A New Park for the New Century: The Making of the Manhattan Project Historical Park

The Manhattan Project conjures the pictures of nuclear bombs, mushroom clouds and the end of World War II. Now it is the focus of one of the nation’s newest national parks.

Los Alamos is one of three locations where work was completed on the nation’s first nuclear weapons as
part of the Manhattan Project. Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington are also part of that national park, which was created last November when the U.S. Departments of Interior and Energy signed an agreement.

Ellen McGehee, archaeologist and historian at Los Alamos National Laboratory, will explore what it took to put it all together.

McGehee, who received her doctorate in history from the University of New Mexico last year, worked on the award-winning restoration of the V-Site, among the the last significant structures still standing at Los Alamos associated with the development and assembly of the world's first nuclear devices. Her work and documentation led to the establishment of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.