Oppenheimer’s secret city, explained

In 1943, P.O. Box 1663 was listed as a Santa Fe, New Mexico address, and over the next few years, about 300 babies had it listed as their place of birth on their birth certificate. The real location was a secret, and everything sent to that P.O. box ended up at a site also known as P.O. Box 180, Project Y, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

A secret city had been built there, and it was home to a community of scientists who created the first nuclear bomb. They lived a couple hundred miles from the site where their invention would be tested.

Albert Einstein sent a letter on August 2nd, 1939, warning of a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium which could lead to extremely powerful bombs of a new type. After a couple of years of study and the American entry into World War II, in June 1942, the Army Chief of Staff established a temporary headquarters at 270 Broadway in New York City. The Manhattan Project had begun, and it was called a new "Manhattan District" for the Army Corps of Engineers. Less prominent secret locations included a nuclear reactor under a University of Chicago football field, the Alabama Ordnance Works for producing heavy water, and many others.

In 1942 and 1943, three major sites were established: Oak Ridge, Tennessee, sometimes called Y-12, a large plant for the enrichment of uranium and production of some plutonium, and two other major locations in 1943. The Hanford Engineer Works in Washington state was responsible for much of the production of plutonium. The third site, Los Alamos, was necessary because the army needed a place to create the bomb.

Oppenheimer, based in Berkeley, believed that a central lab was key. Both Oak Ridge and Chicago were investigated as potential lab locations, but neither was far enough away. It wasn't only a remote option near LA. One near Reno might get severe snowfall. The project was overseen by Army Corps of Engineers General Leslie Groves Jr. Groves and Oppenheimer concurred that since Oppenheimer had spent time there, New Mexico offered both familiarity and the assurance of isolation. On the Pajarito Plateau was the ideal location. It was remote, yet its elevation and surroundings provided protection. Jemez Springs, the initial option, proved to be too challenging. The terrain was too rough, and the land was too difficult to obtain. However, Los Alamos, which is close by, was situated on a table land between mesas, making it simple to regulate access and prevent mishaps. A large portion of it was also on already federally owned territory. The sole building still standing was a tiny school that had started operations in 1935. The owners marketed. The remaining federally owned properties must be acquired for military purposes, the secretary of war explained in a letter to the secretary of agriculture. The request for a demolition range covering 54,000 acres was approved. The activation of Los Alamos occurred on April 1st, 1943. P.O. Box 1663 changed from being a rustic ranch school with structures similar to these to a community conducting the most cutting-edge research in the entire world. Roads were built fast, but the village remained cut off.

The population of Los Alamos increased rapidly from 1500 to 5700 by 1945, with hutments and apartment buildings becoming common forms of accommodation. The city housed the world's finest researchers, including Enrico Fermi and Edward Teller, who later became the father of the hydrogen bomb. The medical corps colonel noted that the intellectual group created challenges for military operations, as the large percentage of intellectuals required more medical care than the average person. Additionally, one-fifth of married women became pregnant in Los Alamos, making maternity wards a necessity. The past and atomic future intersected, with ice being cut from nearby ponds and stored in ice houses.

The Bendix washer revolutionized laundry, and by 1943, a classified ad in the Santa Fe New Mexican was looking for one to be shipped to P.O. Box 1663 for wartime work.

The Los Alamos band had a real purpose: building a bomb, and they needed a place to test the bomb they built. The base camp at Trinity site was established for testing the first atomic bomb. The desert training center north of Rice, California, was runner up but wasn't isolated enough or close enough to Los Alamos. The winning site was selected with flat terrain, good weather, and proximity to highways like US-85 and 380. More than 200 residents settled at the camp, and in May 1945, a 100 ton explosives test was conducted. The Gadget nuclear device was prepared and tested on July 16th, marking the first attempt of this new cosmic force on the New Mexico desert.

Before the August bombing of Japan, the Los Alamos Lament was composed following that test. I'm nothing more than a P.O. box. "I don't really have an address," "Although we were chosen," "I wish for the best," "We're not the same as other people," Nobody is aware of our activities. P.O. Box 1663, then. "To you," is said.