 According to historian Keith Glass, the Windrock Coal and Coke Company, a subsidiary of the Bessemer Coal, Iron and Land Company of Birmingham, began operating a coal mine near Oliver Springs "circa" 1904.In 1942, during World War II, the U.S. government bought up the neighboring communities of Robertsville, Edgemoor, East Fork, Elza, Bethel, Scarborough, and Wheat and built the secret city of Oak Ridge as part of the Manhattan Project.During this period, one of the most prominent buildings in Oliver Springs — the Dr. Fred Stone, Sr., Hospital — was built by Dr. Fred Stone, who worked as a physician and examiner for new Manhattan Project employees.