose of merely lasting until the end of the war – only having showers, the community began referring to the street where some of the top officials and scientists lived as Bathtub Row. You guessed it, they had the only bathtubs in town, and the name stuck.
Trivia: Eighteen of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos under the direction of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer were Nobel Prize winners. Oppenheimer was a Nobel nominee on three different occasions, however, he never won.
Massive Efforts
As part of our walking tour, we visited the Los Alamos History Museum and the Bradbury Science Museum where we learned a lot about the history of Los Alamos and the incredible efforts that went into the Manhattan Project. Below are some historic photos that are relevant to the testing of the first atomic weapon.
It’s hard to believe that less than a month after the Trinity test, a uranium bomb called Little Boy exploded over Hiroshima, Japan. Fat Man, a bomb fueled by plutonium exploded over the Japanese city of Nagasaki three days later. The bombings, while unimaginably devastating, effectively brought an end to World War II.
Trivia: The fireball created by the Trinity test carried up sand that melted in the mushroom cloud. The melted sand then dropped back to earth where it solidified into a new manmade mineral. Scientists dubbed the new mineral trinitite.
Three Sites, One Goal
Oak Ridge, Tennessee was home to another secret city that was built for the purpose of enriching uranium to fuel nuclear weapons and also to produce small amounts of plutonium. Interestingly, most of its 50,000 workers did not know they were working on components of the first atomic weapons. Today Oak Ridge is still home to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the largest laboratory in the US.
Another large industrial complex was built in Hanford, Washington for the purpose of producing plutonium. According to the National Park Service, the complex had huge production-scale reactors, chemical separations plants, and fuel fabrication facilities. The Hanford site employed approximately 51,000 workers.
Air transportation was too risky for the transport of plutonium and uranium. Therefore, the elements produced by the Oak Ridge and Hanford laboratories were delivered to Los Alamos by inconspicuous, unguarded “traveling salesmen” who hand carried special luggage via the railroad.
Trivia: At its height of employment in 1944, approximately 129,000 people worked on the secretive Manhattan Project, and of those 84,500 were construction workers.
More History Around Town
The Manhattan Project was successful due to a massive effort that spanned just 27 months from start to finish and included thousands of military and civilian laborers who worked toward a common goal although they were located in three separate sites across the country.
Thank you so much for joining us on our historical tour of Los Alamos! For more national park inspiration, check out these great sites:
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
Happy, safe travels, y’all!
Mike and Kellye
As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.
©2023
What a compelling chapter of history. Wilhelm’s Way: The Inspiring Story of the Iowa Chemist Who Saved the Manhattan Project (by Harvey Wilhelm’s granddaughter) is a story important to world history, to WWII history, to Iowa history, to the history of Iowa State University. But it’s also a masterfully written family story of the humble man who indeed influenced the outcome of WWII.
Thank you, Joy. I will have to look for the book to add to my ever-growing reading list.
Thanks for the history lessons! Always good to learn.
Thanks so much, Ellen!
Ooh, awesome! My grandfather worked on the Manhattan Project (primarily at the Hanford site), developing plutonium, so I’m always fascinated by the history. I had no idea about the ranch school or the traveling salesmen. Wow! Thank you for sharing! If you happen to enjoy historical fiction, there’s a great book set at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project called The Atomic Weight of Love.
Very cool about your grandfather! We can’t wait to see the Hanford Site and the Oak Ridge Site too. I will add the book to my reading list. Thanks for checking out the post and for the tip about the book!
Really interesting history!! This looks like a fantastic place to visit 😊
Thank you, Wayne! It was super interesting and “Oppenheimer” was a wonderful movie starring your country’s own Cillian Murphy. We loved it!
Yes I have to watch it yet. Good to hear you enjoyed it.
Very informative essay. I wonder what the radiation levels are in Los Alamos.
Thank you so much! The radiation levels are probably low in Los Alamos but high around the test site which is about 220 miles south of the city.
I only know of Los Alamos through the Manhattan Project (and from the recent film Oppenheimer). Who would’ve thought that a random city in the middle of the desert would have such a dark past and so many secrets? Very fascinating stuff, and I appreciate you writing about this place!
Thank you so much Rebecca! It was extremely interesting, and then seeing “Oppenheimer” just added to our visit.
I saw Oppenheimer the movie recently. Your post was much more informative regarding the operations at Los Alamos. I wonder about the extent of knowledge about radiation at the Trinity site when the photo was taken. I’ve been to Santa Fe twice and never realized Los Alamos was so close. I hope to return and see it.
Thank you, John! We absolutely loved the movie, but it wouldn’t have made such an impact on us if we had not visited Los Alamos. It is extremely interesting to visit the buildings and the museums. The laboratory and park offer “behind the fence” tours a couple of times a year, and we would love to do one of those sometime. The Trinity Site is also open twice a year for tours. I hope you get to go. The city itself is gorgeous and there is a lot to do in the vicinity that does not have to do with the historical park. We stayed for two days and definitely could’ve stayed longer.
Oh my goodness, Mike and Kellye, what a fascinating post! One of your best. Thanks for bringing to life this difficult piece of American history. I can’t believe the school was just taken over, like that. And “Bathtub Row”!! So cool.
Thanks so much, Neal! It was a fascinating historical park, and we learned so much on our visit.
Enlightening and entertaining as always. I assume the residents of Bathtub Row would rather have been remembered for some other aspect of their privilege!
Thank you, Geoff! I think many of the residents of Bathtub Row are mostly remembered for their Nobel Prizes.
A great tour of this history for sure Kellye. An amazing project from which the world may never be the same. I was fortunate enough to visit Hiroshima and Ground Zero and see the total destruction this project brought on the citizens of this Japanese city (selected because it had no historically significant buildings like Kyoto). Too bad devastation is always directed on the innocent populations of the world. If we could only target armies and governments instead, the world might be a better place. Hope you had a great weekend. Allan
Thank you, Allan. I agree with you. I just hope that the world never has to experience a nuclear weapon again.
Very interesting but I guess the place can glow in the dark
Thanks, Gary. We didn’t see any glowing, but there might be some around the test site which is 220 miles south of Los Alamos.
Fascinating and engaging history, though harrowing as well. Having visited Auschwitz, the Killing Fields of Cambodia and the war museums of Vietnam (amongst others), the stories of the devastation of people where genocide is treated as a stepping stone, is never anything but horrific. But it’s history which we should all know and learn.
Horrific is almost too mild, but I agree that we should learn about these events because we don’t want them to happen again! I hope there is never another occasion where nuclear weapons are used. Thanks for reading the post and for your comment. Hopefully, I will get caught up on all the posts I’ve missed over the last couple of weeks.
Another great trip in history and place! Well presented and highly informative! 🌹🌻☀️
Thank you so much, Fred!
This is all so fascinating! I haven’t seen Oppenheimer yet, it’s surprisingly hard to get movie tickets in NYC without planning weeks ahead. I would be so nervous to be transporting the plutonium and uranium. Seems like a very dangerous job!
Thank you, Lyssy! Honestly, I would’ve been happy to see the Barbie movie, but Oppenheimer was excellent. The people who did the transporting were amazingly brave.
Very interesting post! I believe I read another blogger’s post awhile back about visiting the site in Oak Ridge, TN. This history is tough to think about but so important that we do. I hope to visit these sites one day, and I will look for the movie, “Oppenheimer.” Thank you for an excellent post.
Thank you, Betty! We enjoyed the historical park, the city, and the movie.
A fabulous trip. Thanks for sharing! 🙋♂️
Thank you, Ashley!
Thanks for sharing your info about this interesting place. It is very timely due to the movie Oppenheimer, which we have not seen yet.
Thank you, Meg. We enjoyed the movie. I hope you get to see it soon.
How topical and interesting. So is this where you disappeared to. A place that changed history. I hope we have no need of it again.
We hope there is no need for it too. We actually disappeared to California and Oregon.
I need to keep a map of America at hand. 🙂
I really wanted to go here when I was in New Mexico but just didn’t have the time. It looks so interesting, though! Such an important part of history.
A fascinating site to explore and learn more about, the place where the world forever changed. Sladja tells me that her visit to Hiroshima Memorial Park is one of the hardest things she’s ever done while travelling. It’s hard to believe that they transported uranium and plutonium around unprotected and hand-carrying the stuff. Great tour, Kellye, so informative and interesting.
Ooo this was fascinating, especially as I’ve just watched Oppenheimer. This place really did change so much and is so historic. I would love to visit one day.
Wow! I learned so much reading this! That is really something, with those ‘traveling salesmen’. Great photographs!!!
This is so interesting Kellye as my son has visited several times in connection with his work. He stays in Santa Fe when he is based there and drives in each day.
This was so informative Kellye and like other comments, especially after watching the movie Oppenheimer. Thank you for sharing this fascinating post!
Thank you, Diane.
The walking tour sounds like a great way to see some of the historical sites and learn more about the history of Los Alamos and about the Manhattan Project. The little bits of trivia were also super interesting. Thanks for sharing. Linda
Thank you, Linda!
This looks like a fascinating place to visit! We saw Oppenheimer so I could picture some of the activity as I read your descriptions and saw the old photos. Do the exhibits delve into the rights and wrongs of the bomb or are they mainly focused on the science?
The exhibits do not delve into the rights and wrongs of the bombs, just mainly the scientific aspects of how they were built and how the physicists and others came together to build them. Oppenheimer sure did delve though. I agonized right along with him through the movie. Can you imagine having that weighing on you?
Great story and history lesson. Also a very interesting part of history when a country can come together for a single purpose. Right or wrong, it’s done now. Certainly glad it wasn’t one of the “Axis of Evil” countries that won that race.
Thank you, Brad. It could’ve easily been one of those axis countries – thank goodness we had the kind of leadership we had back then.
I think it is so interesting to have a historic park span over multiple states. Really interesting read on this part of the atomic bomb story! While the end result is a mixed bag of feeling, the history and science behind is fascinating:)
Thanks so much, Meg! I hope you and yours are doing well.
Thank you, all is well here 🙂 I hope you and yours and doing well too!!!
Looks like an amazing place to visit and see some of these historic sites. Thanks Anita
Los Alamos must be a very interesting place to visit. It’s also perfect timing on your side to visit Los Alamos with the movie Oppenheimer out now, right? It’s hard to imagine how everything was done in such great secrecy when you look at how big the whole setup was.
Fascinating history. Thanks for all the photos.
Mike and Kellye, thanks so much for this tour of Los Alamos. We drove through there during our travels in New Mexico but didn’t stop to take a tour. We recently saw the movie “Oppenheimer” – I highly recommend it. I really enjoyed seeing the actual location after seeing the movie.
Thanks for sharing
Thank you for stopping by the post!
My pleasure.
Another excellent walk through of somewhere we haven’t had the pleasure of visiting yet. Read about it a lot (brother is a nuclear physicist) so needless to say we are quite aware of what went on there, but never physically made it down there yet.
I hope you get to go one day. It’s super interesting. Thanks so much for reading our post and for your nice comment!
A very fascinating article on Los Alamos, the purchase of the Los Alamos Ranch School and how it ended up being the top secret location for the development of nuclear weapons.
Thank you, Carl for your nice comments!
Never been but sure would like to go!
I hope you get to go one day, AJ. Thanks for stopping by the post!
I have yet to see the movie. I have seen a movie about Project Manhatten but don’t remember the name. It did reveal how many people then worked just like you mentioned.
Thank you so much for reading our post! It was an interesting park to visit – so much to learn there.