00

Los Alamos National Laboratory 

(U.S. Department of Energy)

Major paved roads

Other paved roads

Technical Area boundary

Technical Area (TA) number

0 Site number

4

5

2 3

1

SITES ON THIS PAGE 

NOT CURRENTLY 

Original Technical Area 1 OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

(TA-1); see reverse.

Project Y workers with the 

Thin Man plutonium gun 

device at Gun Site.

Norris Bradbury with 

the Trinity device.

National Park Service

Manhattan Project National Historical Park U.S. Department of the Interior

Los Alamos, New Mexico

Manhattan Project National Historical Park - Los Alamos

475 20th Street, Suite C

Los Alamos, NM 87544

505-661-MAPR (6277)

National Park website

http://www.nps.gov/mapr/index.htm

 Bradbury Science Museum website

 http://www.lanl.gov/museum

Los Alamos Historical Society website

http://www.losalamoshistory.org/manhattan_project.htm

DOE Manhattan Project website

www.energy.gov/manhattan 

In 1944 this site supported the first assembly work 

related to the Fat Man weapon design. In July 1945, 

V-Site was also used to assemble the high-explosives 

sphere for the Trinity device, known as the gadget.

Project Y workers with the 

Thin Man plutonium gun 

device at Gun Site.

Norris Bradbury with 

the Trinity device.

5 V-Site

TA-16-516 & TA-16-517

site map

Originally built in 1914 by Mr. Ashley Pond as an 

office for the Pajarito Club, a private hunting ranch, 

the cabin was used by physicist Emilio Segrè’s group 

during the Manhattan Project to support plutonium 

chemistry research.

1 POND CABIN

TA-18-29

Constructed in 1946, this building supported 

criticality research. On May 21, 1946, a criticality 

accident occurred here during an experiment known 

as “tickling the dragon’s tail.” This accident led to the 

death of scientist Louis Slotin a few days later.

3 slotin building

TA-18-1

Built in 1944, this bunker supported implosion 

diagnostic tests for Fat Man. The Creutz implosion 

test was the final systems check of the gadget 

prior to the Trinity test. This building is known as 

a battleship building because the bunker’s west 

end is bow shaped and shielded with a steel plate. 

battleship bunker

TA-18-2

During World War II, scientists at Gun Site 

conducted tests for the gun-assembled weapon 

designs known as Thin Man and Little Boy. 

Components of Little Boy were assembled here 

before shipment to the Pacific. Little Boy was 

deployed over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

4 Gun Site

TA-8-1, TA-8-2, TA-8-3, & TA-8-172

2

In 1943, the United States government’s Manhattan 

Project built a secret laboratory at Los Alamos, New 

Mexico, for a single military purpose—to develop the 

world’s first atomic weapons. The success of this 

unprecedented, top-secret government program 

forever changed the world. 

In 2004, the U.S. Congress directed the National Park 

Service and the Department of Energy to determine 

the significance, suitability, and feasibility of including 

signature facilities in a national historical park. In 2014, 

the National Defense Authorization Act, signed by 

President Obama, authorized creation of the Park. This 

legislation stated the purpose of the park: “to improve 

the understanding of the Manhattan Project and the 

legacy of the Manhattan Project through 

interpretation of the historic resources.” On November 

10, 2015, a Memorandum of Agreement signed by the 

Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the 

Department of Energy made the park a reality. 

Three locations comprise the park: Project Y at Los Alamos, 

New Mexico; Site X at Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Site W at 

Hanford, Washington. The Manhattan Project National 

Historical Park legislation references 17 sites at Los Alamos 

National Laboratory, as well as 13 sites in downtown Los 

Alamos. These sites represent the world-changing history of 

the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. Their preservation and 

interpretation will show visitors the scientific, social, 

political, and cultural stories of the men and women who 

ushered in the atomic age.

The properties below are within the 

Manhattan Project National Historical Park 

boundaries on land managed by the 

Department of Energy. These properties 

are not yet accessible to the public.
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3

2

5

8

7 6

9

11

12

14

15

Bradbury Science 

Museum

Fuller Lodge

Baker House

Ashley Pond

Ice House Memorial

Spruce Cottage

 Bethe House

Oppenheimer 

House

 WAC Dormitory

13 Parsons House

 WWII

Cafeteria

 Stone Power House

Oppenheimer 

& Groves Sculptures

Los Alamos 

Historical Museum

Visitor Contact Station

10 Arts & Crafts Building

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3

2

5

8

7 6

9

11

12

14

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Bradbury Science 

Museum

Fuller Lodge

Baker House

Ashley Pond

Ice House Memorial

Spruce Cottage

 Bethe House

Oppenheimer 

House

 WAC Dormitory

13 Parsons House

 WWII

Cafeteria

 Stone Power House

Oppenheimer 

& Groves Sculptures

Los Alamos 

Historical Museum

Visitor Contact Station

10 Arts & Crafts Building

200 ft.

Start Here

Restrooms

Walking path

400 ft.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park tells the story 

of the people, the events, and the science and engineering 

that led to the creation of the atomic bombs that helped 

bring an end to World War II. The park allows visitors to 

explore how the creation of these weapons changed the 

world and the United States’ role in the world community. 

Additionally, the park addresses the subsequent controversy 

and contribution of the Project to the annals of history and 

the world in which we live. 

Los Alamos, New Mexico, was where efforts of the 

Manhattan Project came together to discover the science 

needed to succeed, to invent the technical processes, and 

then to produce two devices and test them.

Built in 1925, this house briefly served during the 

Manhattan Project as the home of Sir James 

Chadwick, discoverer of the neutron in 1932, and 

later Robert Bacher, head of the Experimental 

Physics Division of the Project. Privately owned; no 

visitors, please.

This structure was built in 1933 to house the 

Ranch School’s electrical generator. After 

remodeling it in 1944–1945, explosives expert 

George Kistiakowsky lived here. In 1950, the local 

Red Cross took it over as a chapter office.

This dormitory, for the older boys at the Ranch 

School, was converted into a Women’s Army Corps 

dormitory at the beginning of Project Y. Eventually, 

it was divided into apartments, one of which was 

occupied by Kenneth Bainbridge, director of the 

Trinity test. Privately owned; no visitors, please.

Chemist Edwin McMillan and physicist Hans Bethe, 

both Nobel Prize winners, lived in this house. It will 

soon be a museum about the role Los Alamos 

played during the Cold War and the development 

of the community. 

This house was built in 1929 for the sister of 

Ranch School Director A.J. Connell. Dr. J. Robert 

Oppenheimer and his family lived here during 

the Manhattan Project. Privately owned; no 

visitors, please.

This building was the favorite mess hall for the 

military members of the Project. Now it is the 

Los Alamos Performing Arts Center. Check 

www.lalt.org for performance information.

Pick up your Park map, get one of the special 

three-part stamps in your passport, and download 

the Manhattan Project virtual tour app. The visitor 

contact station also serves as the temporary site of 

the Los Alamos Historical Museum.

Welcome to your tour of Project Y, the Manhattan 

Project’s Los Alamos location.

Ashley Pond is shown in the center of the fenced 

and guarded Technical Area 1 (TA-1). The pond 

was named after Mr. Ashley Pond, the founder of 

the Los Alamos Ranch School.

This memorial contains original stone from the 

Ranch School’s ice house, which was torn down in 

1957. Project Y scientists used the ice house to 

assemble the nuclear components of the Trinity 

gadget, the first tested atomic device.

Over 60 interactive exhibits trace the history of the 

Manhattan Project, highlight Los Alamos National 

Laboratory's defense and technology research 

projects, and focus on research addressing 

economic, environmental, political, and social 

concerns. You can also experience and download 

the Manhattan Project virtual tour app here.

Sculptures of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, 

scientific head of the Manhattan Project, and 

Gen. Leslie Groves, military head of the Project. 

4 Oppenheimer & Groves Sculpture

Fuller Lodge was built in 1928 as the dining hall for 

the Los Alamos Ranch School. During Project Y, the 

Lodge hosted community activities, such as 

concerts, dances, dinners, and other special events. 

Fuller Lodge continues this tradition to this day. 

Visitors are welcome.

5 Fuller Lodge

Built as the infirmary for the Ranch School in 1918, 

this cottage is the oldest continuously used building 

in Los Alamos. It later served as a guest cottage for 

Ranch School visitors and was Gen. Leslie Groves’ 

favorite place to stay in Los Alamos. The museum is 

being renovated; reopening in late 2016.

6 Los Alamos Historical Museum

1 visitor contact station

Ashley Pond

2 Ice House Memorial

3

7 Baker House 8 Stone Power House 9 Spruce Cottage

13 parsons house 14 wac dormitory

15 wwii cafeteria Bradbury Science Museum

Get the manhattan project 

virtual tour app!

16

11 Bethe House 12 Oppenheimer House

Constructed in 1925, this house was originally 

occupied by Ranch School master Fermor Church 

and his wife, Peggy Pond Church, daughter of the 

school’s founder. During Project Y, Naval 

Commander William “Deak” Parsons lived here. 

Parsons served as the weapons officer aboard the 

Enola Gay. Privately owned; no visitors, please.

This Manhattan Project dormitory housed some of 

the Women’s Army Corps members stationed here. 

Now it is the privately-owned Christian Science 

Reading Room; no visitors, please.

Circa 1943 Circa 1943 Circa 1943

Circa 1957

Originally classrooms for the Ranch School, this 

building was divided into two apartments during 

the Manhattan Project. Among its residents were 

base commander Lt. Col. Whitney Ashbridge, a 

Ranch School graduate, and Norris Bradbury, 

second director of the Los Alamos Laboratory. 

Privately owned; no visitors, please.

10 Arts & Crafts Building

Circa 1943

Experience the Manhattan Project virtually. You can: 

• Play an interactive game to complete training for 

clearance into increasingly more secret facilities;

• Get a bird’s eye view of the Project with links to 

little-known facts; and

• Discover facts at waypoints along the Townsite 

Properties Walking Tour.

App available free at the Visitor Contact Station, the 

Bradbury Science Museum, and online in the Apple Store. 

In Los Alamos, the park experience is a partnership 

among the Department of Energy, the National Park 

Service, private landowners, and Los Alamos County.

Though the park was established in December 2015, full 

implementation will take time. In Los Alamos, the 

Department of Energy is developing phased access to its 

properties that are currently inaccessible. In the interim, 

visitors can see the properties on this walking tour of the 

townsite, visit the Bradbury Science Museum, the 

Historical Museum, and download the Manhattan Project 

virtual tour app.

2016 Townsite Properties Walking Tour

Manhattan Project in the Los Alamos townsite