Elza, Tennessee
Elza was a community in Anderson County, Tennessee, that existed before 1942, when the area was acquired for the Manhattan Project. Its site is now part of the city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
History
Elza formed around a
The community's name was derived from the surname of a railroad construction engineer named Paul Elza. Construction materials for a
William "Fiddlin' Bill" Sievers, an early country music guitarist and member of the Tennessee Ramblers band, was born in the Elza area in 1875.[2]
Manhattan Project
When the federal government evaluated sites for the Manhattan Project facilities that ultimately were sited at Oak Ridge, the Oak Ridge site was described in internal memos as "near Elza."[3] During World War II, Elza was the site of one of the security gates on the borders of the then-closed city of Oak Ridge. Located on the road from Clinton to Oak Ridge, the Elza gate was "the busiest and most public" of Oak Ridge's entrance gates.[1] When the Oak Ridge townsite was first opened to outsiders in 1949, the gate-opening ceremony was conducted at the Elza gate.[1]
Community legacy
The Luther Brannon House, built in 1941, was a surviving structure associated with the Elza community.[4]
During World War II and for some time thereafter, the
References
- ^ a b c d Historic and Architectural Resources of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form, July 1991. Section E, page 5.
- ^ Charles Wolfe, The Tennessee Ramblers: Ramblin' On Archived 2013-07-20 at the Wayback Machine." Old Time Music, Summer 1974, pp. 5-11. Retrieved: 17 December 2008.
- ^ Memo from Z. V. Deutsch to E. V. Murphree Archived 2012-10-14 at the Wayback Machine, April 29, 1942
- ^ Historic and Architectural Resources of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form, July 1991. Section F, page 2.
- ^ T. J. Vitkus and T. L. Bright, Verification Survey of the Elza Gate Site, Oak Ridge, Tennessee Archived 2017-01-07 at the Wayback Machine, ORISE 92/L-30. Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, December 1992.