Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge, city, Anderson and Roane counties, central Tennessee, on Black Oak Ridge (hence its name), near Knoxville; incorporated 1959. It became prominent as a leading center for research and production in the fields of nuclear energy and environmental management. Major facilities include Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Y-12 National Security Complex, and Oak Ridge K-25 Plant. In the city are Oak Ridge Associated Universities (1946), a research and educational center run jointly by some 40 universities and colleges; the American Museum of Science and Energy; and a large arboretum. The community, originally called Clinton Engineer Works, was founded in 1942 by the U.S. government as part of the secret Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb. Its population reached a peak of more than 75,000 by the end of World War II. During 1955-1959 ownership of the community of Oak Ridge passed to its residents. Population 27,662 (1980); 27,310 (1990); 27,387 (2000); 27,638 (2006).