Manhattan Project National Park

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park is taking shape at Hanford and two other locations where the country during World War II crossed the threshhold into the Atomic Age.

Section:Gallery

Sun., Jan. 31, 2016

Hanford High School, abandoned in 1943 when the government took over more than 600 square miles of Eastern Washington for the Manhattan Project, stands as a shell at the town site of Hanford, shown Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
At the visitors' center of the Manhattan Project Historical Park, docent Nancy Bowers points to some displays about the history of the Hanford nuclear sites in 1943 where the government produced the nuclear material for atomic weapons.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
The Hanford B Reactor, which produced the plutonium destined for the bomb which destroyed Nagasaki, Japan, still stands though hundreds of other buildings at the site are now gone. The building is the main feature of the Washington State site of the Manhattan Project Historical Park, though a tour has been added to talk about the pre-Manhattan history. Los Alamos, New Mexico and Oak Ridge, Tennessee are part of the park.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
At the former Hanford Nuclear Reservation, visitors can walk around the last of the farm buildings left in the area, which was taken by the U.S. government in 1943 to build a reactor to produce nuclear material.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
At the former Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the remains of an irrigation system made of clay tile tells the story of the ingenuity of the early settlers of the area taken by the U.S. government in 1943 to build a reactor to produce nuclear material.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
At the former Hanford Nuclear Reservation, guides and visitors walk around the remnants of the irrigation system made of clay tile while on a tour telling the story of the early settlers of the area, which was taken by the U.S. government in 1943 to build a reactor to produce nuclear material for atomic weapons.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Colleen French, right, talks about the Manhattan Project Historical Park while standing inside the B Reactor with facility manager Kevin Haggerty, left, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. The former nuclear reservation that produced weapons-grade nuclear material is now open for tours of the B reactor and tours of the surrounding area and pre-Manhattan history.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
At the Manhattan Project Historical Park facility manager Kevin Haggerty explains how the B Reactor operated Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016. The former nuclear reservation that produced weapons-grade nuclear material is now open for tours of the B reactor and tours of the surrounding area and pre-Manhattan history.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
At the former Hanford Nuclear Reservation, docent Nancy Bowers opens a locked gate to allow a group of visitors to pass onto the restricted area of Hanford while on a tour telling the story of the early settlers of the area, which was taken by the U.S. government in 1943 to build a reactor to produce nuclear material for atomic weapons.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Hanford High School, abandoned in 1943 when the government took over more than 600 square miles of Eastern Washington for the Manhattan Project, stands as a shell at the town site of Hanford, shown Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review