Oak Ridge
Heritage and Preservation Association
Minutes – Membership Meeting August 9, 2007
Attendance: Peggy Whitehouse, Ken Whitehouse, Lloyd Brown, Anne McBride, Andre
Petrov, Judy Clevenger, Mary Fair, C. J. Maddox, Colleen Black, Bill Henry,
Jerry Hutchins, Fred Heddleson, Pat Clark, Wayne Clark, Irene Pinkston, Jay
Searcy, Jackie Searcy, Jack Mansfield, Myra Mansfield, Wes Delaney, Judith
Delaney, Barbara Walton, Mick Wiest, Betty White, Dave White, Martin McBride,
Harold Jernigan, Hal Smith, Sal Smith, Dave Miller, Heidi Miller, Margaret
Allard, George Cagley, Jane Shelton, Dick Raridon, Bill Wilcox, Keith McDaniel,
Don Raby, Mary Raby, Steve Stow, James Brennan, Ed Westcott, Don Hunnicutt and
Emily Hunnicutt.
The meeting began at 7:05 PM in the Wildcat Den room of the Midtown Community
Center. ORHPA President, Keith McDaniel, presided at the meeting. There were 45
people present (see attachment 1 on file).
Keith McDaniel reported the ORHPA and the Convention and Visitors Bureau have
come to an agreement, which was reviewed by our attorneys. We are now set for
the Convention and Visitors Bureau to move into the Alexander Room beginning
October 1st. This will be a temporary location for the Convention and Visitors
Bureau. They expect to be here for about three years. ORHPA has agreed to help
with the installation of a new floor in the Alexander Room. We are looking for
volunteers who have experience or are interested in helping with the
installation of a laminate floor. The Convention and Visitors Bureau will be
paying for the floor. A suggestion was made that we look into the types of
handicapped spaces in our parking lot to be sure we have what is necessary to
meet the needs of handicapped persons who make use of our building.
A motion was made by Bill Wilcox to approve the minutes of the July 12
membership meeting as written. The motion was seconded by Steve Stow. The motion
passed by acclimation.
Mick Wiest reported the ORHPA Historic Sites Committee will be having a meeting
next Tuesday, August 14th at 7 PM here in the Heritage Room. We will be
reviewing the various buildings in the community to be considered for our
Historic Site Award. In the past several years we have presented the award to
the Children’s Museum, the Oak Ridge Nursery School and the Chapel on the Hill.
Anyone interested in serving on the committee is welcome to come to the meeting.
Keith McDaniel reported we are looking at the types of podiums available in the
marketplace. We plan to purchase one for the Wildcat Den Room.
The ORHPA Board has approved a small gift to the Linden Elementary School
Technology Center in memory of the passing of member Steve Moore.
Keith McDaniel introduced our special guest speaker for the evening, Donald Raby,
of the Pellissippi Genealogical and Historical Society. Don introduced his
mother, Mary Raby, and his neighbor, James Brennan, a former resident of the
original community of Scarbough. Scarbough was the community located in Gamble
Valley before the Army Corps of Engineers took the land for the Manhattan
Project in 1942. James Brennan’s parents’ home was located where the Spallation
Neutron Source is located today.
Don Raby began doing research on his family’s genealogy and discovered
photographs of family members with numbers registered on the corners. In
researching the photographs he became
Minutes – ORHPA Membership Meeting August 9, 2007 page 2
aware of a very large collection of photographs, taken by the Army Corps of
Engineers, which recorded all the buildings and “improvements” on the land taken
for the Manhattan Project. The original name used by the Manhattan Project, in
this community, was “the Kingston Demolition Range.” The Kingston Demolition
Range had their first headquarters in Harriman, TN. They took photographs of all
the original communities including Elza, Robertsville, Scarbough (original
spelling), Edgemoor and Wheat. After completing a record of all the buildings,
they demolished all of them except for a very few.
The photographs taken by the Army Corps of Engineers for the Kingston Demolition
Range were placed in the Government Archives which are located in Atlanta,
Georgia. Don spent many weeks searching the archives and making copies of some
of the photographs. He has copies of 5600 photographs in his collection. His
goal is to identify all of them. The Army Corps of Engineers gave every property
markers and an assigned number. Many of the properties were owned by families
whose ancestors received them in land grants from the U.S. Government after
serving in the Revolutionary War.
Don’s great-grandfather, Sam Raby, came from North Carolina and joined the Union
Army at Campbell Station during the Civil War. In 1880 he moved to Coalfield and
in 1885 he purchased 5 acres in the community of Scarbough. The spelling of
“Scarbough” was an English version. Some of Don Raby’s family members are buried
in the New Hope Cemetery, which is located behind the fenced area, next to the
Y-12 Plant
Don showed us several dozen photographs of properties located along the main
road, Highway 61, as they were in 1942, through what is currently Oak Ridge. The
original Highway 61 ran along a fairly similar track on the east end of what is
now Oak Ridge, as the current Oak Ridge Turnpike. Highway 61 turned northwest,
in front of the location where Long John Silver’s Restaurant is currently
located, and continued to run toward where Robertsville Road and North Illinois
Road are located today. Nash Copeland had a store across from the current
location of Long John Silver’s. The Lockett family owned a store on Robertsville
Road where the Kim Son Restaurant is currently located. The original community
of Robertsville had a school located where Robertsville Junior High School is
currently located. Emory Valley Road was called Lupton Road in 1942.
Don commented that dating the construction of buildings shown in the photographs
taken by the Army Corps of Engineers is relatively easy to do just by
identifying the style of architecture used in the construction.
The next ORHPA membership meeting will be on September 13th at 7 PM. We are
planning to have a sneak peak at several of the short movies being entered in
the Secret City Film Festival in October. One of the movies has been made on the
topic of Oak Ridge.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM.
We want to thank Heidi and Dave Miller for preparing refreshments.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted,
Anne McBride
Secretary, Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association
August 17, 2007
