Hanford was a small agricultural community 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 and White Bluffs were depopulated in 1943 in order 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. The site has been known by many names, including SiteW a ...

. The town was located in what is now the "100F" sector of the site. The original town, named for the judge and irrigation company president

Cornelius H. Hanford Cornelius Holgate Hanford (April 21, 1849 – March 2, 1926) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Washington and the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, and ...

, was settled in 1907 on land bought by the local power and water utility. In 1913, the town had a spur railroad link to the transcontinental

Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experience ...

, also known as "the electric railroad". By 1925 the booming town enjoyed high agricultural demand and provided a hotel, bank, and elementary and high schools. The

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

condemned Hanford to make way for the Hanford Site. Residents were given a thirty-day eviction notice on March 9, 1943. Most buildings were razed, with the exception of the former Hanford High School. It was used during World War II as the construction management office. Hanford High School, albeit marred from

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

practice, still stands today and can be seen from the Hanford tour bus operated by the U.S. government. Hanford is now protected as part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. File:Pic jims service station.jpg, Service station in Hanford, 1930 File:Pic hanford highschool.jpg, Hanford High School, 1925 File:Hanford High School.jpg, Hanford High School, following its use for military training

References

External links

Hanford, WA town site
at East Benton County Historical Society
Hanford Site Environmental Report
1997 {{authority control Geography of Benton County, Washington Ghost towns in Washington (state) Forcibly depopulated communities in the United States Unincorporated communities in Benton County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) Populated places established in 1907 Populated places disestablished in 1943 1907 establishments in Washington (state) 1943 disestablishments in the United States