White Bluffs was an agricultural town in
Benton County, Washington
Benton County is a County (United States), county in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 206,873. The county seat is Prosser, Wash ...
, United States. It was depopulated in 1943 along with the town of
Hanford
Hanford may refer to:
Places
*Hanford (constituency), a constituency in Tuen Mun, People's Republic of China
*Hanford, Dorset, a village and parish in England
*Hanford, Staffordshire, England
*Hanford, California, United States
*Hanford, Iowa, ...
to make room for the nuclear production facility known as 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. It has also been known as SiteW and the Hanford Nuclear R ...
.
History
Prior to the arrival of
white settlers, the land was inhabited by the
Wanapum
The Wanapum (also Wanapam) tribe of Native Americans in the United States, 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 (state), Was ...
Indians, a tribe closely related to the
Palouse
The Palouse ( ) is a geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of North Central Idaho, north central Idaho, southeastern Washington (part of eastern Washington), and by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. ...
,
Yakama, and
Nez Perce tribe
The Nez Perce (; Exonym and endonym, autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwes ...
s.
The first white settlement at White Bluffs was in 1861. The original townsite was located on the east bank of the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
in
Franklin County, near present-day Area 100H of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. A ferry was built to accommodate traffic across the Columbia headed for the gold rush in
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
. By the early 1890s the population had grown and the town expanded to the west bank of the Columbia in Benton County.
The state government authorized a "colonization" project in 1921 to build 99 homes for returning
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
veterans, but abandoned it in 1925.
Hanford Site
When U.S. government seizures of homes of White Bluffs residents occurred beginning in March 1943, some homes were seized immediately for government office buildings. Residents were given from three days to two months to abandon their homes. Homes and orchards were burned by the government to clear the site. The remains of some 177 persons buried at the White Bluffs Cemetery were moved on May 6, 1943, to the
East Prosser Cemetery, some 30 miles (50 km) away.
At the time of the government destruction of the town of White Bluffs, production of pears, apples, vegetables, and grapes for wine production were primary sources of livelihood.
Almost nothing remains of the town. A U.S. Department of Energy photo gallery containing various White Bluffs pictures was released on June 15, 2008.
See also
*
List of ghost towns in Washington
This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in Washington, a state of the United States.
Classification
Barren site
* Sites no longer in existence
* Sites that have been destroyed
* Covered with water
* Reverted to pasture
* May have a few ...
References
{{authority control
Geography of Benton County, Washington
Ghost towns in Benton County, Washington
Ghost towns in Washington (state)
Forcibly depopulated communities in the United States
1861 establishments in Washington Territory
Populated places disestablished in 1943
1943 disestablishments in the United States