
AHF is pleased to host the US Nuclear Weapons Complex Google Map originally created for the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues. The map includes the offices, mines, mills, plants, laboratories, and test sites of the US nuclear weapons complex from World War II to 2016. There are over 300 sites including Manhattan Project sites.
The map was created by Dr. Frank Settle, founder of the Alsos Digital Library. The Library was a vetted, annotated bibliography of over 3,000 books, articles, films, CDs, and websites about a broad range of nuclear issues.Settle is professor emeritus of chemistry at Washington and Lee University and author of General George C. Marshall and the Atomic Bomb. Unfortunately, the Alsos Digital Library was recently discontinued.
The map was inspired by The Traveler's Guide to Nuclear Weapons CD-ROM by James Maroncelli and Timothy Karpin. In a 2017 interview with AHF, Settle said, "I've always liked maps, and 'The Traveler's Guide' had a nice description of what went on at each site. It would be fun to put pins in a Google map and add a little description of its signficance."
The result was the US Nuclear Weapons Complex Map, a valuable interactive resource for students, scholars, and members of the public interested in this history.