Santa Fe Tour Explores Spies, Assassins and Hidden History of Manhattan Project

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

A walking tour in Santa Fe, New Mexico is shedding light on the city's largely unknown role in the American effort to develop the atomic bomb during World War II, and the network of espionage that surrounded the top-secret Manhattan Project. Led by historian Dan Kitrell, the 'Assassins, Spies & the Manhattan Project' tour explores locations central to the covert operations and scientific endeavors that ultimately led to the creation of the first atomic weapons.

Why it matters

The Manhattan Project, initiated in 1942, was a pivotal research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. Santa Fe played a key logistical and operational role in the project, though this history is often overlooked. The tour aims to shed light on this critical period in American history and the enduring legacy of the Manhattan Project and the Cold War.

The details

The two-hour, one-mile walking tour takes participants through sites where crucial meetings took place and where atomic secrets were exchanged. Stops include the former office used for the Manhattan Project, the location near a bridge where physicist Klaus Fuchs met with American chemist Harry Gold to deliver classified information, and the path taken by former CIA operative Edward Lee Howard when he defected to Moscow in 1985. The tour also explores the spycraft techniques used by intelligence agencies during the period.

• The tours are offered twice a month from April through November at 10:45 AM on select dates.
• The final tour for 2025 was conducted on November 16, 2025.
• On December 5, 2025, Kitrell led a tour for students in grades 6-12, their parents, and teachers involved in the National History Day competition.

What’s next

Kitrell expressed his enthusiasm for continuing the tours in 2026, inviting visitors to Santa Fe to reconnect with this fascinating chapter of history.