Los Alamos Places

Black and white photo of a building with a sign that reads "Los Alamos Project Main Gate".

Left image
Los Alamos Project Main Gate during the Manhattan Project.
Credit: LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY

Right image
A replica of the historic security gate in Los Alamos today.
Credit: NPS

History & Culture

In Los Alamos, New Mexico, Manhattan Project administrators found an ideal location for the secret laboratory where they designed and built the world’s first atomic weapons. During the Manhattan Project, Los Alamos became the home to many of the top scientific minds of the day: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Norris Bradbury, Richard Feynman, Hans Bethe, and many more luminaries. These scientists, along with engineers and military officials, worked together to design, develop, and assemble atomic weapons, using enriched uranium from Oak Ridge and plutonium from Hanford. On August 6 and 9, 1945, the US detonated these two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Explore Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project through six themes that weave the different places within and around Los Alamos together.