Los Alamos may be the only town in the country with a street called Bathtub Row. That unusual name comes with a great story, based in the history of the Manhattan Project.

One of the reasons Los Alamos was chosen for the site of the development of atomic weapons was its remote setting that included buildings from the Los Alamos Ranch School. Among these were the masters cottages, which had cast iron bathtubs, and which were thought to be adequate housing for the scientists who would be needed on the project. Of course, the housing proved far from adequate, but the cottages became important, nonetheless.

From Of Logs and Stone: The Buildings of the Los Alamos Ranch School and Bathtub Row by Craig Martin and Heather McClenahan:

"With very few exceptions, new housing in Los Alamos came with a shower but no bathtub. To help alleviate the scarcity of iron during the early phases of the war, Congress had limited the types of bathroom fixtures that could be included in new construction. Cast iron bathtubs were not permitted. It was soon obvious to everyone in town that the only residents who could enjoy the luxury of a bath were the families living in the former Ranch School facilities.

"Alice Kimball Smith, the wife of Manhattan Project scientist Cyril Smith, is credited with coining the term that has stuck to the masters' cottages to this day. In what Laura Fermi, wife of physicist Enrico Fermi, dubbed a 'stroke of wit,' Smith called the Ranch School houses 'Bathtub Row.'

"A certain social status went with living in the attractive, well-built houses on Bathtub Row. 'In the beginning only the most important persons lived there,' wrote Laura Fermi. 'As the months went by, it became uncertain in envious mind whether Bathtub Row derived its luster from its residents or whether the residents acquired distinction from living in it.'"

Master Cottage #2 became the home of Robert Oppenheimer and his family during the Manhattan Project.