The Black Hole of Los Alamos: A Surplus Store Where Nuclear Research History Was for Sale
Black Hole of Los Alamos Seller of surplus nuclear research materials
The Black Hole of Los Alamos was a surplus store in New Mexico that sold decommissioned equipment from the Los Alamos National Laboratories. From 1950s oscilloscopes to liquid nitrogen dewars and even A-bomb detonator cables, the shop offered a unique glimpse into nuclear research history, with nearly everything on the shelves available for purchase. The business has since closed, but its legacy as a museum-like emporium of atomic-age artifacts endures.
It is a museum of nuclear research where everything is for sale.
- johnhtodd
This place was amazing, and worth a whole afternoon every time I went there. The owner was even more interesting, and a whole story in his own right. (I just looked at his wikipedia entry- wasn't aware there have been features on him! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Grothus)
He was not just an interesting person, but had a fantastic memory for what was in the place (though I think that was quite selective.) I came in one day looking for an aluminum plate I could use as a heatsink, but I was hoping for something with rounded edges so it wouldn't cut my car seat (for my overly-hot laptop.) He squinted for a few seconds, and then walked directly to a giant pile of random metal debris, and threw a bunch of things aside, reached in up to his shoulder, and pulled out _exactly_ the piece I needed, including chamfered edges on one side.
I am sad places like this are going away quickly. I made a map a long time ago dedicated to documenting places like The Black Hole - scraphounds are welcome to update it with interesting destinations. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1Y1XmPsqClK...
- fiddlosopher
I grew up in Los Alamos and remember shopping at that location when it was a Piggly Wiggly grocery store. There is much more detail here about its subsequent incarnation as the Black Hole and the activism of the man who owned it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Grothus
- paradox460
Los Alamos also had a scattering of 1960s A-frame churches. Ed bought the one "next" to the Black Hole (although it was in a ponderosa/piñon forest and set back about 500 feet from where the black hole lot was), nailed a bunch of crutches to the exterior wall, and mostly used it as surplus storage for the Black Hole. Never went inside, but rode past it nearly every school day on the way to after school care, and always wondered what was inside