Last updated: December 18, 2024
Place
Bear Creek Checking Station
NPS
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
Subtitle
Ensuring What Goes on Here, Stays Here
Main Text
Known as the “Gate House,” the checking station that you see before you was constructed in the post WWII years. It was operated by the United States Atomic Energy Commission to control access to the Y-12 plant from 1949-1953. When the city of Oak Ridge opened to the public on March 19, 1949, access to the Y-12 plant remained restricted. Built with concrete and bullet-proof windows, these silent sentinels serve as a reminder to the heightened security conditions that existed during early Cold War years. Two other identical checking stations controlled access to the K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant (Oak Ridge Turnpike) and X-10 Graphite Reactor (Bethel Valley Road). Virtually unchanged since their time in operation, all three checking stations were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Photo Text: This checking station has changed little since this photo was taken July 21, 1953
Exhibit Panel Description
A black and white exhibit panel on a brown frame approximately four feet tall. The panel has a black band at the top and a title underneath that reads “Bear Creek Checking Station: Ensuring What Goes on Here, Stays Here’. The center of the panel is covered by a black and white photo of two white guard stations bisected by a road. The text is at the bottom of the panel.
Visit This Exhibit Panel
The Bear Creek Checking Station wayside is located on Scarboro Rd., shortly before the entrance to Y-12.
Ensuring What Goes on Here, Stays Here
Main Text
Known as the “Gate House,” the checking station that you see before you was constructed in the post WWII years. It was operated by the United States Atomic Energy Commission to control access to the Y-12 plant from 1949-1953. When the city of Oak Ridge opened to the public on March 19, 1949, access to the Y-12 plant remained restricted. Built with concrete and bullet-proof windows, these silent sentinels serve as a reminder to the heightened security conditions that existed during early Cold War years. Two other identical checking stations controlled access to the K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant (Oak Ridge Turnpike) and X-10 Graphite Reactor (Bethel Valley Road). Virtually unchanged since their time in operation, all three checking stations were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Photo Text: This checking station has changed little since this photo was taken July 21, 1953
Exhibit Panel Description
A black and white exhibit panel on a brown frame approximately four feet tall. The panel has a black band at the top and a title underneath that reads “Bear Creek Checking Station: Ensuring What Goes on Here, Stays Here’. The center of the panel is covered by a black and white photo of two white guard stations bisected by a road. The text is at the bottom of the panel.
Visit This Exhibit Panel
The Bear Creek Checking Station wayside is located on Scarboro Rd., shortly before the entrance to Y-12.