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Illinois Tourist Attractions No One Knows About

Illinois Tourist Attractions No One Knows About
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  • - February 10th, 2012, 9:27 am
    - February 10th, 2012, 9:27 am Post #121 - February 10th, 2012, 9:27 am
    jbw wrote:. . . which is, if course, the spot on the 5600 block of South Ellis where the wonderful Henry Moore statue commemorates the first self-sustaining, controlled nuclear reaction.




    soon after this first succesfull experiment, the Chicago Pile # 1(first nuclear reactor) was disassembled and moved further from the city for safety reasons around Feb. 1943. They didnt want to blow up one of the largest cities in the country.. It was reassembled on the site of a golf course off Archer Ave., in Cook County and was disposed of there in a 40 ft. pit(1950's disposal techniques), with Chicago Pile #3. Albert Einstein is rumored to have visited the site when it was in operation. THis was the original Argonne Labs, also called Univ. of Chicago's Met lab. This site was a major part of the Manhattan Project.

    Gotta be up for a mile+ round trip hike as the site is in the middle of the Red Gate Woods Forest Preserve(currently closed for the winter). Here is an old access road leading to the site( ahike throught the woods from the main parkign lot is also a way to access these old service roads), I have heard their are some of the old buildings foundations in place in addition to the (2) monuments that mark the disposal sites.

    Image

    Im just waiting for the preserve to open, or the weather to warm up before hiking in on one of my lunch breaks.

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