Richland () is a city in
Benton County, Washington
Benton County is a county in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 206,873. The county seat is Prosser, and its largest city is Kennewick. The Columbia River demarcates the coun ...
, United States. It is located in southeastern Washington at the confluence of the
Yakima
Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninco ...
and the
Columbia Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 60,560. Along with the nearby cities of
Pasco and
Kennewick
Kennewick () is a city in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers and across from the confluence of the C ...
, Richland is one of the
Tri-Cities, and is home to the
Hanford nuclear site
The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government on the Columbia River in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The site h ...
.
History
For centuries, the village of Chemna stood at the mouth of the current Yakima River. Today that village site is called Columbia Point. From this village, the
Wanapum
The Wanapum tribe of Native Americans formerly lived along the Columbia River from above Priest Rapids down to the mouth of the Snake River in what is now the US state of Washington. About 60 Wanapum still live near the present day site of Priest ...
,
Yakama
The Yakama are a Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in eastern Washington state.
Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribe, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Their Yak ...
and
Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to:
* Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named
* Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...
Indians harvested the
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
runs entering the Yakima River.
Captain William Clark of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
visited the mouth of the Yakima River on October 17, 1805.
Formative years
In 1904–1905, W.R. Amon and his son Howard purchased and proposed a town site on the north bank of the Yakima River. Postal authorities approved the designation of this town site as Richland in 1905, naming it for Nelson Rich, a state legislator and land developer. In 1906, the town was registered at the
Benton County Courthouse. It was incorporated on April 28, 1910, as a Washington Fourth Class City.
World War II
Richland was a small farm town until the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
purchased of land – half the size of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
– along the Columbia River during World War II, evicting the 300 residents of Richland as well as those of the now vanished towns of
White Bluffs and
Hanford just upriver. The army turned it into a
bedroom community
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
for the workers on its
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
facility at the nearby Hanford Engineering Works (now the Hanford site). The population increased from 300 in July and August 1943 to 25,000 by the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in August 1945. All land and buildings were owned by the government. Housing was assigned to residents and token rent was collected; families were assigned to houses or duplexes; single people were placed in apartments or barracks. Everything necessary was provided, from free bus service to light bulbs, and trees were planted in people's yards by the government. Much of the city was planned by Spokane architect Gustav Albin Pherson
and overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers. While there
were dormitories and barracks built at the time, prefabricated
duplexes and single family homes are all that survive today.
Because homes were allocated based on family size and need,
there were a number of floorplans available. These were each
identified by a letter of the alphabet, and so came to be known
as alphabet houses.
In 1954 Harold Orlando Monson was elected the first mayor of Richland and traveled to Washington, D.C., to negotiate increased rights (such as private home ownership) for citizens in military cities across the country.
Richland's link to the Army Engineers is suggested by its street nomenclature; many of the streets are named after famous engineers. The main street (
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
Way) is named after the first president, who was a surveyor; Stevens Drive is named after
John Frank Stevens
John Frank Stevens (April 25, 1853 – June 2, 1943) was an American civil engineer who built the Great Northern Railway in the United States and was chief engineer on the Panama Canal between 1905 and 1907.
Biography
Stevens was born in ...
, chief engineer of the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...
and
Stevens Pass
Stevens Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass through the Cascade Range, Cascade Mountains located at the border of King County, Washington, King County and Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County in Washington (state), Washington, United States. ...
; Goethals Drive is named after
George W. Goethals
George Washington Goethals ( June 29, 1858 – January 21, 1928) was a United States Army General and civil engineer, best known for his administration and supervision of the construction and the opening of the Panama Canal. He was the State E ...
, designer of the Panama Canal; and Thayer Drive is named after
Sylvanus Thayer
Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer (June 9, 1785 – September 7, 1872) also known as "the Father of West Point" was an early superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point and an early advocate of engineerin ...
, superintendent of
West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
and later founder of the
Thayer School of Engineering
Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth (Dartmouth Engineering) offers graduate and undergraduate education in engineering sciences at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The school was established in 1867 with funds from C ...
at
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
. The rule is that if alphabet houses reside on a given street, it is named either after an engineer or a type of tree.
The end of the war
With the end of the war, the Hanford workers' camp, originally located fifteen miles (24 km) north of Richland at the old Hanford town site, was closed down. Although many of the workers moved away as the war effort wound down, some of them moved to Richland, offsetting the depopulation that might otherwise have occurred.
The Cold War boom
Fears that the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
's intentions were aggressive set off the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
in 1947. The capacity to produce plutonium was increased beginning in 1947. When the Soviet Union developed and tested their first nuclear weapon in 1949, the U.S. nuclear program was reinvigorated. A second post-WW II expansion began in 1950 as a result of the war in Korea. Richland's Cold War construction boom resulted in Richland's population growing to 27,000 people by 1952. Many of these people lived in a construction camp of trailers located in what is now north Richland. With time, these trailers were vacated and the core city grew. Others lived at
Camp Columbia near
Horn Rapids
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various a ...
until the camp was closed in 1950.
In 2005 several dozen houses built
in the northern part of the core city during this boom
were added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
as the
Gold Coast Historic District.
Transition to private property
The government got out of the landlord business in 1957 when the real estate was sold to the residents. Most of the people lived in duplexes; senior tenants were given the option to purchase the building; junior tenants were given the option to purchase lots in a newly platted area of north Richland. Richland was incorporated in 1958 as a chartered First Class City, an open self-governed city. As part of the transition, large areas of undeveloped land became city property. Richland's financial dependency on the federal Hanford facility changed little at this time because Hanford's mission as a weapons materials production site continued during the Cold War years.
Unclassified Hanford
At some point, documents and photographs of the Hanford military facilities became declassified by the U.S. government. Those digitized records are considered to be in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
, and are hosted on the online Hanford Document Retrieval System.
Historical events, such as a visit to the property by President Richard Nixon, are also stored on the database.
After the production boom
With the shutdown of the last production reactor in 1987, the area transitioned to environmental cleanup and technology. Now, many Richland residents are employed at the Hanford site in its environmental cleanup mission.
Richland High School's sports teams are called the Bombers, complete with a
mushroom cloud
A mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped flammagenitus cloud of debris, smoke and usually condensed water vapor resulting from a large explosion. The effect is most commonly associated with a nuclear explosion, but any sufficiently ener ...
logo. Some of the streets platted after 1958 are named after
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
generals
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...
(such as
Patton
George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a General (United States), general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, Mediterranean Theater ...
Street,
MacArthur Street,
Sherman
Sherman most commonly refers to:
*Sherman (name), a surname and given name (and list of persons with the name)
** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General
*M4 Sherman, a tank
Sherman may also refer to:
Places United St ...
Street, and
Pershing Avenue) and after various nuclear themes (
Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
Avenue,
Curie
In computing, a CURIE (or ''Compact URI'') defines a generic, abbreviated syntax for expressing Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). It is an abbreviated URI expressed in a compact syntax, and may be found in both XML and non-XML grammars. A CURIE ...
Street,
Proton
A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
Lane,
Log
Log most often refers to:
* Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut
** Logging, cutting down trees for logs
** Firewood, logs used for fuel
** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs
* Logarithm, in mathe ...
Lane, and Nuclear Lane). A local museum, the
Reach Museum,
tells the story of the cultural, natural, and scientific history of the
Hanford Reach
The Hanford Reach is a free-flowing section of the Columbia River, around long, in eastern Washington state. It is named after a large northward bend in the river's otherwise southbound course.
Hanford Reach is the only section of the Columbia i ...
and
Columbia Basin area; it replaced the
now closed
Columbia River Exhibition of History, Science, and Technology (CREHST) in 2014.
Washington State University, Tri-Cities was founded in northern Richland in 1989, growing out of a former Joint Graduate Center which had been affiliated with the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
,
Oregon State University
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...
, and
Washington State University
Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...
. Richland is also home to
Kadlec Regional Medical Center.
Columbia Basin College
Columbia Basin College (CBC) is a public community college in Pasco, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. The college offers English as a second language and General Educational Development (GED) ...
's Medical Training Center is near Kadlec Regional Medical Center.
Government
The city of Richland is a full-service city providing police services, fire protection, water utility services, solid waste services, electric utilities, parks and recreational facilities and services, maintenance of city streets and public facilities, and full library services featuring a state-of-the-art library operated by the city. The city pursues community and economic development and offers housing assistance.
The Richland Community Center is adjacent to
Howard Amon Park
Howard Amon Park is a multi-use recreation area on the shore of the Columbia River in Richland in the U.S. state of Washington. The original arch at the entrance to the park was the first thing in the city when it was incorporated in 1912, but h ...
, on the east side of the Columbia River. The building was designed by ARC Architects of Seattle, Washington. Many of its rooms have views of the park and Columbia River, which make it a venue for weddings and receptions, family reunions, birthday parties, business, and community meetings. The rooms are also used for a variety of general education and personal enrichment classes including courses in computer/technology, health & fitness, dance, arts & crafts, dog training, home & gardening, language lessons, and martial arts. The Community Center also serves as a gathering place for group recreation and gaming: cribbage, pinochle, bridge, pool, dominoes, and a host of other social activities are available to the public at large.
More recently, the Richland Community Center has hosted a number of important civic events including the Green Living Awards and the Fall Carnival.
As of 2016 the city was planning to rebuild its current city hall to across Jadwin Avenue into the parking lot of the United States Federal courthouse. This decision also includes moving the fire station, which is currently across George Washington Way, to the current site of city hall. The current city hall would be sold to eligible businesses.
Police services
The City of Richland Police Department comprises approximately 58 commissioned police officers and 15 support staff.
Economy
Technology
After the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Richland continued to be a center of production and research into
nuclear energy
Nuclear energy may refer to:
*Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity
* Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom
*Nuclear potential energy
...
and related technology.
It has been the home of
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is one of the United States Department of Energy national laboratories, managed by the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science. The main campus of the laboratory is in Richland, Washington.
O ...
(PNNL) since 1965. One of the two
Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Two large ...
sites is located immediately north of Richland. Numerous smaller high technology business and expert consultants have grown up around the Richland technology center as well.
Preferred Freezer Services Warehouse
Richland is home to the
largest cold-storage facility on Earth—which is also one of the
largest buildings on Earth by volume.
Major Employers
*
Battelle Memorial Institute
Battelle Memorial Institute (more widely known as simply Battelle) is a private nonprofit applied science and technology development company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle is a charitable trust organized as a nonprofit corporation u ...
, operating PNNL
*
Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. , the ''Engineering News-Record'' ranked Bechtel as the sec ...
National Inc., building a waste vitrification plant
* Washington River Protection Solutions (a partnership of
AECOM
AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm.
AECOM has approximately 51,000 employees, and is number 157 on the 2019 Fortune 500 list.
The company's official name from 1990 t ...
and
EnergySolutions
EnergySolutions (stylized as Energy''Solutions''), headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the largest processors of low level waste (LLW) in America, making it also one of the world's largest nuclear waste processors. It was formed in 20 ...
), controlling operations of the nuclear waste tank farms
* Washington Closure Hanford (a partnership of
AECOM
AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm.
AECOM has approximately 51,000 employees, and is number 157 on the 2019 Fortune 500 list.
The company's official name from 1990 t ...
,
Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. , the ''Engineering News-Record'' ranked Bechtel as the sec ...
, and
CH2M Hill
CH2M, earlier CH2M Hill, was an engineering company that provided consulting, design, construction, and operations services for corporations and governments. The company was organized in Corvallis, Oregon, and headquartered at 9191 South Jamai ...
), providing waste management and cleanup efforts, including decontamination and demolition (D&D) of facilities along the Columbia River
* Mission Support Alliance (a partnership of
Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
,
Jacobs Engineering Group
Jacobs Solutions Inc. is an American international technical professional services firm. The company provides engineering, technical, professional and construction services, as well as scientific and specialty consulting for a broad range of cli ...
, and Centerra Group) providing infrastructure and sitewide services
*
CH2M Hill
CH2M, earlier CH2M Hill, was an engineering company that provided consulting, design, construction, and operations services for corporations and governments. The company was organized in Corvallis, Oregon, and headquartered at 9191 South Jamai ...
Plateau Remediation Company, responsible for D&D of facilities on the site's Central Plateau
*
EnergySolutions
EnergySolutions (stylized as Energy''Solutions''), headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the largest processors of low level waste (LLW) in America, making it also one of the world's largest nuclear waste processors. It was formed in 20 ...
, providing services to the U.S. government
*
Energy Northwest
Energy Northwest (formerly Washington Public Power Supply System) is a public power joint operating agency in the Pacific Northwest, northwest United States, formed in 1957 by Washington (state), Washington state law to produce at-cost power for ...
, generating nuclear power at a nearby reactor facility
*
Framatome
Framatome () is a French nuclear reactor business. It is owned by Électricité de France (EDF) (75.5%), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (19.5%), and Assystem (5%).
The company first formed in 1958 to license Westinghouse's pressurized water reacto ...
creating nuclear fuel
*
Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
Services, Inc., providing technology services
* The
U.S. Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States. ...
, which operates the
Hanford Site
The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government on the Columbia River in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. The site has been known by many names, including SiteW a ...
Agriculture
Agriculture is important in the Richland area; the
Tri-Cities area of the
Columbia Basin grows excellent produce. Richland hosts an important food processor,
Lamb Weston
Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. is an American food processing company that is one of the world's largest producers and processors of frozen french fries, waffle fries, and other frozen potato products. It is headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, a suburb ...
, which processes
potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
es and other foods.
The production of
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
in the lower
Columbia Basin has become one of the area's main industries. Richland lies at the center of a
viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
area which produces internationally recognized wines in four major Washington
appellations
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...
and serves as a center for wine tours. The Columbia Valley appellation which surrounds Richland contains over 7,000
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
s planted with wine grapes. On the west the Yakima Valley appellation includes 5,000 hectares. To the east, the
Walla Walla Valley
The Walla Walla River is a tributary of the Columbia River, joining the Columbia just above Wallula Gap in southeastern Washington (state), Washington in the United States. The river flows through Umatilla County, Oregon, and Walla Walla County, ...
appellation includes 500 hectares of wine grapes.
Business and industry
The Tri-City Industrial Development Council promotes both agricultural related and technology related industries in the region.
Top employers
According to Richland's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
Education
The
Richland School District serves the cities of Richland and
West Richland
West Richland is a city in Benton County, Washington. The population was 16,295 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is part of the Tri-Cities metropolitan area, whose principal cities (the Tri-Cities) are Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco. ...
with ten elementary schools, four middle schools, and three high schools.
Columbia Basin College
Columbia Basin College (CBC) is a public community college in Pasco, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. The college offers English as a second language and General Educational Development (GED) ...
, primarily located in
Pasco, has a small branch campus in Richland.
Washington State University, Tri-Cities, established in North Richland in 1989, sits on the western bank of the Columbia River. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It first admitted freshmen and sophomores in the fall of 2007.
Recreation
Golf
There are three 18-hole
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
courses and one 9-hole course in the area.
Outdoor activities
Richland has developed a number of parks, several of them fronting on the Columbia and Yakima Rivers. The rivers provide boating, water skiing, fishing, kayaking and waterfowl hunting opportunities.
Richland is included in a bike trail system in the Tri-Cities which is named The
Sacagawea Heritage Trail
The Sacagawea Heritage Trail is a relatively flat multi-use recreational trail in the Tri-Cities, Washington. It travels along the Columbia River for its entire length, forming a loop that connects Pasco, Richland and Kennewick. The entire trail ...
. The trail is a scenic river ride along the Columbia River through the Tri-Cities of Kennewick, Richland and Pasco. It is a 23-mile multipurpose blacktop loop trail on both sides of the river from Sacagawea State Park at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers up to the I-182 bridge at the Columbia Point Marina on the upper end. Three bridges join the trails on both sides, providing a number of ride options. There are numerous trailheads and access parking spots along the route.
Richland lies within a semi-arid,
shrub-steppe environment, and has a number of interesting natural areas within or adjacent to the city:
* The Yakima River delta and wetlands lie within Richland and provide habitat for many birds and animals. The area around the Yakima delta provides a wooded variation of the normal shrub-steppe.
* The
Badger Mountain Centennial Preserve
The Badger Mountain Centennial Preserve protects Badger Mountain, located on the edge of Richland in Washington, provides views of the Tri-Cities as well as the Columbia and Yakima rivers. Trails are open for hiking. No motorized vehicles are ...
protects
Badger Mountain, located on the edge of Richland in the Richland GMA area. It provides views of the Tri-Cities as well as the Columbia and Yakima rivers. A non-profit group, Friends of Badger Mountain, worked to procure this shrub-steppe area that has the most native vegetation intact, and in 2005 built a trail to the summit. The 2-kilometer trail rises 300 meters above the trailhead in Richland.
* The
Arid Lands Ecology Reserve, at the western edge of Richland on the Hanford Reservation, is the last remaining large block of undisturbed shrub-steppe habitat in the Pacific Northwest. The site has been closed to the public since the 1940s, preserving its character. It is managed as an environmental research area and wildlife reserve.
* North of Richland, the
Hanford Reach
The Hanford Reach is a free-flowing section of the Columbia River, around long, in eastern Washington state. It is named after a large northward bend in the river's otherwise southbound course.
Hanford Reach is the only section of the Columbia i ...
, the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River in the U.S., provides sightseeing and salmon fishing. This free-flowing stretch flows through the
Hanford Reach National Monument
The Hanford Reach National Monument is a national monument in the U.S. state of Washington. It was created in 2000, mostly from the former security buffer surrounding the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The area has been untouched by development or ...
, which was created by Presidential proclamation in 2000, and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Volunteers are working to construct an interpretive center on Richland's Columbia Point at the confluence of the Yakima and Columbia; in 2006, $22M of the necessary funds were in hand and construction was expected later that year.
* The
Amon Creek
Amon Creek is the largest tributary of the Lower Yakima River in Benton County, Washington. From the source of its East Fork to its mouth at the Yakima, it flows about , passing through Kennewick and Richland. The East Fork as well as the main c ...
Natural Preserve in the south part of town protects wetlands around the creek and has several trails.
Sports
Sports teams in the immediate area include the
Tri-City Americans
The Tri-City Americans are a major junior ice hockey team of the Western Hockey League, based in Kennewick, Washington. The team plays its home games at Toyota Center (Kennewick), Toyota Center. Every game is broadcast locally on the Tri-City A ...
WHL
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
team (which plays in Kennewick), and the
Tri-City Dust Devils
The Tri-City Dust Devils are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Pasco, Washington. The Dust Devils are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels. Tri-City plays their home gam ...
Single-A
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
team (affiliated with the
Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
) which plays in Pasco.
Washington State University Tri-Cities has a number of club sports teams, including in rugby (2016 Northwest Cup Champions), volleyball, men's soccer and women's soccer.
Geography
Richland is located at (46.279657, −119.281377).
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.
Elevation at the airport is 120 m (394 ft).
In the late 1970s, Richland sought to annex of unincorporated land in Franklin County on the east side of the Columbia River, anticipating development following the construction of
Interstate 182
Interstate 182 (I-182) is an east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Washington. It serves as a connector from I-82 to the Tri-Cities region that crosses the Columbia River on the Interstate 182 Bridge between Rich ...
. The move was blocked by Pasco, who had planned to annex much of the area themselves. The Richland city government filed an appeal against the Franklin County Boundary Review Board in 1983 following their approval of Pasco's claim; the
Washington Supreme Court
The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the ...
affirmed the Franklin County decision.
Climate
Richland receives about of precipitation per year, giving it a semi-arid desert climate and resulting in a shrub-steppe environment. Summers are hot with infrequent thunderstorms, while winters are milder than all of Eastern Washington with snow falling only occasionally. On June 29, 2021, the maximum temperature of was recorded in Richland which tied the all-time record high temperature in the state of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
.
Demographics
Based on
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Richland ranks 83rd of 522 areas ranked in the state of Washington—the highest rank achieved in Benton County.
2010 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 48,058 people, 19,707 households, and 12,974 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was . There were 20,876 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 87.0%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 1.4%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.8%
Native American, 4.7%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 2.7% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 3.2% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
people of any race were 7.8% of the population.
There were 19,707 households, of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.6% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.2% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.97.
The median age in the city was 39.4 years. 24.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.7% were from 25 to 44; 28.4% were from 45 to 64; and 14.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.0% male and 51.0% female.
2000 census
As of the
2000 census, there were 38,708 people, 15,549 households, and 10,682 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 1,111.8 people per square mile (429.2/km
2). There were 16,458 housing units at an average density of 472.7 per square mile (182.5/km
2). The racial makeup of the city was 89.55%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 1.37%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.76%
Native American, 4.06%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.11%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 1.85% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 2.31% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
people of any race were 4.72% of the population.
There were 15,549 households, out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the city the population was spread out, with 27.2% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $53,092, and the median income for a family was $82,354 (Money CNN). Males had a median income of $52,648 versus $30,472 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $25,494. About 5.7% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 10.8% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Richland is served by
Richland Airport, located in the city, as well as the
Tri-Cities Airport, located in nearby Pasco. Both have only domestic flights. Also in Pasco is an
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
station, where the Portland-Chicago ''
Empire Builder
The ''Empire Builder'' is an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that operates daily between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northe ...
'' makes a stop.
Ben Franklin Transit
Ben Franklin Transit is the operator of public transportation in Franklin and Benton counties in the U.S. state of Washington. Seventeen routes provide local service for the three component urban areas of the Tri-Cities: Richland, Kennewick, a ...
provides bus transportation within Richland and the Tri-Cities area.
Notable people
*
James (Jim) F. Albaugh – Executive Vice President,
The Boeing Company
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
, RHS class of 1968
*
Stu Barnes
Stuart Douglas Barnes (born December 25, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He played 16 seasons at centre in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, and Dallas Stars. He curr ...
– NHL former player and coach; lives in Richland; an owner of the
Tri-City Americans
The Tri-City Americans are a major junior ice hockey team of the Western Hockey League, based in Kennewick, Washington. The team plays its home games at Toyota Center (Kennewick), Toyota Center. Every game is broadcast locally on the Tri-City A ...
along with Olaf Kolzig
*
Kayla Barron
Kayla Jane Barron (born September 19, 1987) is an American submarine warfare officer, engineer and NASA astronaut. Barron was selected in June 2017 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 22, and later qualified as an astronaut in 2020. Barron ...
–
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
astronaut
*
Beefy –
nerdcore
Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop music characterized by subject matter considered of interest to nerds and geeks. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term (to describe this genre) in the 2000 ...
artist; real name Keith A. Moore
*
Tyler Brayton
Tyler Brayton (born November 20, 1979) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders 32nd overall in the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Colorado. Brayton also played for the Carolina Panthers a ...
–
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
defensive end for the
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...
*
Travis Buck
Travis George Buck (born November 18, 1983) is an American baseball coach former professional outfielder, who is the current hitting coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Clevel ...
–
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
outfielder
*
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...
– science fiction writer; born in Richland but his family moved away soon after
*
Gene Conley
Donald Eugene Conley (November 10, 1930 – July 4, 2017) was an American professional baseball and basketball player. He played as a pitcher for four teams in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1952 to 1963. Conley also played as a forward in t ...
– Major League Basketball and Baseball player, RHS
*
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist.
Early life
Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...
– jazz guitarist, RHS class of 1961
*
Westley Allan Dodd
Westley Allan Dodd (July 3, 1961 – January 5, 1993) was an American convicted serial killer and sex offender. In 1989, he sexually assaulted and murdered three young boys in Vancouver, Washington. He was arrested later that year after a failed ...
– serial killer and child molester; RHS class of 1979; hanged January 5, 1993
*
Santino Fontana
Santino Fontana (born March 21, 1982) is an American actor and singer. He has received a Tony Award, two Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, Lortel Award, Obie Award, and Clarence Derwent Award in a mix of straight plays and musica ...
– Broadway and film actor; RHS class of 2000; Nominated for the 2013 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role in the revival of ''
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
''. Winner of 2019 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role in
Tootsie (musical)
''Tootsie'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Robert Horn. The musical is based on the 1982 American comedy film of the same name written by Larry Gelbart, Barry Levinson (uncredited), Elaine May (uncredited ...
.
*
Ty Jones
Tyler Jones (born February 22, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey winger.
Playing career
He was drafted in the first round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft with the 16th overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks.
After playing four s ...
– former NHL player and first round pick in the 1997 NHL draft
*
Kurt Kafentzis
Kurt Michael Kafentzis (born December 31, 1962) is a former American football defensive back who played one season with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and atte ...
– former NFL defensive back
*
Mark Kafentzis
Mark Kevin Kafentzis (born June 30, 1958) is a former American football defensive back who played three seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts. He was drafted by the Browns in the ...
– former NFL defensive back
*
Olaf Kölzig
Olaf Kölzig (born 6 April 1970) is a South African-born German former professional ice hockey goaltender and current goaltender coach and player development coach for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). With the excepti ...
– retired NHL goaltender; lives in Richland; an owner of the
Tri-City Americans
The Tri-City Americans are a major junior ice hockey team of the Western Hockey League, based in Kennewick, Washington. The team plays its home games at Toyota Center (Kennewick), Toyota Center. Every game is broadcast locally on the Tri-City A ...
along with Stu Barnes
*
James N. Mattis
James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950) is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 26th US secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. During his 44 years in the Marine Corps, he commanded forces in the Persian ...
– The 26th
United States Secretary of Defense
The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The s ...
; General,
U.S. Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...
; RHS class of 1968
*
Mike McCormack Michael or Mike McCormack may refer to:
* Michael McCormack (Australian politician) (born 1964), Australian politician and former Deputy Prime Minister (2018-2021)
* Michael McCormack (judge) (born 1939), justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court
* Mich ...
– U.S. Representative from the Fourth Congressional District
*
Jimmy McLarnin
James Archibald McLarnin (19 December 1907 – 28 October 2004) was an Irish professional boxer who became a two-time welterweight world champion and an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee.
McLarnin has been referred to as the greatest ...
– Irish boxer, two-time
welterweight world champion;
International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...
inductee and who was a resident of Richland at the time of his death.
*
Nate Mendel
Nathan Gregor Mendel (born December 2, 1968) is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band Foo Fighters, as well as a former member of Sunny Day Real Estate. He has also worked with musical acts The Jealous Sou ...
–
Sunny Day Real Estate
Sunny Day Real Estate is an American emo/indie rock band from Seattle, formed in 1992. The band currently consists of founding members Jeremy Enigk (vocals, guitar), Dan Hoerner (guitar) and William Goldsmith (drums), alongside Greg Suran (gui ...
and
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
bassist; Hanford High School Class of 1987
*
Michael Peterson – Country western singer
*
Jason Repko
Jason Edward Repko (born December 27, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox.
High school years
Repko attended Hanfo ...
–
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
outfielder; Hanford High class of 1999
*
Kathryn Ruemmler
Kathryn "Kathy" Ruemmler (born April 19, 1971) is an attorney who formerly served as Principal Deputy White House Counsel and then White House Counsel to President Barack Obama. Previously a partner at Latham and Watkins co-chairing its white-co ...
– White House Counsel to President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
; RHS class of 1989
*
Hope Solo
Hope Amelia Stevens (; born July 30, 1981) is an American former soccer goalkeeper. She was a goalkeeper for the United States women's national soccer team from 2000 to 2016, and is a World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Aft ...
–
United States women's national soccer team
The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...
goalkeeper; Summer Olympic gold medalist;
FIFA Women's World Cup
The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...
champion; RHS class of 1999
*
Sharon Tate
Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she played small television roles before appearing in films and was regularly featured in fashion magazines as a model and cover ...
– actress; murder victim of Charles Manson's followers; Miss Richland, 1959
*
John Archibald Wheeler
John Archibald Wheeler (July 9, 1911April 13, 2008) was an American theoretical physicist. He was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr in e ...
–
theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experimen ...
Rachel Willis-Sørensen
Rachel Willis-Sørensen (born 1984) is an American operatic soprano, vocal contractor / vocalist , conductor.
Studies
She has a bachelor's degree and a masters, the latter in vocal performance and pedagogy, both from Brigham Young University. A ...
—American operatic soprano raised in Richland
Sister city
Richland's
sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
is:
*
Hsinchu
Hsinchu (, Chinese: 新竹, Pinyin: ''Xīnzhú'', Wade–Giles: ''Hsin¹-chu²'') is a city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan Province not among the special municipalities, with estimated 450,655 inhabi ...
, Taiwan
See also
*
Hanford High School
Hanford High School is a public high school located on the northern edge of Richland, Washington. It is part of the Richland School District. The school's mascot is the falcon, and its school colors are purple and gold.
The high school, buil ...
*
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is one of the United States Department of Energy national laboratories, managed by the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science. The main campus of the laboratory is in Richland, Washington.
O ...
*
Hanford Site
The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government on the Columbia River in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. The site has been known by many names, including SiteW a ...
*
Richland High School
*
Richland School District
*
Washington State University, Tri-Cities
*
Ben Franklin Transit
Ben Franklin Transit is the operator of public transportation in Franklin and Benton counties in the U.S. state of Washington. Seventeen routes provide local service for the three component urban areas of the Tri-Cities: Richland, Kennewick, a ...
*
Kate Brown
Katherine Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 38th governor of Oregon since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th district of the ...
References
Further reading
* Kate Brown, ''
Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
* Barbara J. Kubik, ''Richland, Celebrating Its Heritage.'' Richland, WA: City of Richland, Washington, 1994.
* Paul Loeb, ''Nuclear Culture: Living & Working in the World's Largest Atomic Complex.'' Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers, 1986.
* Christine F. Noonan, ''Federal City Revisited: Atomic Energy and Community Identify in Richland, Washington.'' PhD dissertation. Ball State University, 2000.
* S.L. Sanger, ''Hanford and the Bomb: An Oral History of World War II.'' Seattle, WA: Living History Press, 1989.
External links
Hanford Reach National MonumentPlutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters
{{authority control
1905 establishments in Washington (state)
Cities in Benton County, Washington
Cities in Washington (state)
Manhattan Project sites
Populated places established in 1905
Washington (state) populated places on the Columbia River
Populated places on the Yakima River