"Sketch of Proposed City Center-Clinton, Tenn"
By S.H. Gurnee for the Department of Regional Studies, Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA), January 20, 1944
Pencil on tracing paper
20" x 46 1/2"
National Archives and Records Administration--Southeast Region, Records
of the Tennessee Valley Authority
World War II Boomtowns: Clinton, Tennessee
The Manhattan Project's effort at developing an
atomic bomb meant establishing several top-secret sites throughout the
United States. One of these, the Oak Ridge Laboratory in Tennessee, was
located near the small town of Clinton. As workers moved to the Oak Ridge
area, Clinton's population swelled. The hamlet grew from 4,000 to 7,500
in a few months. Traffic, housing, sanitation disposal, and lack of classroom
space in schools became major headaches. Eventually, the town appealed
to the state and Federal Government for assistance. One response was this
plan for a new city center, drawn by S.H. Gurnee of the TVA. Gurnee's
extensive scheme for renewal was never carried out.