C. B. A. - Los Alamos · Los Alamos E E N C R " E 2 J U N I P E R S T R E E T O P P E N H E I M E R S T R E E T 19TH STR T E T A S T R T B A T H T U B R O W D E A C O N 4 S T R E

06/2017

WALK INTO

THE ATOMIC AGE

First inhabited by the ancestors of Northern

New

Mexico’s

pueblos, Los

Alam

os is

located on the Pajarito Plateau of the Jemez

Mountains, form

ed by eruptions of a super volcano m

ore than a million years ago.

Pueblo ancestors and later homesteaders

used the

plateau for

seasonal farm

ing and grazing. In 1917, H

.H. Brook’s Los

Alam

os* Ranch w

as purchased by Ashley

Pond Jr. to start Los Alam

os Ranch School,

a prep school which com

bined academics

and a physical curriculum. D

uring World

War II, the A

rmy C

orps of Engineers took

over the plateau and sealed it for a secret m

ission to end the war: the M

anhattan Project.

A. Sheep graze contentedly at the H

.H.

Brook homestead in 1915 on the site of

today’s History M

useum and Fuller Lodge.

B. A m

id-1940’s view (to the east on C

entral at 20th Street).

C. T

he Big House, built in 1917 as the

dormitory

for the

Los A

lamos

Ranch

School, w

as the

largest building

on the

plateau at

the tim

e, thus

earning the

name.

It w

as torn

down

by the

Atom

ic Energy C

omm

ission in 1948 to m

ake way for the C

omm

unity Center.

* Spanish for cottonwood/poplar/aspen trees.

A

HOMESTEAD

B

CENTRAL AVE.

CTHE BIG HOUSESTATUES OF OPPENHEIM

ER AND GROVES

MESA PUBLIC LIBRARY

HISTORY MUSEUM

MESA PUBLIC LIBRARY O

riginally located in government surplus buildings

and then in a former cafeteria, the library is an

important

institution in

this highly

educated com

munity. T

he 1993 award-w

inning design is by architect A

ntoine Predock.To the west of the library stood C

entral School, 1943–1965. It w

as the most elaborate building

constructed in Los Alam

os during WW

II, in spite of the utilitarian and tem

porary nature of this secret arm

y base. The curriculum

was planned by D

r. W

alter W. C

ook of the University of M

innesota, hired to develop the perfect school for the children of M

anhattan Project personnel.

BRADBURY SCIENCE MUSEUM N

amed for N

orris E. Bradbury, second director of

the Los Alam

os Laboratory, the Science Museum

features film

s and interactive exhibits interpreting Los A

lamos N

ational Laboratory’s contributions to m

odern science, research and technology, including its role in the M

anhattan Project and current mission

in national security. First opened in 1963, it made a

couple of moves w

ithin the Lab complex before being

located at this site in 1993.

SCULPTURES OF OPPENHEIMER AND GROVES

Life-sized sculptures of Dr. J. Robert O

ppenheimer

and Gen. Leslie R

. Groves are located south of Fuller

Lodge. The sculptures were dedicated in 2011.

MANHATTAN PROJECT

NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK T

he Manhattan Project N

ational Historical Park w

as created by congress in 2014. It is distributed am

ong three locations, H

anford, WA

, Oak R

idge, TN

, and Los A

lamos. T

he Los Alam

os visitor center is located in the building just east of A

shley Pond.

HISTORY MUSEUMBuilt as an infirm

ary in 1918 and later used as the guest cottage for Los A

lamos R

anch School, the museum

is in the oldest continually occupied structure in tow

n. During the M

anhattan Project (1943 – 1947), the cottage continued to serve as guest quarters, notably for G

eneral Leslie R. G

roves, comm

ander of the M

anhattan Engineer D

istrict, whose office and

residence were in Washington, D

.C.

Now it serves as an aw

ard-winning, com

prehensive historical

museum

w

hich presents

our world-

changing and varied history. A book and gift shop

greets visitors.

^^^

^^

BRADBURY SCIENCE MUSEUM

WELCOM

E TO LOS ALAMOS!

Experience 800

-year-old Ancestral Pueblo dwellings, early 20th century

architecture, a homesteader’s cabin, and the very spot w

here the first atomic

bomb com

ponents were designed and assembled.

Move at your ow

n pace, enjoy the museum

s, shopping, and restaurants along your w

ay.

Los Alamos

HISTORICAL

WALKING TOUR M

AP

Los Alamos

HISTORICAL

ADDITIONAL ATTRACTIONS

FOR MORE INFORM

ATIONLos A

lamos Visitor C

enter109 C

entral Park Square(505) 662-8105visitlosalam

os.orgM

on – Fri: 9 – 5Sat: 9– 4, Sun: 10 – 3

Bradbury Science M

useum1350 C

entral Avenue(505) 667-4444lanl.gov/m

useumSun – M

on: 1 – 5Tues – Sat: 10 – 5

Manhattan Project

National H

istorical Park475 20th St(505) 661-6277M

on – Sun: 9 – 4

White R

ock Visitor Center

109 Central Park Square

(505) 672-3183visitlosalam

os.org M

on – Sun: 8 – 6

Los Alam

os History M

useum1050 Bathtub Row(505) 662-6272losalam

oshistory.orgM

on – Fri: 9 – 5Sat &

Sun: 10 – 4

Los Alam

os Nature C

enter/PEE

C2600 C

anyon Road(505) 662-0460peecnature.orgM

,W,F,Sat 10 – 4, Tues 10–8,

Th CLOSED

, Sun 1 – 4

^

SCULPTURES OF OPPENHEIMER AND GROVES

Los Alamos

"

JUN

IPER STREETO

PPENH

EIMER STREET

19TH STREET

NEC

TAR STREET

BATHTUB ROW

DEA

CO

N STREET

20TH STREET

CEN

TRAL AVEN

UE

TRINITY D

RIVE

0 Feet200

400

1 2 34

5 6

7

8

9

11

10

1213

14

N

i

MESA

PU

BLIC LIBRARY

SENIO

R CEN

TER

ASH

LEY PON

D

INFO

RMATIO

N

VISITOR CEN

TER

MAN

HATTAN

PROJEC

T N

ATION

AL HISTO

RICAL PARK

TO PEEC

NATU

RE CENTER

TO BRAD

BURY

SCIENCE

MU

SEUM

HAN

S BETHE

HO

USE

FULLER LO

DG

E

HISTO

RY MU

SEUM

ANCESTRAL

PUEBLO

SITE

FULLER LODGE T

his grand building was built in 1928 as the R

anch School dining hall. It also served as nurses, staff, and guest quarters. N

amed for

Edward P. Fuller, a staff m

ember at the R

anch School, it is made

of 771 massive pine logs, personally selected by architect John G

aw M

eem and R

anch School director A.J. C

onnell. Fuller Lodge still serves as a public cultural event center.

MEM

ORIAL ROSE GARDENIn 1947, the rose garden w

as started here by mem

bers of the Los A

lamos G

arden Club. A

t that time there w

as no cemetery, so rose

bushes were planted in mem

ory of those who died in Los A

lamos.

The garden club actively m

aintains the Rose Garden. It also serves

as a popular place for weddings and other ceremonies. A

Blue Star Mem

orial Byw

ay site, and a Los Alam

os National Laboratory m

emorial to those killed

in the line of duty are located here.

ROMERO CABIN

Hom

esteading began on the Pajarito Plateau in the late 1800s. The

Romero fam

ily built this cabin in 1913 on a nearby mesa. Like all

homesteads on the plateau, it w

as acquired by the U.S. governm

ent for the M

anhattan Project. In 1984, the cabin was m

oved downtow

n and rebuilt in 2010. It is open to the public on select days and during guided tours.FIRE CACHE

Local homesteader Severo G

onzales Sr. built this stone building in the 1920s for the Los A

lamos Ranch School to house

firefighting equipment. Fires have alw

ays been a danger on the Pajarito Plateau due to droughts, log construction, and even w

ood burning stoves. Th

e building is made of stone from

the nearby Ancestral

Pueblo Site.

THE BIG HOUSEA

cross the street from the Rom

ero Cabin w

as the site of the original m

ain building for the Los Alam

os Ranch School. T

he Big H

ouse design inspired the style of Fuller Lodge and other Ranch

School structures. Students slept there year-round on screened porches as part of a physically, as well as academ

ically, challenging education. The

Big House contained a library and, during the w

ar years, the non-broadcast radio station, K

RS. In 1943, it also housed som

e of the first scientists who

shared its one bathroom.

ANCESTRAL PUEBLO SITEIn roughly 1225 C

E, this site w

as home to a group of Tew

a-speaking people, ancestors of Pueblo groups now living along

the Rio G

rande. They built w

ith blocks of tuff, the welded volcanic ash com

mon in this area. Som

e rooms were for cooking and sleeping, w

hile others were for storage.

BATHTUB ROWT

hese cottages were built for the Ranch School as residences and

classrooms. H

aving the only bathtubs in town, these hom

es quickly acquired the nam

e “Bathtub Row.” J. Robert Oppenheim

er lived in the house at the corner of Bathtub Row and Peach Street. T

his home is a

private residence, and visitors are not allowed.

1234567

BATHTUB ROW (CONTD.)

The

house next

to the

Oppenheim

er house,

now know

n as the H

ans Bethe House, displays C

old War exhibits as part of the

History M

useum cam

pus.

PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

The building near the corner of 15th and N

ectar Streets was

built as the Manhattan Project East C

afeteria. It is one of the few G

I buildings left from W

WII. U

sed by the growing

post-war com

munity as a recreation hall, it started serving as a

playhouse in 1971, operated by the Los Alam

os Little Theatre, a non-profit

drama troupe.

POWER HOUSE

The building housing the diesel generators for the Los A

lamos R

anch School w

as built in the early 1930s. In 1944. George K

istiakowsky,

an explosives expert, and his new bride m

oved into it. As a joke,

his friends carved a half-moon in the door of the attached shed the

Arm

y built. It is now used as administrative office space for the N

ational Park Service.

HOPPER FIREPLACETh

ese rocks were part of the fireplace in the hom

estead cabin of W

illiam M

ackwood “M

ack” Hopper, w

ho settled here in 1908. Th

e chimney, probably m

ade of stone from an A

ncestral Pueblo site and put together w

ith a mud/clay m

ortar, was rebuilt in 2016 for the

Los Alam

os Historical Society as an Eagle Scout project.

TOUCH THE SKY SCULPTUREIn M

ay 2000, the county and adjacent lands were devastated by the 48,000

-acre Cerro G

rande wildfire. N

early 400 Los Alam

os hom

es were destroyed. This sculpture w

as erected a year later, com

mem

orating the fire and comm

unity re-building.

ASHLEY PONDA

shley Pond began as a natural depression in the landscape. The

Ranch School ensured its w

ater supply by constructing a pipeline from

a dam in Los A

lamos C

anyon. It was nam

ed for Ashley Pond Jr.,

the founder of the Los Alam

os Ranch School, w

hose students could not resist the geographical pun. T

he boys used it for summ

er and winter sports. Blocks

of ice were cut from the pond in the w

inter and stored in the Ice House.

Ashley Pond Park contains a num

ber of sculptures that are part of the county art collection curated by the A

rt in Public Places Board.

ICE HOUSE MEM

ORIALToday a m

emorial stands at the site of the R

anch School Ice House.

During W

WII, the nuclear core of the “G

adget” (the prototype atom

ic bomb) w

as assembled here and then transported to Trinity

Site, 220 miles south near Socorro, N

M. It w

as successfully detonated on July 16, 1945. D

uring the Manhattan Project and for twenty years after, the

technical area laboratories surrounded Ashley Pond (see cover photo). T

hese buildings were rem

oved by the mid-1960s.

POST OFFICE D

uring WW

II, mail to Los A

lamos residents w

as simply addressed

to P.O. Box 1663, Santa Fe, N

ew Mexico. T

his Post Office, designed

and built as part of the Com

munity C

enter, opened at this location in 1948 on the site of the R

anch School Trading Post. Recently the Post Office

was listed on the N

ational Register of Historic Places.

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