Oak Ridge, Tennessee

File:Oak-ridge-george-jones-tn1.jpg, built by the residents of Wheat in 1901]]

The earliest substantial occupation of the Oak Ridge area occurred during the Woodland period ({{Circa|1000 BC}} – 1000), although artifacts dating to the Paleo-Indian period have been found throughout the Clinch River valley.Beverly Burbage, "Paleo-Indian Points and Uniface Material from the Clinch River Valley." Tennessee Archaeologist 28, no. 1 (Spring of 1962), 47–50. Two Woodland mound sites—the Crawford Farm Mounds and the Freels Farm Mounds—were uncovered in the 1930s as part of the Norris Basin salvage excavations. Both sites were just southeast of the former Scarboro community.William Webb, An Archaeological Survey of the Norris Basin in Eastern Tennessee (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1938), 180–189. The Bull Bluff site, which was occupied during the Woodland and Mississippian (c. 1000–1600) periods, was uncovered in the 1960s in anticipation of the construction of Melton Hill Dam.Glyn DuVall, "A Phase I Archaeological Survey of Proposed Potable Water Storage and Force Main Facilities, Y-12 National Security Complex Site, Anderson County, Tennessee" (August 2005), p. 4. Retrieved April 3, 2008. Bull Bluff is a cliff immediately southeast of Haw Ridge, opposite Melton Hill Park.

The Oak Ridge area was largely uninhabited when Euro-American explorers and settlers arrived in the late 18th century, although the Cherokee claimed the land as part of their hunting grounds. The European-American settlers who founded these communities arrived in the late 1790s after the American Revolutionary War and after the Cherokee signed the Treaty of Holston, ceding what is now Anderson County to the United States.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

During the early 19th century, several rural farming communities developed in the Oak Ridge area, namely Edgemoor and Elza in the northeast, East Fork and Wheat in the southwest, Robertsville in the west, and Bethel and Scarboro in the southeast.

A popular legend holds that [https://www.y12.doe.gov/library/video/our-hidden-past-prophet-oak-ridge John Hendrix] (1865-1915), a largely unknown local man, predicted the creation of the city of Oak Ridge around 40 years before construction on the project began. Hendrix lacked any formal education and was a simple logger for much of his life. Following the death of his youngest daughter, Ethel, to diphtheria, and the subsequent departure of his wife and three remaining children, Hendrix began hearing voices in his head. These voices urged him to stay in the woods and pray for guidance for 40 days and 40 nights, which Hendrix proceeded to do. As the story is told, following these 40 days spent in rugged isolation, Hendrix began seeing visions of the future, and he sought to spread his prophetic message to any who would listen.{{Cite book |last=Freeman |first=Lindsey A. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5149/northcarolina/9781469622378.001.0001 |title=Longing for the Bomb |date=April 13, 2015 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |doi=10.5149/northcarolina/9781469622378.001.0001 |isbn=978-1-4696-2237-8}} According to published accounts, one vision that he described repeatedly was a description of the city and production facilities built 28 years after his death, during World War II.

The version recalled by neighbors and relatives reported:

{{blockquote|1=In the woods, as I lay on the ground and looked up into the sky, there came to me a voice as loud and as sharp as thunder. The voice told me to sleep with my head on the ground for 40 nights and I would be shown visions of what the future holds for this land.... And I tell you, Bear Creek Valley someday will be filled with great buildings and factories, and they will help toward winning the greatest war that ever will be. And there will be a city on Black Oak Ridge and the center of authority will be on a spot middle-way between Sevier Tadlock's farm and Joe Pyatt's Place. A railroad spur will branch off the main L&N line, run down toward Robertsville and then branch off and turn toward Scarborough. Big engines will dig big ditches, and thousands of people will be running to and fro. They will be building things, and there will be great noise and confusion and the earth will shake. I've seen it. It's coming.See ORNL, [http://www.ornl.gov/info/swords/swords.shtml Swords to Plowshares: A Short History of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1943–1993)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201205140/http://www.ornl.gov/info/swords/swords.shtml |date=2012-12-01 }}; David Ray Smith, [http://smithdray.tripod.com/or/johnhendrix.htm John Hendrix and the Y-12 National Security Complex] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060430224227/http://smithdray.tripod.com/or/johnhendrix.htm |date=April 30, 2006 }}; and D. Ray Smith, [http://www.oakridger.com/stories/031506/com_20060315023.shtml John Hendrix – Oak Ridge Prophet] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025005049/http://www.oakridger.com/stories/031506/com_20060315023.shtml |date=October 25, 2007 }}, The Oak Ridger, March 15, 2006. The first written record of the vision is reported to have been in [https://archive.org/details/oakridgestorysag00robirich The Oak Ridge Story], by George O. Robinson, 1950.}}Hendrix, in light of his tales of prophetic visions, was considered insane by most and at one point was institutionalized. His grave lies in an area of Oak Ridge now known as the Hendrix Creek Subdivision. There are ongoing concerns over the preservation of his gravestone, as the man who owns the lot adjacent to the grave wishes to build a home there, while members of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association are fighting to have a monument placed on the site of his grave.

File:Oak-ridge-bethel-valley-road-tn1.jpg]]

In 1942, the United States federal government chose the area as a site for developing materials for the Manhattan Project. Major General Leslie Groves, military head of the Manhattan Project, liked the area for several reasons. Its relatively low population made acquisition affordable, yet the area was accessible by highway and rail, and utilities such as water and electricity were readily available with the recent completion of Norris Dam. The project location was established within a {{convert|17|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} valley. This feature was linear and partitioned by several ridges, providing natural protection against the spread of disasters at the four major industrial plants—so the plants would not blow up "like firecrackers on a string".Johnson and Jackson, City Behind a Fence, 6–8.

In October 1942, the United States Army Corps of Engineers began acquiring approximately {{Convert|59,000|acre|ha}}{{Cite web |title=Oak Ridge Site Acquisition |url=https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Places/OakRidge/oak-ridge-acquisition.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217160214/https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Places/OakRidge/oak-ridge-acquisition.html |archive-date=17 December 2024 |access-date=7 February 2025 |website=U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information}} in the Oak Ridge area for the United States' Manhattan Project. Due to the urgency and secrecy of the Manhattan Project, the Corps' "declaration of taking" was swift and final. Many residents came home to find eviction notices tacked to their doors. Others found out when their children came home from school with a message from the principal: Senator McKellar wants me to tell you to go home and tell your parents you are going to have to find another place to live." There was no further explanation as to why. All the students were told was this: "The government is going to take your property for the war effort."{{cite web | url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/oak-ridge-national-laboratory | title=Inside Oak Ridge, the Secret Government Town Built to Help Construct the First Atomic Bomb | date=July 24, 2019 }} There were several families who had moved to the Oak Ridge area after the displacements by the Tennessee Valley Authority who were displaced again by the Manhattan Project campaign. The average price per acre paid was $46.86.

File:Y-12 Shift Change.jpg at shift changing time, 1945]]

By March 1943 the Corps had removed the area's earlier communities and established fences and checkpoints. Anderson County lost one-seventh of its land and $391,000 in annual property tax revenue. The manner by which the Oak Ridge area was acquired by the government created a tense, uneasy relationship between the Oak Ridge complex and the surrounding towns.Johnson and Jackson, City Behind a Fence, pp. 41–47. Although the area's original residents were allowed to be buried in existing cemeteries, every coffin was reportedly opened for inspection. The Corps' Manhattan Engineer District (MED) managed the acquisition and clearing for what was to be first known as the Clinton Engineer Works. The Y-12, K-25, and S-50, plants were each built in Oak Ridge to separate the fissile isotope uranium-235 from natural uranium, which consists almost entirely of the isotope uranium-238. The X-10 site, now the site of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was established as a pilot plant for production of plutonium using the Graphite Reactor, used to develop full-scale plutonium production at the Hanford Site.

During construction of the electromagnets required for the uranium separation process at the Y-12 site, a shortage of copper forced the MED to borrow 14,700 tons of silver bullion from the United States Treasury as a copper substitute in wire for the electromagnet coils.{{cite web|title=14,700 tons of silver at Y-12|url=https://www.y12.doe.gov/sites/default/files/history/pdf/articles/07-10-11.pdf|access-date=January 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027161629/https://www.y12.doe.gov/sites/default/files/history/pdf/articles/07-10-11.pdf|archive-date=October 27, 2014|url-status=dead}}

When the Tennessee Governor Prentice Cooper was officially handed the July 1943 presidential proclamation by a junior officer (a lieutenant)—making Oak Ridge a military district not subject to state control—he tore it up and refused to see the Manhattan Project engineer, Lieutenant Colonel James C. Marshall. The new district engineer, Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Nichols, had to placate him.* {{cite book |last=Groves |first=Leslie |author-link=Leslie Groves |url=https://archive.org/details/nowitcanbetolds00grov |title=Now it can be told: The Story of the Manhattan Project |publisher=Harper & Brothers |year=1962 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nowitcanbetolds00grov/page/26 26], 27 |url-access=registration}}{{sfn|Nichols|1987|pp=99–100}} Cooper came to see the project (except for the production facilities under construction) on November 3, 1943; and he appreciated the bourbon-laced punch served (although Anderson County was "dry").{{sfn|Nichols|1987|pp=117-9}}

House and dormitory accommodations to support construction workers contracted to build the Clinton Engineer Works (CEW) in Oak Ridge were basic, consisting of trailers, barracks, and many "hutments" — pre-fabricated five-person huts heated by a central coal-powered furnace. Construction camps were segregated between black workers and white workers. Two of the largest camps were known as Gamble Valley, with up to 4,000 trailer spaces, and Happy Valley which grew from a population of about 5,000 to about 15,000. In addition to trailers and hutments, the camp towns included various recreational buildings (e.g. theaters, bowling alleys), cafeterias, and commissaries.{{Cite web |title=Manhattan Project: Places > Oak Ridge > CONSTRUCTION CAMPS |url=https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Places/OakRidge/oak-ridge-camps.html |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=www.osti.gov}} Medical care was provided by Army doctors and hospitals, with civilians paying $2.50 per month ($5 for families) to the medical insurance fund.{{sfn|Nichols|1987|pp=121-4}}

The location and low population helped keep the town a secret, though the settlement grew from 3,000 to 3,750 in 1942 to about 75,000 by 1945.{{cite web |title=National Archives at Atlanta |url=https://www.archives.gov/atlanta/exhibits/item126.html |website=archives.gov}} Because of the large number of workers recruited to the area for the Manhattan Project, the Army planned a town for project workers at the eastern end of the valley. The time required for the project's completion caused the Army to opt for a relatively permanent establishment rather than an enormous camp. The name "Oak Ridge" was chosen for the settlement in 1943 from suggestions submitted by project employees. The name evoked the settlement's location along Black Oak Ridge, and officials thought the rural-sounding name "held outside curiosity to a minimum".For Your Information: A Guide to Oak Ridge (United States Engineering Department – Community Relations Section, September 1946), p. 3. The name was formally adopted in 1949.

The architectural and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was contracted to provide the layout for the town and house designs.Johnson and Jackson, City Behind a Fence, 14. John O. Merrill moved to Tennessee to take charge of designing the secret buildings at Oak Ridge.Westcott, Ed. (2005). Westcott, Ed. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=1xHhqLqFHcgC& Oak Ridge], Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-7385-4170-9}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62511041 OCLC 62511041], page 61 He directed the creation of a town,Lehman College Art Gallery, [http://www.lehman.edu/vpadvance/artgallery/arch/bio/som.html Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), Merrill bio notes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115190524/https://www.lehman.edu/vpadvance/artgallery/arch/bio/som.html |date=November 15, 2022 }} which soon had {{convert|300|mi}} of roads, {{convert|55|mi}} of railroad track, ten schools, seven theaters, 17 restaurants and cafeterias, and 13 supermarkets. A library with 9,400 books, a symphony orchestra, sporting facilities, church services for 17 denominations, and a Fuller Brush Company salesman served the new city and its 75,000 residents.{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hkgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA94 | title=Mystery Town Cradled Bomb: 75,000 in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Worked Hard and Wondered Long about Their Secret Job | magazine=Life | date=August 20, 1945 | access-date=November 25, 2011 | pages=94}} No airport was built, for security reasons. Prefabricated modular homes, apartments, and dormitories, many made from cemesto (bonded cement and asbestos) panels, were quickly erected. Streets were laid out in the manner of a "planned community".

The original streets included several main east-to-west roads, namely the Oak Ridge Turnpike, Tennessee Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Hillside Road, Robertsville Road, and Outer Drive. North-to-south oriented streets connecting these main roads were designated "avenues", and streets branching off from the avenues were designated "roads", "places", "lanes", or "circles". "Roads" connected two streets, while "lanes" and "places" were dead ends.For Your Information: A Guide to Oak Ridge (United States Engineering Department – Community Relations Section, September 1946), p. 18. The names of the main avenues generally progressed alphabetically from east to west (e.g., Alabama Avenue in the east, Vermont Avenue in the west), and the names of the smaller streets began with the same letter as the main avenue from which they started (e.g., streets connected to Florida Avenue began with "F").

The dramatic population increase, and the secret nature of the project, meant chronic shortages of housing and supplies during the war years. The town was administered by Turner Construction Company through a subsidiary named the Roane-Anderson Company.{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA2 | title=Oak Ridge | magazine=Life | date=September 9, 1946 | access-date=December 17, 2014 | author=Wickware, Francis Sill | pages=2}} For most residents, however, their "landlord" was known as "MSI" (Management Services, Inc.). All workers wore badges. The town was surrounded by guard towers and a fence with seven gates.

Oak Ridge was developed by the federal government as a segregated community, required by the Southern bloc of Democrats in Congress to authorize funding for the project. Due to generally holding lower-ranked jobs, their assigned dwellings were predominantly government-built "hutments" (one-room shacks) located very close to the Y-12 plant, in the one residential area designated as colored. Nichols, the MED District Engineer, was told by the main construction contractor for the K-25 plant that the black construction labor force had a large turnover rate, so Nichols gave permission to set up a separate black women's camp. When Groves visited the plant with K. T. Keller of Chrysler, Keller saw twelve Black women sweeping the 30-foot wide alley between the production units, and said "Nichols, don't you know there is a machine made to sweep a concrete floor like this?" Nichols replied "Sure I do, but these gals can do more than one of those machines". The men now had an opportunity to "fracas" on Saturday night, and labor turnover had reduced.{{cite book |last= Nichols |first= Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Nichols|title= The Road to Trinity: A Personal Account of How America's Nuclear Policies Were Made |year= 1987 |publisher= William Morrow |location= New York |isbn= 068806910X |pages= 287–8 |url=https://archive.org/details/roadtotrinity0000nich }}

During the war, plans were made for a colored neighborhood of houses equal in quality to those provided for whites, but it was not implemented because of limited resources. After the war, all hutments were dismantled, and a colored neighborhood of permanent houses was developed in the Gamble Valley area of Oak Ridge, which during wartime had been occupied by a white trailer community.

Oak Ridge elementary education prior to 1954 was segregated; it was legally part of the Anderson County system though built and operated primarily with federal funds.{{sfn|Nichols|1987|p=121}} Black children could attend only the Scarboro Elementary School. Oak Ridge High School was closed to black students, who had to be bused to Knoxville for an education. Starting in 1950, Scarboro High School was established at Scarboro Elementary School to offer classes for African-American students.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} In 1955, 85 young Black students from the Scarboro community were the first to enter all-white classes in Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High School (now Robertsville Middle School).{{cite web | url=https://www.wbir.com/article/news/history/the-secret-in-scarboro-the-oak-ridge-85/51-2a202693-2ac8-4318-b162-10ef5e43972c | title=The Secret in Scarboro: The Oak Ridge 85 | date=November 19, 2020 }} In 2023, on the 68th anniversary, a Scarboro 85 Monument was erected in Oak Ridge.{{cite web | url=https://www.oakridger.com/story/news/local/2023/03/02/scarboro-85-monument-in-oak-ridge-honors-students-for-integration/69937331007/ | title=Scarboro 85 Monument in Oak Ridge to honor students for their place in history }}

Robertsville Junior High School, serving the west half of Oak Ridge, was desegregated at the same time as the high school. Elementary schools in other parts of the city and Jefferson Junior High School, serving the east half of the city, were desegregated slowly as African-American families moved into housing outside of Gamble Valley. In 1967 Scarboro Elementary School was closed, and African-American students from Gamble Valley were bused to other schools around the city.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

The nearby high school in Clinton was desegregated in the fall of 1956. On October 5, 1958, the school was severely damaged after a series of dynamite explosions. An estimated 75 to 100 sticks of dynamite had been placed in three locations in the building. No one was injured, however the school was closed while being rebuilt. Oak Ridge provided space at a recently vacated elementary school building (the original Linden Elementary School) for the education of high school students from Clinton for two years while Clinton High School was being rebuilt.

Following the Brown decision, public accommodations in Oak Ridge were gradually integrated, which took several years. In 1955, the spring-fed Oak Ridge Municipal Outdoor Swimming Pool, which had been completed in June 1945, became integrated.Pounds, Benjamin. [https://www.oakridger.com/story/news/2022/06/03/historical-marker-unveiled-oak-ridge-outdoor-pool/9951329002/ “Historical marker unveiled for Oak Ridge outdoor pool”], The Oak Ridger(June 2, 2022). In the early 1960s, Oak Ridge briefly experienced protest picketing against racial segregation in public accommodations, notably outside a local cafeteria and a laundromat.Much of this history is documented in The Oak Ridger, particularly in the Historically Speaking columns by D. Ray Smith.

Two years after World War II ended, Oak Ridge was shifted to civilian control, under the authority of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The Roane Anderson Company administered community functions, including arranging housing and operating buses, under a government contract.{{cite web|url=http://supreme.justia.com/us/342/232/case.html |title=Carson v. Roane-Anderson Co., 342 U.S. 232 (1952) |publisher=Supreme.justia.com |date=December 31, 1946 |access-date=July 26, 2011}} In 1959 the town was incorporated. The community adopted a city manager and City Council form of government rather than direct federal control.

The S-50 liquid thermal diffusion plant was demolished soon after the war. The K-25 building, where uranium was enriched by the gaseous diffusion process until 1985 as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP), was demolished in 2013–15 under Superfund as well as the other nearby production and support facilities in the years after. Much of the land associated with the former ORGDP has been transferred or leased for private and federal industrial reuse or dedicated as a National Historic Park.

Two of the four major plants created for the wartime bomb production remain in use today:

• Y-12, originally used for electromagnetic separation of uranium, is now used for nuclear weapons processing and materials storage and known as the Y-12 National Security Complex. Y-12 is managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration.
• X-10, site of a graphite test reactor, is now Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).The Department of Energy (DOE) runs ORNL, a nuclear and high-tech research establishment.

In 1983, the DOE declassified a report showing that significant amounts of mercury had been released from the Oak Ridge Reservation into the East Fork Poplar Creek between 1950 and 1977. Circa 1989, a federal court ordered the DOE to bring the Oak Ridge Reservation into compliance with federal and state environmental regulations, such as RCRA.[http://www.local-oversight.org/TDEC98.pdf "Status Report to the Public"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409163927/http://www.local-oversight.org/TDEC98.pdf |date=April 9, 2008 }}, The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, December 1998. Retrieved March 20, 2008. In addition, the Oak Ridge Reservation was put on the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List as a Superfund site.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest multipurpose lab in the DOE's National Laboratory system. It is home to the Spallation Neutron Source, a $1.4 billion project completed in 2006, and "Titan", one of the world's most powerful scientific supercomputers, which has peak performance of more than one quadrillion operations per second. In June 2018 IBM and ORNL unveiled Summit, the "world's fastest supercomputer", claimed to be more than twice as powerful as the previous world leader, with a peak performance of 200,000 trillion calculations per second.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

The Y-12 National Security Complex is a component of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. The DOE's Environmental Management office is conducting an extensive program of decontamination and decommissioning, environmental cleanup, and waste management to remove or stabilize the hazardous residues remaining from decades of government production and research activities.

Oak Ridge's scientific heritage is curated in the American Museum of Science and Energy. Its role in the Manhattan Project is preserved in the Manhattan Project National Historical Park (along with sites in Hanford, Washington and Los Alamos, New Mexico), run cooperatively by the National Park Service and the Department of Energy. A bus tour and several virtual tours are available for the public.{{cite web | url=https://www.ornl.gov/content/come-see-us | title=Come see us | ORNL }}

File:Oak-ridge-y12-tn1.jpg

The federal government projects at Oak Ridge are reduced in size and scope, but are still the city's principal economic activity and one of the largest employers in the Knoxville metropolitan area. The DOE — including the Office of Science, the Office of Environmental Management, and NNSA — owns the federal sites and maintains a major office in the city. Several federal prime contractors fulfill different roles on the Oak Ridge Reservation, including Consolidated Nuclear Security, UCOR (an Amentum-led company), and UT–Battelle.

The DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information disseminates government research and development information and operates the science.gov{{cite web|url=http://www.science.gov|title=Science.gov: USA.gov for Science - Government Science Portal|website=science.gov}} website. The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, operated by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, conducts research and education programs for the DOE, Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies. The Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATDD), one of several field divisions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Air Resources Laboratory, is also located in the city. ATDD began under AEC sponsorship in 1948 as a Weather Bureau research office providing meteorological information and expertise for the AEC. Currently its main function is to perform air quality-related research directed toward issues of national and global importance.

The nuclear industry continues to grow in Oak Ridge following the demolition of the K-25 site. To date, more than 1,700 acres of the Oak Ridge Reservation have been transferred to the community that now house other nuclear companies, including Triso-X (nuclear fuel production), Kairos Power (small modular reactor project) and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation. In September 2024, Oak Ridge was selected by Orano USA as the future site of a new multibillion dollar uranium enrichment facility.

Boeing operated a manufacturing plant in the city beginning in the early 1980s which closed in 2007. IPIX, Remotec (now a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman), ZYP Coatings, and several other technology-based companies have been founded in Oak Ridge, including Greg LeMond's carbon fiber-manufacturing business, LeMond Composites. Several radioactive waste processing companies, including EnergySolutions, have operations in Oak Ridge.

The infrastructure that was new in the 1940s is aging. The once-isolated city is now incorporated into the Knoxville metropolitan area. Oak Ridge is now challenged to blend into the suburban orbit of Knoxville as its heritage as a "super secret" government installation subsides. Changing economic forces have led to continuing changes in the commercial sector. For example, the Oak Ridge City Center, a shopping center built in the 1950s and converted to an indoor shopping mall in the 1980s, sat largely empty in the years leading to its eventual partial demolition {{cite web|url=http://oakridgetoday.com/2016/07/26/mall-demolition-begins-2/|title=Mall demolition begins - Oak Ridge Today|date=July 26, 2016}} and redevelopment.{{cite web|url=https://www.wate.com/news/oak-ridge-celebrates-grand-opening-of-new-shopping-center/866251991|title=Oak Ridge celebrates grand opening of new shopping center|date=November 21, 2017}}

In 2003, the city of Oak Ridge extended its borders west beyond the Clinch River boundary for the annexation of the master planned community, the Preserve at Oak Ridge, paving the way for economic growth into the 21st century.{{cite web |title=DECLARATION OF COVENANTS, CONDITIONS, AND RESTRICTIONS FOR RARITY RIDGE |url=https://thepreserveatoakridge.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Governing-Documents-2003-08-22.pdf |access-date=June 12, 2021 |website=The Preserve at Oak Ridge |publisher=City of Oak Ridge}} In January 2020, the city council of Oak Ridge approved the "Wilson Street Corridor" project plan, intended to develop and construct a downtown area in the city situated along Wilson Street. The plan consists of a mixed-use development of retail, residential usage, and restaurants with a primary focus of multi-story residential space.{{Cite news |last=Pounds |first=Ben |date=January 17, 2020 |title='Vision' for Downtown Oak Ridge approved |url=https://www.oakridger.com/news/20200117/vision-for-downtown-oak-ridge-approved |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701142407/https://www.oakridger.com/news/20200117/vision-for-downtown-oak-ridge-approved |archive-date=July 1, 2020 |access-date=June 29, 2020 |work=OakRidger}}{{cite web |last=City of Oak Ridge, Tennessee |date=January 10, 2020 |title=A Development-Oriented Vision for Downtown Oak Ridge |url=http://www.oakridgetn.gov/images/uploads/Documents/Departments/CommDev/Wilson%20Street/Oak%20Ridge%20Downtown%20Brochure_sm.pdf |access-date=June 29, 2020 |website=oakridgetn.gov}}

File:Oak-ridge-summit-tn1.jpg

Immediately northeast of Oak Ridge, the southwestward-flowing Clinch River bends sharply to the southeast for roughly {{convert|6|mi|km|0}} toward Solway, where it turns again to the southwest. After flowing for approximately {{convert|17|mi|km}}, the river bends sharply to the northwest at Copper Ridge, and continues in this direction for nearly {{convert|7|mi|km}}. At the K-25 plant, the Clinch turns southwest again and flows for another {{convert|11|mi|km}} to its mouth along the Tennessee River at Kingston. This series of bends creates a half-rectangle formation—surrounded by water on the northeast, east, and southwest—in which Oak Ridge is situated.

The Oak Ridge area is striated by five ridges that run roughly parallel to one another in a northeast-to-southwest direction. In order from west-to-east, the five ridges are Blackoak Ridge (which connects the Elza and K-25 bends of the Clinch and thus "walls off" the half-rectangle), East Fork Ridge, Pine Ridge, Chestnut Ridge, and Haw Ridge. The five ridges are divided by four valleys: East Fork Valley (between Blackoak Ridge and East Fork Ridge), Gamble Valley (between East Fork Ridge and Pine Ridge), Bear Creek Valley (between Pine Ridge and Chestnut Ridge), and Bethel Valley (between Chestnut and Haw). These ridges and valleys are part of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians physiographic province. The main section of the city is located in the northeast, where East Fork and Pine Ridge give way to low, scattered hills. Many of the city's residences are located along the relatively steep northeastern slope of Blackoak Ridge.

The completion of Melton Hill Dam (along the Clinch near Copper Ridge) in 1963 created Melton Hill Lake, which borders the city on the northeast and east. The lakefront on the east side of the city is a popular recreation area, with bicycling trails and picnic areas lining the shore. The lake is well known as a venue for rowing competitions. Watts Bar Lake, an impoundment of the Tennessee River which covers the lower {{convert|23|mi|km}} of the Clinch, borders Oak Ridge to the south and southwest.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of {{convert|233.0|sqkm|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|220.8|sqkm|order=flip}} is land and {{convert|12.2|sqkm|order=flip}}, or 5.25%, is water.{{cite web |title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Oak Ridge city, Tennessee |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US4755120 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212195629/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US4755120 |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |access-date=January 28, 2013 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder}} The highest point is Melton Hill ({{coord|35.90962|-84.30525}}) on the DOE reservation, at elevation {{convert|1356|ft}}.

Like much of the rest of the state, Oak Ridge has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa in the Köppen climate classification); it is part of USDA hardiness zone 7a.{{cite web |author=United States Department of Agriculture |authorlink=United States Department of Agriculture |title=USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map |url=http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-ne1.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303152208/http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-ne1.html |archivedate=March 3, 2015 |accessdate=March 2, 2015 |publisher=United States National Arboretum}} The normal monthly mean temperature ranges from {{convert|37.9|F|1}} in January to {{convert|77.5|F|1}} in July, while on average there are 4.3 days where the temperature stays at or below freezing and 39 days with a high at or above {{convert|90|F|0}} per year. The all-time record low is {{convert|−17|F|0}}, set on January 21, 1985, while the all-time record high is {{convert|105|F|0}}, set on June 30, 2012, and July 28, 1952. However, temperatures reaching either {{convert|0|F|0}} or {{convert|100|F|0}} are uncommon, having last occurred February 5, 1996 (the date of the all-time record low for February) and July 1, 2012.

Precipitation averages {{convert|59.70|in|mm}} annually and reaches a low during late summer. The rainiest calendar day on record is August 10, 1960, when {{convert|7.45|in|mm}} of rain fell; monthly precipitation has ranged from trace amounts in October 1963 to {{convert|19.27|in|mm}} in July 1967.

{{Weather box

| location = Oak Ridge (Atmospheric Turbulence & Diffusion Division), Tennessee (1991–2020 normals,{{efn|Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.}} extremes 1947–present)

| single line = Y

| Jan record high F = 76

| Feb record high F = 82

| Mar record high F = 86

| Apr record high F = 92

| May record high F = 96

| Jun record high F = 105

| Jul record high F = 105

| Aug record high F = 103

| Sep record high F = 102

| Oct record high F = 98

| Nov record high F = 85

| Dec record high F = 78

| year record high F = 105

| Jan avg record high F = 67.3

| Feb avg record high F = 71.2

| Mar avg record high F = 79.4

| Apr avg record high F = 86.0

| May avg record high F = 89.6

| Jun avg record high F = 93.8

| Jul avg record high F = 96.0

| Aug avg record high F = 94.8

| Sep avg record high F = 92.5

| Oct avg record high F = 84.6

| Nov avg record high F = 75.3

| Dec avg record high F = 67.4

| year avg record high F = 96.8

| Jan high F = 46.6

| Feb high F = 51.4

| Mar high F = 60.7

| Apr high F = 70.4

| May high F = 77.7

| Jun high F = 84.0

| Jul high F = 87.0

| Aug high F = 86.6

| Sep high F = 81.0

| Oct high F = 71.0

| Nov high F = 58.9

| Dec high F = 49.3

| year high F = 68.7

| Jan mean F = 37.9

| Feb mean F = 41.7

| Mar mean F = 49.7

| Apr mean F = 58.6

| May mean F = 66.9

| Jun mean F = 74.1

| Jul mean F = 77.5

| Aug mean F = 76.8

| Sep mean F = 70.8

| Oct mean F = 59.7

| Nov mean F = 48.1

| Dec mean F = 40.9

| year mean F = 58.6

| Jan low F = 29.2

| Feb low F = 32.1

| Mar low F = 38.7

| Apr low F = 46.8

| May low F = 56.1

| Jun low F = 64.1

| Jul low F = 68.1

| Aug low F = 67.0

| Sep low F = 60.6

| Oct low F = 48.4

| Nov low F = 37.3

| Dec low F = 32.4

| year low F = 48.4

| Jan avg record low F = 11.3

| Feb avg record low F = 16.2

| Mar avg record low F = 22.4

| Apr avg record low F = 31.5

| May avg record low F = 41.0

| Jun avg record low F = 53.7

| Jul avg record low F = 60.4

| Aug avg record low F = 59.3

| Sep avg record low F = 47.4

| Oct avg record low F = 33.2

| Nov avg record low F = 23.8

| Dec avg record low F = 17.7

| year avg record low F = 8.7

| Jan record low F = −17

| Feb record low F = −13

| Mar record low F = 1

| Apr record low F = 20

| May record low F = 30

| Jun record low F = 39

| Jul record low F = 49

| Aug record low F = 50

| Sep record low F = 33

| Oct record low F = 21

| Nov record low F = 0

| Dec record low F = −7

| year record low F = -17

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation inch = 5.50

| Feb precipitation inch = 5.93

| Mar precipitation inch = 5.55

| Apr precipitation inch = 5.58

| May precipitation inch = 4.50

| Jun precipitation inch = 4.76

| Jul precipitation inch = 5.90

| Aug precipitation inch = 3.72

| Sep precipitation inch = 4.13

| Oct precipitation inch = 3.29

| Nov precipitation inch = 5.00

| Dec precipitation inch = 5.84

| year precipitation inch = 59.70

| Jan snow inch = 1.8

| Feb snow inch = 1.4

| Mar snow inch = 0.6

| Apr snow inch = 0.0

| May snow inch = 0.0

| Jun snow inch = 0.0

| Jul snow inch = 0.0

| Aug snow inch = 0.0

| Sep snow inch = 0.0

| Oct snow inch = 0.0

| Nov snow inch = 0.0

| Dec snow inch = 0.6

| year snow inch = 4.4

| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in

| Jan precipitation days = 11.9

| Feb precipitation days = 11.7

| Mar precipitation days = 12.3

| Apr precipitation days = 11.0

| May precipitation days = 12.0

| Jun precipitation days = 12.3

| Jul precipitation days = 12.5

| Aug precipitation days = 10.0

| Sep precipitation days = 8.2

| Oct precipitation days = 8.4

| Nov precipitation days = 9.2

| Dec precipitation days = 12.2

| year precipitation days = 131.7

| unit snow days = 0.1 in

| Jan snow days = 1.2

| Feb snow days = 1.1

| Mar snow days = 0.4

| Apr snow days = 0.0

| May snow days = 0.0

| Jun snow days = 0.0

| Jul snow days = 0.0

| Aug snow days = 0.0

| Sep snow days = 0.0

| Oct snow days = 0.0

| Nov snow days = 0.0

| Dec snow days = 0.6

| year snow days = 3.3

| source 1 = NOAA{{cite web

| url = https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=mrx

| title = NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| access-date = May 29, 2021

| archive-date = November 16, 2018

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181116080734/http://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=mrx

| url-status = dead

}}

{{cite web

| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USW00003841&format=pdf

| work = U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020)

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| title = Station: Oak Ridge ATDD, TN

| access-date = May 29, 2021}}

}}

{{US Census population

| 1960 = 27169

| 1970 = 28319

| 1980 = 27662

| 1990 = 27310

| 2000 = 27387

| 2010 = 29330

| 2020 = 31402

| estimate = 33397

| estyear = 2023

| estref =

| footnote = Sources:{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=March 4, 2012|title=Census of Population and Housing: Decennial Censuses}}{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/oakridgecitytennessee/PST045219|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=December 22, 2021|title=U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts: Oak Ridge city, Tennessee}}{{cite web|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=P1_001N,NAME&for=place:*&in=state:47&key=5ccd0821c15d9f4520e2dcc0f8d92b2ec9336108|title=Census Population API|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 15, 2022}}

}}

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 31,402 people, 12,008 households, and 7,641 families residing in the city.

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 29,330 people, 12,772 households, and 7,921 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|344.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 14,494 housing units at an average density of {{convert|161.2|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 86.8% White (81.8% non-Hispanic), 8.1% African American, 0.4% Native American or Alaska Native, 2.5% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.0% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 4.6% of the population.

There were 12,772 households, with 25.2% having children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.2% being married couples living together, 12.9% having a female householder with no husband present, 3.9% having a male householder with no wife present, and 38.0% being non-families. 33.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.86.

The age distribution was 22.0% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 28.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $48,716, and the median income for a family was $69,333. Full-time, year-round male workers had a median income of $54,316 versus $36,140 for females in the same employment situation. The per capita income for the city was $30,430. About 10.7% of families and 16.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.1% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Oak Ridge uses the council-manager government system, which was established in 1959 when the city was incorporated. It is governed by a seven-member city council composed of the mayor and six council members.{{cite web |last1=City of Oak Ridge, Tennessee |title=City Council Members |url=http://www.oakridgetn.gov/departmentpg/CityClerk/City-Council/Meet-City-Council |access-date=June 29, 2020 |website=oakridgetn.gov}}

Oak Ridge is represented in the Tennessee House of Representatives in the 33rd District in Anderson County, and the 32nd district in Roane County, by Representatives John Ragan and Kent Calfee respectively, both of whom are Republican.{{cite web |last1=Tennessee General Assembly |first1=State of Tennessee |title=Representative John Ragan |url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/House/members/h33.html |access-date=June 29, 2020 |website=capitol.tn.gov}}{{cite web |last1=Tennessee General Assembly |first1=State of Tennessee |title=Representative Kent Calfee |url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/House/members/h32.html |access-date=June 29, 2020 |website=capitol.tn.gov}} In the Tennessee Senate, Oak Ridge is represented in the 5th district in Anderson County and the 12th district in Roane County, by Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee and Senator Randy McNally, and Senator Ken Yager respectively, both of whom are Republican.{{cite web |last1=Tennessee General Assembly |first1=State of Tennessee |title=Lt. Governor Randy McNally |url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Senate/members/s5.html |access-date=June 29, 2020 |website=capitol.tn.gov}}{{cite web |last1=Tennessee General Assembly |first1=State of Tennessee |title=Senator Ken Yager |url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Senate/members/s12.html |access-date=June 29, 2020 |website=capitol.tn.gov}} Oak Ridge is represented in the United States House of Representatives by Republican Chuck Fleischmann of the 3rd congressional district.{{cite web |title=Our District |url=https://fleischmann.house.gov/about/our-district |access-date=June 29, 2020 |website=fleischmann.house.gov}}

Unlike the rest of Anderson County, Oak Ridge, along with nearby Norris, has voted Democratic in recent federal elections, with the majority of the city having voted for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in 2020.{{cite news |last1=Park |first1=Alice |last2=Smart |first2=Charlie |last3=Taylor |first3=Rumsey |last4=Watkins |first4=Miles |date=February 2, 2021 |title=An Extremely Detailed Map of the 2020 Election Results: Trump vs. Biden |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html |access-date=8 May 2024 |work=The New York Times}}

File:Oak-ridge-orise-building-tn1.jpg

The city operates a preschool, four elementary schools enrolling kindergarten through grade 4, two middle schools enrolling grades 5 through 8, and one high school enrolling grades 9 through 12. The Oak Ridge school district was ranked number one in the state of Tennessee, and Oak Ridge High School was ranked the number three high school in the state of Tennessee, in the Niche 2017 Best School Districts.{{cite web|url=http://www.local8now.com/content/news/Oak-Ridge-school-district-ranked-number-one-in-state-402299845.html|title=Oak Ridge school district ranked number one in state|last=WVLT}} Independent schools in the city include the Montessori School of Oak Ridge, St. Mary's School, and several preschools. The Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning offers a diverse array of educational opportunities for adults.{{Cite web |url=http://www.discoveret.org/oricl/ |title=Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning website. |access-date=December 8, 2007 |archive-date=January 9, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109010736/http://www.discoveret.org/oricl/ |url-status=live }}

Roane State Community College has its largest branch campus in Oak Ridge. Other higher education organizations present in the community but not offering classes locally include the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and the University of Tennessee Forestry Stations and Arboretum.

Oak Ridge is served by a daily newspaper, The Oak Ridger, and was for many years the home of AM radio station WATO.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Oak Ridge has a rowing venue on the Melton Hill Lake that hosts U.S. Rowing events such as the US Rowing Youth Summer National Championship [https://orra.org/event/us-rowing-youth-summer-nationals/ 2022 USRowing Youth Summer National Championship] Oak Ridge has hosted cycling events for USA Cycling including the USA Cycling Individual Time Trial National Championships.[https://www.oakridgetn.gov/2023-usa-cycling-time-trial-national-championships Race Against the Clock: Oak Ridge Sets the Stage for 2023 USA Cycling Individual Time Trial National Championships]

A Minor League Baseball team called the Oak Ridge Pioneers played at the city's Ridgeview Park for one season in 1954.{{cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-op13422/y-1954|title=1954 Oak Ridge Pioneers Statistics|website=Stats Crew|access-date=May 22, 2020}} The Oak Ridge Bombers played briefly in 1948 before relocating.{{cite web|url=https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/roster/t-ob13423/y-1948|title=1948 Oak Ridge/Hazard Bombers Roster|website=Stats Crew|access-date=May 22, 2020}}

Notable persons who were born or lived in Oak Ridge:

• Arnold Anderson, chemical engineer on Manhattan Project,{{Cite web |url=http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/mc-me/be-ai-sc.pdf |title=AIBE S 2nd Draft |access-date=June 3, 2014 |archive-date=October 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029181830/http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/mc-me/be-ai-sc.pdf |url-status=dead }} consultant for American Indian Policy Review Commission{{cite web |url=http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0142/1103353.pdf |title=Joint Resolution to provide for the establishment of the American Indian Policy Review Commission |date=January 2, 1975 |publisher=93rd United States Congress |via=Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library}} and founder of American Indian Science and Engineering SocietyAmerican Indian Science and Engineering Society
• E. Riley Anderson, Tennessee Supreme Court justice
• Jennifer Azzi, WNBA player, coach, and Olympic gold medalist
• General B.B. Bell, retired general, commander of U.S. Forces Korea and previously of U.S. Army, Europe and NATO's Joint Command
• Manson Benedict, nuclear engineering pioneer
• A. Keith Bissell, member of Tennessee House of Representatives and chairman of Tennessee Public Service CommissionSandra Whitten Plant, [http://www.oakridger.com/localnews/x313656427/ORHS-Class-of-59-makes-its-mark-on-the-world ORHS Class of '59 makes its mark on the world] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928025856/http://www.oakridger.com/localnews/x313656427/ORHS-Class-of-59-makes-its-mark-on-the-world |date=September 28, 2011 }}, The Oak Ridger, May 26, 2009
• Jane Blankenship, spectroscopist{{cite web |title=Jane Blankenship Gibson |url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_290334 |work=Smithsonian Institution Archives |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=July 16, 2013}}
• Mike Caldwell, NFL player and coach
• Nikki Caldwell, women's basketball head coach for LSU{{cite web |url=http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?s=8183081 |title=Nikki Caldwell accepts UCLA head coaching job |publisher=Wate.com |access-date=July 26, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322052225/http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?s=8183081 |archive-date=March 22, 2012 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=28701&SPID=2167&ATCLID=205128989&DB_OEM_ID=5200|title=Nikki Caldwell Bio- LSUsports.net|access-date=September 9, 2011|archive-date=October 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025224341/http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=28701&SPID=2167&ATCLID=205128989&DB_OEM_ID=5200|url-status=dead}}
• Paulo Campos, Filipino physician and educator noted for his promotion of wider community health care and his achievements in the field of nuclear medicine, for which he was dubbed as "The Father of Nuclear Medicine in the Philippines",{{cite web|last=Sabater|first=Madel R.|title=National Scientist Dr. Paulo Campos passes away at 85|work=Manila Bulletin|date=June 5, 2007|url=http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2007/06/05/MAIN2007060595261.html|accessdate=December 29, 2007|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070914101126/http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2007/06/05/MAIN2007060595261.html|archivedate=September 14, 2007|url-status=dead}} became the first president of the National Academy of Science and Technology, and was conferred the rank and title of National Scientist of the Philippines
• Kenneth Lee Carder, United Methodist Church bishop
• Lee Clayton, country-rock singer/songwriter, composer of "Ladies Love Outlaws"[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p16532/biography|pure_url=yes}} Lee Clayton biography], AllMusic
• Waldo Cohn, biochemist known principally for developing techniques for separation of isotopes necessary for the Manhattan Project{{cite web | url = https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/profile/waldo-e-cohn/|publisher=Atomic Heritage Foundation| title = Waldo E. Cohn|year = 2022|access-date= August 5, 2023}}
• Charles Counts, artist, potter, and author
• Trae Crowder, comedian and author
• Sheldon Datz, chemist[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A02EFD91239F935A3575AC0A9679C8B63 Sheldon Datz, 74, Pioneer in Molecular Chemistry, Dies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115190528/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/06/us/sheldon-datz-74-pioneer-in-molecular-chemistry-dies.html |date=November 15, 2022 }}, The New York Times, September 6, 2001
• Dean Dillon, songwriter in the Country Music Hall of Fame.{{cite news|url=https://www.knoxnews.com/story/entertainment/music/2020/08/13/east-tennessee-native-dean-dillon-joins-country-music-hall-fame/3358799001/ |title=East Tennessee native Dean Dillon joins the Country Music Hall of Fame|work=Knoxville News Sentinel|date=August 13, 2020|first=Allie|last=Clouse}}
• Charlie Ergen, co-founder and CEO of EchoStar Communications Corporation, parent company of Dish Network
• Megan Fox, actress{{cite web|url=http://www.theinsider.com/celebrities/Megan_Fox|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080710142914/http://www.theinsider.com/celebrities/Megan_Fox|url-status=dead|title=Megan Fox at The Insider|archive-date=July 10, 2008}}
• Matthew Friedman, film editor
• Jeannine Hall Gailey, author{{cite book |last=Gailey |first=Jeannine Hall |date=2015 |title=The Robot Scientist's Daughter |url=http://webbish6.com/books/robot-scientists-daughter/ |publisher=Mayapple Press | isbn= 978-1936419425 |access-date=March 1, 2015}}
• John H. (Jack) Gibbons, director of Office of Technology Assessment and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Eugene Guth, physicist
• Elaine Hendrix, actress
• Tee Higgins, NFL player
• Alexander Hollaender, one of the world's leading researchers in radiation biology and in genetic mutations and 1983 recipient of the Enrico Fermi Award{{cite web |url=http://www.er.doe.gov/fermi/html/Laureates/1980s/alexanderh.htm |title=The Enrico Fermi Award 1983 |access-date=November 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091222135208/http://www.er.doe.gov/fermi/html/Laureates/1980s/alexanderh.htm |archive-date=December 22, 2009 |url-status=dead }}
• Otis Howard, NBA player[https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/howarot01.html Otis Howard], Basketball-Reference.com
• Alston Scott Householder, mathematician who invented Householder transformation
• Mary Gaulden Jagger, radiation geneticist, professor of radiology, and political activist who authored some 60 scientific publications and helped lead the desegregation movement in Anderson County
• Kathy Johnson, gymnast
• Gene Kimmelman, consumer advocate and attorney{{Cite news|date=September 23, 1991|title=Caroline Moore Chambers Is Wed|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/23/style/caroline-moore-chambers-is-wed.html|access-date=December 13, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}
• Kai-Fu Lee, Google executive
• Doug Martin, football coachMike Blackerby, [http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/Sep/06/martin-faces-alma-mater/ Martin faces alma mater; Ex-Oak Ridge QB takes Kent to Kentucky in upset bid], Knoxville News Sentinel, September 6, 2007Mike Blackerby, [http://www.oakridgesports.com/DougMartin1.html Doug Martin, a coach on the rise] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220013137/http://www.oakridgesports.com/DougMartin1.html |date=February 20, 2012 }}, Oak Ridge Sports website, August 5, 2006
• Thomas Mason, physicist and director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 2007 to 2017
• Matt McMahon, basketball head coach
• Randy McNally, Tennessee Lieutenant Governor
• John O. Merrill, architectWestcott, {{Google books|1xHhqLqFHcgC|p. 61.|page=61}}; see photo
• Edgar Meyer, Grammy Award-winning bassist
• Sarah Monette, author
• Karl Z. Morgan, health physics pioneer
• Clarice Phelps, nuclear chemist
• Ward Plummer, physicist
• William G. Pollard, nuclear physicist, author, and Episcopal priest, first director of Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies (now Oak Ridge Associated Universities)
• Herman Postma, physicist and former director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Ellen Reid, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer{{cite web|url=https://oakridgetoday.com/2019/04/16/ellen-reid-who-grew-up-in-oak-ridge-wins-pulitzer-prize-in-music/|title=Ellen Reid, who grew up in Oak Ridge, wins Pulitzer Prize in music|date=April 16, 2019|website=Oak Ridge Today}}
• Bobby Richards, NFL player{{cite web|url=https://www.oakridger.com/article/20130918/News/130919956|title=Oak Ridge Sports Hall of Fame to induct 4 new members|work=The Oak Ridger|date=September 18, 2013}}
• Mitch Rouse, actor, director, and screenwriter
• Danny Sanders, football player
• Sophia Schubert, golfer{{cite web |url=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2022/11/17/lpga-cme-group-tour-championship-sophia-schubert-arnold-palmer-flying-lessons |title=How would Sophia Schubert spend CME's $2 million payday? She'd steal a move from Arnold Palmer's playbook |first=Beth Ann |last=Nichols |magazine=Golfweek |date=November 17, 2022}}
• Cameron Sexton, Tennessee state representative and Speaker of the State House{{cite web|url=http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/house/members/h25.html|title=Speaker Cameron Sexton|publisher=Tennessee General Assembly|access-date=November 6, 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.oakridger.com/news/20191009/i-have-great-memories-here--tn-house-speaker-cameron-sexton|title='I have great memories here' -TN House Speaker Cameron Sexton|first=Ben|last=Pounds|work=The Oak Ridger|place=Oak Ridge, Tennessee|date=October 9, 2019}}
• William Shepherd, astronaut, commander of Expedition 1, first crew on International Space Station
• Clifford Shull, Nobel Prize-winning physicist
• Louis Slotin, physicist and chemist
• Gore Verbinski, film director of Pirates of the Caribbean series
• Alvin Weinberg, nuclear physicist
• Ed Westcott, only authorized photographer in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project
• Richard White, actor
• Eugene Wigner, Nobel Prize-winning physicist
• Adam Wingard, director
• Herbert York, nuclear physicist

The Oak Ridge Boys draw their name from the group's frequent performances at Oak Ridge National Laboratory during their earliest incarnation under Wally Fowler.

• Alexander Inn (retirement home)
• American Museum of Science and Energy
• Children's Museum of Oak Ridge
• East Tennessee Technology Park
• Manhattan Project National Historical Park, National Park Service and Department of Energy site
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Office of Scientific and Technical Information
• United Church, The Chapel on the Hill
• University of Tennessee Arboretum
• Y-12 National Security Complex

{{SisterCities|Oak Ridge|two}}{{cite web |title=Sister Cities of Oak Ridge|url=http://www.oakridgesistercity.org/|publisher=Oak Ridge, Tennessee Sister City Support Organization|access-date=2024-10-05}}

• {{flagicon|Japan}} Naka, Japan
• {{flagicon|Russia}} Obninsk, Russia

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|2}}

• Charles W. Johnson, Charles O. Jackson, City Behind A Fence: Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1942–1946. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1981
• Lindsey A. Freeman, Longing for the Bomb: Oak Ridge and Atomic Nostalgia. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2015.
• Lindsey A. Freeman, This Atom Bomb in Me. Stanford, CA: Redwood Press, 2019.
• Rusell Olwell, At Work in the Atomic City: A Labor and Social History of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2008.

{{Commons category|Oak Ridge, Tennessee}}

{{wikivoyage|Oak Ridge}}

• {{official website|http://www.oakridgetn.gov}}
• [http://exploreoakridge.com/ Convention and Visitors Bureau]
• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/amse/sets/72157608279431255/ Historic photos of Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project]

{{Anderson County, Tennessee}}

{{Roane County, Tennessee}}

{{Knoxville Metro}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities in Tennessee

Category:Planned communities in the United States

Category:Populated places established in 1942

Category:Cities in Anderson County, Tennessee

Category:Cities in Roane County, Tennessee

Category:Manhattan Project sites

Category:Knoxville metropolitan area

Category:Company towns in Tennessee

Category:1942 establishments in Tennessee

Category:East Tennessee

Category:Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Category:World War II Heritage Cities