Oak Ridge, Tennessee is not like most suburbs. The town was thought up and built by the United States government in the early 1940s as a base for uranium and plutonium work, as part of the Manhattan Projects, writes Atlas Obscura. But as the nuclear effort continued along, the town grew too and by 1945, a dense suburb had taken shape. About 75,000 people lived there and by the end of the war, Oak Ridge was the fifth-largest city in the state. But when it was created, no one was even supposed to know about it.
In 1942, the government approached families that lived in the location, about 20 miles from Knoxville, and essentially evicted them. Despite a few lawsuits, the plan worked out. They started to build laboratories and plants, and people kept coming. The town did not appear on any official maps and visitors were screened by guards before entering. Billboards were installed around town to remind people to stay quiet about their work — though most workers didn’t know about the project’s true scope. It wasn’t until 1949 that the streets of Oak Ridge were open to the public. Even today, the Department of Energy remains the main employer.
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