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Kennewick () is a city in Benton County in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of Washington. It is located along the southwest 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 ...
, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers and across from the confluence of the Columbia and
Snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
rivers. It is the most populous of the three cities collectively referred to as the Tri-Cities (the others being Pasco and Richland). The
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
estimated the population to be 85,158 as of 2023, up from 83,921 at the 2020 United States census. The discovery of
Kennewick Man Kennewick Man or Ancient One was a Native American man who lived during the early Holocene, whose skeletal remains were found in 1996 washed out on a bank of the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington. Radiocarbon tests show the man lived a ...
along the banks of the Columbia River provides evidence of Native Americans' settlement of the area for at least 9,000 years. American settlers began moving into the region in the late 19th century as transportation infrastructure was built to connect Kennewick to other settlements along the Columbia River. The construction of 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 ...
at Richland accelerated the city's growth in the 1940s as workers from around the country came to participate in the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...
. While Hanford and
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 ...
continue to be major sources of employment, the city's economy has diversified over time and Kennewick today hosts offices for
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
and Lamb Weston.


History


Native peoples

Native Americans populated the area around modern-day Kennewick for millennia before being discovered and settled by European descendants. These inhabitants consisted of people from the Umatilla,
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 ...
,
Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; 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 Northwest. This region h ...
, and Yakama tribes. Kennewick's low elevation helped to moderate winter temperatures. On top of this, the riverside location made salmon and other river fish easily accessible. By the 19th century, people lived in and between two major camps in the area. These were located near present-day Sacajawea State Park in Pasco and Columbia Point in Richland.
Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...
noted that there were many people living in the area when they passed through in 1805 and 1806. The map produced following their journey marks two significant villages in the area - Wollawollah and Selloatpallah. These had approximate populations of 2,600 and 3,000 respectively. There are conflicting stories on how Kennewick gained its name, but these narratives attribute it to the Native Americans living in the area. Some reports claim that the name comes from a native word meaning "grassy place". It has also been called "winter paradise", mostly because of the mild winters in the area. In the past, Kennewick has also been known by other names. The area was known as Tehe from 1886 to 1891, and this name appears on early letters sent to the area with the city listed as Tehe, Washington. Other reports claim that the city's name is derived from how locals pronounced the name Chenoythe, who was a member of the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
.


Settlement and early 20th century

The Umatilla and Yakama tribes ceded the land Kennewick sits on at the Walla Walla Council in 1855. Ranchers began working with cattle and horses in the area as early as the 1860s, but in general settlement was slow due to the arid climate. Ainsworth became the first non-Native settlement in the area—where U.S. Route 12 now crosses the
Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...
between Pasco and
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
. Some Ainsworth residents would commute to what is now Kennewick via small boats for work. All that remains of Ainsworth is a marker placed by the
Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. Establi ...
near the site. During the 1880s,
steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
s and railroads connected what would become known as Kennewick to the other settlements along the Columbia River. Until the construction of a railroad bridge, rail freight from
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
to Tacoma had to cross the Columbia River via ferry. In 1887, a temporary railroad bridge was constructed by the
Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...
connecting Kennewick and Pasco. That bridge could not endure the winter ice on the Columbia and was partially swept away in the first winter. A new, more permanent bridge was built in its place in 1888. It was around this time that a town plan was first laid out, centered around the needs of the railroad. A school was constructed using donated funds, but this burned soon after it was finished. This initial boom only lasted briefly, as most of the people who came to Kennewick left after the bridge was finished. In the 1890s, the Northern Pacific Irrigation Company installed pumps and ditches to bring water for agriculture into the Kennewick Highlands. Once there was a reliable water source, orchards and vineyards were planted all over the Kennewick area. Strawberries were another successful crop. The turn of the century saw the creation of the city's first newspaper, the ''Columbia Courier''. Kennewick was officially incorporated on February 5, 1904. and the name of the newspaper changed to the ''Kennewick Courier'' in 1905 to reflect this change. In the following decade, an unsuccessful bid attempted to move the seat of Benton County from Prosser to Kennewick. There have been other unsuccessful attempts to make this move throughout the city's history, most recently in 2010. In 1915, the opening of the Celilo Canal connected Kennewick to the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia River. City residents hoped to capitalize on this new infrastructure by forming the Port of Kennewick, making the city an inland seaport. Freight and passenger ship traffic began that same year. The port also developed rail facilities in the area. Transportation in the region further improved with the construction of the Pasco-Kennewick Bridge in 1922, which is locally known as the Green Bridge. This bridge connected the two cities by vehicle traffic for the first time. Kennewick and Pasco both experienced decent growth and became informally known as the Twin Cities throughout the Columbia Basin because of their juxtaposition across the river from each other. Like many other agricultural communities, the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
had an impact in Kennewick. Despite lowered prices for crops grown in the region, the city continued to experience growth, gaining another 400 people during the 1930s. Growth was aided by federal projects that improved the Columbia River. Downstream, Bonneville Dam at Cascade Locks, Oregon allowed larger barges to reach Kennewick.
Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerhous ...
, located upstream of Kennewick, fostered irrigation across the Columbia Basin north of Pasco, sending more raw material through Kennewick.


Post-war development

Kennewick and the greater Tri-Cities area experienced significant changes during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 1943, the United States opened 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. It has also ...
in and north of Richland. Its purpose originally was to help produce nuclear weaponry, which the US was trying to develop. People came from across the United States to work at Hanford, who were unaware of what they were actually producing. They were only told that their work would help the war effort. The federal government constructed housing in Richland, but many employees of that site then commuted from Kennewick. The
plutonium Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...
refined at the Hanford Site was used in the
Fat Man "Fat Man" (also known as Mark III) was the design of the nuclear weapon the United States used for seven of the first eight nuclear weapons ever detonated in history. It is also the most powerful design to ever be used in warfare. A Fat Man ...
bomb, which was dropped in
Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...
in 1945. As the Hanford Site's purpose has evolved, there has continually been a tremendous influence from the site on the workforce and economy of Kennewick. Due to activity at the Hanford Site, the 1950 census recorded major population growth in the Tri-Cities, with Richland overtaking to become the largest city in the region. From 1940 to 1950, the population of Richland grew from 247 residents to 21,793 residents, while Pasco gained from 3,913 to 10,114, and Kennewick increased from 1,918 to 10,085. An effort to build a new bridge began in 1949 and was funded in 1951 because of increasing traffic between Kennewick and Pasco, largely due to commuters heading to and from the Hanford Site in Richland and McNary Dam, which was under construction near Umatilla, Oregon. The two-lane Green Bridge was the only one for automobiles across the Columbia River in the Tri-Cities at the time, and the 10,000 cars crossing it daily had created traffic problems. A new four-lane divided highway bridge, dubbed the Blue Bridge, opened in 1954 less than upstream from the Green Bridge. The
Cable Bridge The Cable Bridge, officially called the Ed Hendler Bridge and sometimes called the Intercity Bridge, spans the Columbia River between Pasco, Washington, Pasco and Kennewick, Washington, Kennewick in southeastern Washington (state), Washington as ...
opened between Kennewick and Pasco in 1978 and was built to replace the Green Bridge. However, demolishing the Green Bridge proved to be controversial. Those seeking to preserve the bridge for historical reasons were able to stall the demolition, but it was eventually torn down in 1990.


20th century racial discrimination

Racial discrimination against African Americans was common in Kennewick before the civil rights movement. The city was a
sundown town Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, were all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States. They were towns that practiced a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combinati ...
, requiring African Americans to be out of the city after nightfall. The only place they could live in the Tri-Cities at one time was east Pasco. Even during the day, African Americans would experience harassment by the general public and police, with some police officers stopping every person of color they found in the city after dark. In the 1940s, covenants restricted African Americans from owning property in the city. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in '' Shelley v. Kraemer'' that racially restrictive covenants could not be enforced in state courts, these were replaced by informal agreements between homeowners and realtors to refuse to sell to African Americans. Kennewick's racial discrimination problems became a contributing factor behind a community college not being built there in the 1950s. In 1963, regional
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
leaders started pressuring the state government to investigate exclusionary practices and staged demonstrations in front of city hall. Initial meetings led the state to determine that while no official policy banning African Americans from the city existed, racial discrimination was a significant barrier to that community living and feeling safe. Despite this, the Washington State Board Against Discrimination indicted Kennewick for its sundown town status.


1980 to present

The
1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens In March 1980, a series of volcanic explosions and pyroclastic flows began at Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, United States. A series of Phreatic eruption, phreatic blasts occurred from the summit and escalated until a major ...
caused
volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...
to fall on Kennewick. Higher accumulations were recorded in surrounding communities, such as Ritzville, and the ash plume was thick enough to trigger street lamps to turn on at noon. Cars that didn't have external filters stopped functioning during the eruption. Kennewick and surrounding areas have been dusted by smaller eruptions of Mount St. Helens since. The area was connected to the
Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
in 1986 when construction on Interstate 82 (I-82) between Benton City and the south end of Kennewick was completed. This came after over a decade of fighting between Washington and Oregon regarding the planned route of the freeway. With backing from Tri-Cities and Walla Walla area businesses, Washington had pushed for a route that connected those cities. Oregon eventually opposing proposed routes that didn't cross the Umatilla Bridge, a compromise was reached placing I-82 on its current alignment to the south and southwest of Kennewick while authorizing the construction of Interstate 182 as a spur heading directly into Richland and Pasco. The 1980s also brought the two most serious attempts to merge Kennewick with the other cities in the Tri-Cities, both of which failed. This resulted from an economic down turn in the area caused by the cancellation of two proposed nuclear power plants on the Hanford Site. The first proposal was to consolidate all three cities (Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland) into one, while the second only included Kennewick and Richland. Support for both of these attempts was strong in Richland, but voters in Kennewick and Pasco were not on board. The Toyota Center was used as a venue for ice hockey and figure skating during the 1990 Goodwill Games. This international sporting competition was similar to the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
, but significantly smaller in scale. Most of the events were held in the host city,
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, but were also staged in other areas of the state, including Tacoma and
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
. In 1996, an ancient human skeleton was found on a bank of the Columbia River. Known as
Kennewick Man Kennewick Man or Ancient One was a Native American man who lived during the early Holocene, whose skeletal remains were found in 1996 washed out on a bank of the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington. Radiocarbon tests show the man lived a ...
, the remains are notable for their age (some 9,300 years). Ownership of the bones has been a matter of
controversy Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...
with Native American tribes in the Inland Northwest claiming the bones to be from an ancestor of theirs and wanting them to be reburied. After a court litigation, a group of researchers were allowed to study the remains and perform various tests and analyses. They published their results in a book in 2014. A 2015 genetic analysis confirmed the ancient skeleton's ancestry to the Native Americans of the area (some observers contended that the remains were of European origin). The genetic analysis has notably contributed to knowledge about the
peopling of the Americas It is believed that the peopling of the Americas began when Paleolithic hunter-gatherers (Paleo-Indians) entered North America from the North Asian Mammoth steppe via the Beringia land bridge, which had formed between northeastern Siberia and we ...
. Kennewick fared better than most of the state during the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
, primarily due to consistent job growth in the metro area during that time. This was largely driven by the Hanford Site, which only had one significant period of layoffs which briefly caused economic uncertainty. Home sales experienced a small decline from 2007 to 2009, but rebounded in 2010. Since the recession, Kennewick has expanded greatly. While growth has been experienced throughout the city, new development has been strongest in the Southridge area along U.S. Route 395 (US 395) and in the west part of the city thanks to their access to major roads and the ample land available in those areas when development started.


Geography

Kennewick is located in
Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the H ...
along the south side of the Columbia River and is one of three cities in the Tri-Cities. The other two cities are Richland, which is upstream of Kennewick on the same side of the river, and Pasco, which is across the river. The elevation within the city rises from the river to a line of ridges on the south side of town that are a result of the same
anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of Fold (geology), fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest Bed (geology), beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex curve, c ...
that created Badger Mountain and Rattlesnake Mountain. Beyond that line of ridges, the city slopes up toward the Horse Heaven Hills. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. The former community of Vista is now a neighborhood fully contained within Kennewick. The city overlies basalt laid down by the Columbia River Basalt Group, which was a type of
volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...
eruption known as a
flood basalt A flood basalt (or plateau basalt) is the result of a giant volcanic eruption or series of eruptions that covers large stretches of land or the ocean floor with basalt lava. Many flood basalts have been attributed to the onset of a hotspot (geolo ...
. This erupted from fissures that were geographically spread throughout eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, and far western Idaho. Most of the lava erupted between 17 and 14 million years ago, with smaller eruptions lasting as late as 6 million years ago. The nearest eruptive vent to Kennewick from this period is near Ice Harbor Dam along the Snake River upstream of Burbank and Pasco. While outcroppings from the basalt flows can be seen throughout Kennewick, they are mostly buried by sediments. The first major sediment deposit following the eruptions is the Ringold Formation, which was placed by the Columbia River between 8 and 3 million years ago. Further deposition came as a result of the Missoula Floods. At the end of the
last glacial maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...
, an ice dam blocked the Clark Fork River in
Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
. The pressure from the resulting lake would periodically build to the point that the dam would fail, sending massive amounts of water cascading to the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
. The flood's movement was impeded by the Horse Heaven Hills, creating a temporary lake known as Lake Lewis. This abrupt halt in flow allowed the floodwater to drop a significant amount of sediment before passing through Wallula Gap toward Hermiston. During the largest floods, the water's surface reached above sea level. This completely covered all of the land within Kennewick's city limits.
Earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
s are a hazard in Kennewick, though not to the same extent or frequency as areas west of the
Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...
like the Puget Sound Region. The entire
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
is threatened with
subduction zone Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
earthquakes that can exceed magnitudes of 9 on the
moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mwg, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. was defined in a 1979 paper ...
. The last of these earthquakes, which could be compared to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, occurred in 1700. Should the next earthquake occur, damage is expected to be minimal in and around Kennewick, but destruction west of the Cascades could have a major impact of the economy of inland areas. These subduction zone earthquakes will be centered on the boundary between the North American Plate and the Juan de Fuca Plate, which is located offshore. Fault lines closer to Kennewick also produce earthquakes. While these are weaker, they can still cause damage. One such earthquake, named the 1936 State Line earthquake, occurred near Walla Walla with damage extending as far away as Prosser.


Climate

Kennewick has a
semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''BSk''), that closely borders on a
desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''BWk'') due to its position east of the Cascade Mountains. The Cascades create an effective
rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...
, causing Kennewick to receive a fraction of the precipitation that cities west of the mountains like Portland and
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
get annually, with values being more similar to that of
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
. The mountains also insulate Kennewick from the moderating effects of the Pacific Ocean, allowing the city to experience more extreme temperatures. Before McNary Dam was built on the Columbia River downstream of Kennewick, the river would periodically flood. The worst of these floods happened in 1948 and caused one death and $50 million ($533.6 million in 2019) worth of damage. The government responded by building the McNary Levee System to protect lower parts of town. Floods like this were the result of melting snow, and were most extreme when a heavy snowpack developed in the mountains over winter followed by a strong regional heatwave. The flood threat from the Columbia has significantly decreased since dams were built. Zintel Canyon Dam located near the Southridge Sports and Events Complex was built to protect parts of the city from a
100-year flood A 100-year flood, also called a 1% flood,Holmes, R.R., Jr., and Dinicola, K. (2010) ''100-Year flood–it's all about chance 'U.S. Geological Survey General Information Product 106/ref> is a flood event at a level that is reached or exceeded onc ...
. While the creek that flows through Zintel Canyon typically runs dry, summer thunderstorms in the Horse Heaven Hills can generate destructive
flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash f ...
s. Lying at the bottom of a basin,
temperature inversion In meteorology, an inversion (or temperature inversion) is a phenomenon in which a layer of warmer air overlies cooler air. Normally, air temperature gradually decreases as altitude increases, but this relationship is reversed in an inver ...
s can develop, creating dense fog and low clouds in Kennewick. This is particularly common in the winter and can last for several days. Inversions form during periods of high pressure. High pressure combining with the low angle of the sun in winter brings stability in the atmosphere, allowing denser cold air to sink to the floor of the Columbia Basin. Pollutants will also become trapped, lowering the air quality. When fog develops during an inversion, it will often limit diurnal temperature changes to just a few degrees. Temperatures in areas above the inversion will often be warmer despite being at a higher elevation. These inversions cause a major decrease in the amount of sunshine Kennewick receives annually. If a weather system drops precipitation but isn't strong enough to clear the inversion,
freezing rain Freezing rain is rain maintained at temperatures below melting point, freezing by the ambient air mass that causes freezing on contact with surfaces. Unlike rain and snow mixed, a mixture of rain and snow or ice pellets, freezing rain is made en ...
or sleet can fall in Kennewick. The average annual wind speed in Kennewick is , but strong winds are a common occurrence in Kennewick and can sometimes cause damage. Wind and the arid nature of the region can cause
dust storm A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transpo ...
s. These events can happen any time of the year but is most common in the spring and fall months when farms in the region have high amounts of exposed soil. Chinook winds can also be experienced during the winter. These are formed when moisture gets removed from air moving across the Cascade Mountains, allowing the air to warm significantly as it descends into the Yakima Valley and Columbia Basin. Many of the high temperature records set during the winter months result from Chinook events. Summer brings extreme heat and low humidity, which are ideal conditions for
wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
in undeveloped areas adjacent to town. One such fire in 2018 started along Interstate 82 south of Kennewick and burned , destroying five homes on the edge of Kennewick. While rare,
severe thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...
s can also cause damage in Kennewick. Severe storms can produce damaging wind, hail, lightning, and weak
tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
es. No tornadoes were recorded in Kennewick between 1962 and 2011, but one did touch down in 2016. The
hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
is 7b bordering 8a.


Demographics


2020 census


2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 73,917 people, 27,266 households, and 18,528 families residing in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...
was . There were 28,507 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 78.5%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 1.7%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.8% Native American, 2.4% Asian, 0.2%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...
, 12.1% from other races, and 4.3% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 24.2% of the population. Of the 27,266 households, 37.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.0% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of single individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.22. The median age in the city was 32.6 years. 28.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.8% were from 25 to 44; 23.8% were from 45 to 64; and 10.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.9% male and 50.1% female.


2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 54,693 people, 20,786 households, and 14,176 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 22,043 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 82.9%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 1.1%
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.9% Native American, 2.1% Asian, 0.1%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...
, 9.4% from other races, and 3.4% from two or more races. 15.5% of the population was
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race. 18.2% were of German, 9.6% English, 8.5% Irish and 8.5% American ancestry. 84.6% spoke English and 12.5% Spanish as their first language. There were 20,786 households, out of which 37.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.6 and the average family size was 3.15. In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.6% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $41,213, and the median income for a family was $50,011. Males had a median income of $41,589 versus $26,022 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,152. About 9.7% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those age 65 or over.


Economy

Kennewick's economy is closely tied to the rest of the Tri-Cities and is heavily influenced by the Hanford Site and the national laboratory. The agriculture and healthcare industries also employ many residents. It has developed to become the retail hub of the Tri-Cities and hosts the only mall in the area— Columbia Center Mall. As such, Kennewick draws in shoppers from a significant portion of southeast Washington and northeast Oregon. Aside from the commercial area around the mall, the other significant retail districts include the historic downtown area and the newly developed Southridge district. Many agricultural commodities are grown near Kennewick, and many of these pass through the city to be processed and/or transported to other markets for consumption.
Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...
-based Lamb Weston, a division of
ConAgra Foods Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...
, has corporate offices in Kennewick and
Tyson Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation based in Springdale, Arkansas that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of broiler industry, chicken, beef, and pork after JBS ...
does processing in town. Volcanic ash is mixed in with the rich soil of the region, creating ideal growing conditions for numerous crops.
Irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
enhanced the region through further diversification of agricultural products coming from the Columbia Basin to include vineyards and a variety of vegetables and tree fruit. In higher elevations, like much of the Horse Heaven Hills, there is no access to irrigation water, limiting agricultural activities in that area to ranching and growing wheat. The region is experiencing consistent job growth, which is creating a large population boom. Home prices have increased by about 10% annually in Kennewick for the past several years, with slower increases having occurred before 2016. Despite this growth, unemployment remained above both the national and state averages in 2020. Recently, industrial growth in Hermiston and at the Port of Morrow in Boardman has led to an increase in the number of Kennewick residents who commute to those areas for work. This is further enhanced by a housing shortage in northeast Oregon.


Culture

Kennewick hosts a number of events throughout the year, many of which are held outdoors in public parks during the warm season. The largest weekend event in town is the Tri-Cities Water Follies, which fill the weekend of the HAPO Gold Cup, a hydroplane race taking place every July in the Columbia River just upstream of the Blue Bridge. Activities in Kennewick that weekend include the races itself as well as an airshow. There are other events throughout the Tri-Cities during Water Follies, such as Art in the Park, a craft show at Howard Amon Park in Richland. Over 70,000 people attend events related to Water Follies each year. Benton and Franklin Counties combine to host a single
fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...
at the end of each summer at the fairgrounds off SR 397 in east Kennewick. Like many other county fairs across the United States, the fair has livestock exhibitions, retail, carnival rides, and concerts. Also on site during the fair is a
rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
named the Horse Heaven Round-Up.


Tourism

The arid climate and warm temperatures during the summer draw people to Kennewick from around the Pacific Northwest. Many summertime visitors engage in boating and other water related activities in the Columbia, Snake, and Yakima rivers. The city and port district work together to further develop tourism throughout the city. This includes recent improvements to Clover Island, which has a hotel, lighthouse, and the Ice Harbor Brewing Company. Adjacent to Clover Island is historic downtown, which has many antique and clothing shops. , work is ongoing to develop the former Vista Field area in the west side of town into a mixed-use development that will include shopping. Kennewick lies near the center of Washington's wine country, which stretches from the Yakima Valley through the Columbia Basin and Horse Heaven Hills east to the Walla Walla Valley. There are several
American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...
s near town. Wine tasting is a major part of the Tri-Cities tourism economy, with over 300 wineries and wine bars rooms in the area. The city actively markets this to bring in visitors. Cruises travel up the Columbia from Portland with a stop in the Tri-Cities to tour wineries in the area.


Sports

Kennewick hosts two professional sports team, the
Tri-City Americans The Tri-City Americans are an American major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League and based in Kennewick, Washington. Founded in 1966 as the Calgary Buffaloes, the team settled in Kennewick in 1988 after a number of re ...
of the
Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...
and the Tri-City Dust Devils (baseball). The Tri-City Americans play at the Toyota Center. The Tri-City Dust Devils (a
farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...
of the Los Angeles Angels) plays at Gesa Stadium in Pasco. The Tri-City Americans were one of the original teams in the Western Hockey League, starting in
Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
,
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
in 1966. The team moved a couple times before coming to the Tri-Cities in 1988, most recently being in a suburb of
Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
. The team's move to the Tri-Cities made them the first professional hockey team to play in the area and was the catalyst for constructing the Toyota Center. The Americans have won the US Division four times, but have not yet won a Western Conference final. The Tri-Cities Fire was an indoor football team that played in a league with three other teams. The team was founded in 2019, bringing indoor football back to the Toyota Center after the Tri-City Fever went dormant in 2016. The team folded after one year. The Fire finished their first season with an 0–12 record, the worst in the league. The Fever won one
National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...
championship in 2005, beating the Rome Renegades. They went to the
Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...
championship game in 2011 and 2012, losing to Sioux Falls Storm both years. Professional minor league baseball teams have played in Kennewick starting as early as 1950 with the Tri-City Braves. Other teams included the Tri-City Atoms, the Tri-City A's, the Tri-City Triplets, and the Tri-City Ports. All of these played at Sanders-Jacobs Field, which has since been demolished. The Tri-City Posse preceded the Dust Devils playing at GESA Stadium. The city presently hosts the Atomic City Rollergirls, an amateur
roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...
team.
Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...
occasionally plays
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
at the Toyota Center.


Media

The only daily newspaper published in the Tri-Cities, the ''
Tri-City Herald The ''Tri-City Herald'' is a twice-weekly newspaper based in Kennewick, Washington, United States. Owned by The McClatchy Company, the newspaper serves southeastern Washington state, including the three cities of Kennewick, Pasco and Richland ...
'', is based in downtown Kennewick. The ''Tri-Cities Journal of Business'' is a monthly print publication that is also located in Kennewick and also has a significant online presence. The ''Journal of Business'' also publishes the ''Senior Times'', whose target demographic is Tri-Citians who are 60 years or older. The city hosts ''Tú Decides'', a bilingual weekly news publication that is both in print and online. ''Tú Decides'' is available in both Spanish and English. Richland based ''Tumbleweird'' is an
alternative newspaper An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting ...
published monthly that covers the Tri-Cities. Kennewick and the Tri-Cities share a
television market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...
with Yakima. Because of this, the local affiliates of major national networks are closely linked to the affiliates in Yakima. The studios of the Tri-Cities affiliates of
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
, ABC, and Fox are located in Kennewick. These are
KNDU KNDO (channel 23) is a television station in Yakima, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the Spokane-based Cowles Company as part of the KHQ Television Group. KNDO's studios are located on West Yakima Avenue in downtown ...
, KVEW, and KFFX respectively. The CBS affiliate, KEPR is in Pasco. KFFX does not produce any local programming, instead it acquires its news from KNDU and its parent station— KHQ in
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
. Unlike the television market, the Tri-Cities and Yakima have separate radio markets. Sixteen radio stations are licensed in Kennewick by the FCC with others in nearby cities. There are several religious non-commercial radio stations with coverage in Kennewick. The school district operates a student-run station out of Tri-Tech. NPR member stations Northwest Public Radio and
Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary public broadcasting, public media organization for the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington (state), Washington. It provides news, information, and programming via television stati ...
also serve Kennewick.


Parks and recreation

Kennewick's low precipitation values and mild-to-warm weather provide opportunities for outdoor recreation throughout much of the year. The city's Parks and Recreation Department operates 27 parks plus other facilities for the public to use. Many parks have shelters that can be reserved for events, with most of them offering playgrounds. There are three athletic complexes throughout the city as well. The Parks and Recreation Department also maintains several hiking and bike trails in the city, including the portion of the Sacagawea Heritage Trail that passes through Kennewick. The largest park in the city's system is Columbia Park, which is a riverfront area to the north of SR 240 from the Richland/Kennewick city line in the west to the Blue Bridge in the east. There are several boat launches here offering access to the Columbia River. Kayaking and canoeing is another popular water activity. The Sacagawea Heritage Trail, a bike path connecting all three of the Tri-Cities, passes through the entire length of the park. The most developed portion of the park is the east end, which has a veterans memorial, golf course, fishing pond, and a large playground. Columbia Park hosts the HAPO Gold Cup, an annual hydroplane race. The part of Richland adjacent to the park is Columbia Park West. Combined, the two form of contiguous public recreation land along the river. In the early 2010s, the city built the Southridge Sports and Events Complex in the quickly growing south end of town along US 395. This property is primarily used for scheduled sporting events, such as baseball, basketball, and volleyball. That said, it also has recreational facilities that don't need to be reserved, such as a playground and open fields. Kennewick was able to secure a piece of the World Trade Center from the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, (PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ) is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...
, which is located in the southeast corner of the complex as a memorial to the victims of the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
in 2001. The complex was considered complete when the historic
carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...
that the city restored was opened on the site.


Government

Kennewick is a code city that operates under the council–manager form of government. The city council has seven members, four of which are elected at-large while three are elected by the city's three electoral wards. The mayor is selected by the councilmembers. Kennewick's
city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...
serves under the direction of the city council, and administers and coordinates the delivery of municipal services. The City of Kennewick is a full-service city, providing
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
, fire prevention and suppression, emergency medical response, water and sewer, parks,
public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...
, planning and zoning, street maintenance, code enforcement, and general administrative services to residents. The city also operations a regional convention center. According to the city's 2018 audited financial report, the cities total annual expenses are $96.6 million, of which $24.2 million is funded by
sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...
, $13.1 million by Utility Tax and $13.0 million by
property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or Wealth t ...
. The citizens of Kennewick are represented in the Washington Senate by Matt Boehnke in District 8, and Perry Dozier in District 16, and in the
Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...
by Stephanie Barnard and April Connors in District 8, and Mark Klicker and Skyler Rude in District 16. At the national level, Kennewick and the rest of the Tri-Cities are part of the 4th congressional district, has been represented by Republican Dan Newhouse since 2015.Tri-Cities Area
/ref>


Education

Out of the city's residents who are 25 years or older, 88% hold a high school diploma (or equivalent) with 24% holding a bachelor's degree or better. These rates are higher than Pasco, but lower than Richland. Kennewick does not have any post-secondary institutions, but is located near Columbia Basin College in Pasco and Washington State University Tri-Cities in Richland. Public schools located in the city are part of the Kennewick School District (KSD). The Kennewick School District has 17 elementary schools, five middle schools, three high schools serving over 18,000 students. A vocational school is operated by KSD—with funding also coming from other local school districts—named the Tri-Tech Skills Center. Vocational programs at Tri-Tech include firefighting, radio broadcasting, and auto body technology. Similarly, KSD contributes funding to Delta High School in Pasco, which is a
STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...
-focused school drawing students from around the Tri-Cities. KSD also operates Neil F. Lampson Stadium, located at Kennewick High School, which is used to host
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
games for the three high schools in town as well as for special events. Lampson Stadium has a capacity of 6,800 people. There are five private schools for educating children in Kennewick. Many of these are run by Christian churches, including St. Joseph's Catholic School and Bethlehem Lutheran School.


Infrastructure


Transportation

The nearest
commercial airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
to Kennewick is the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco, with flights to several major international airports in the western part of the country. The busiest route is between Pasco and Seattle–Tacoma. Pasco also has the station for both
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 intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's Portland-Chicago ''
Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak 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 North ...
'' and
Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...
. The Port of Kennewick formerly operated Vista Field near the Toyota Center as a general aviation airport, but it closed at the end of 2013. The port plans to turn the land into a
mixed-use development Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...
. Interstate 82 bypasses Kennewick to the south, connecting to Seattle via
Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...
and both Portland and
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
via Interstate 84. US 395 passes through town from south to north connecting to
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
, also via Interstate 90. State Route 240 and State Route 397 also pass through Kennewick, but these mostly serve local traffic. SR 240 connects the Hanford Site to Richland and also travels across the Columbia River on the Blue Bridge to Pasco. SR 397 connects both Interstate 82 and Interstate 182 in Pasco (via the
Cable Bridge The Cable Bridge, officially called the Ed Hendler Bridge and sometimes called the Intercity Bridge, spans the Columbia River between Pasco, Washington, Pasco and Kennewick, Washington, Kennewick in southeastern Washington (state), Washington as ...
) to Finley, providing a direct route for freight to go to a chemical plant there.
Public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...
in Kennewick is provided by Ben Franklin Transit, which runs several bus routes that provide intra-city service as well as connections to Pasco and Richland. There are two transit centers in Kennewick: the Three Rivers Transit Center near the Toyota Center and the Dayton Transfer Point downtown. The transit authority also operates a dial-a-ride service for disabled persons.


Utilities

Water and sewer services are provided by the city, with electricity coming from Benton Public Utility District. Natural gas comes from Cascade Natural Gas. Kennewick contracts with
Waste Management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitor ...
for garbage and recycling collection. Many people use irrigation water sourced from nearby rivers to water their lawns. This system is separate from the water provided by the city. Most of Kennewick is part of the Kennewick Irrigation District, with parts of the east side of town being under the Columbia Irrigation District. Nearly 80% of Kennewick's energy is
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
, with another 10% coming from
nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...
. Altogether, less than 5% of the city's electricity is sourced from
fossil fuels A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologica ...
.


Health care

The largest
hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
in Kennewick is Trios, located in the Southridge area. Kennewick General Hospital rebranded to Trios upon the opening of their Southridge hospital. Prior to this, the system's primary hospital was located near Kennewick High School on a campus that continues to be used for medical care. Trios also operates clinics and urgent care facilities throughout the Tri-Cities. The main Trios Hospital has 111 beds for treating patients. Having many clinics around the Tri-Cities, Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland is another major health care provider in Kennewick with Miramar Health Center, a Yakima Valley focused provider, also having a clinic. Trios is a Level III
trauma center A trauma center, or trauma centre, is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major traumatic injuries such as falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. The term "trauma center" may be used incorr ...
and is the only hospital in the Tri-Cities that is a designated as a pediatric trauma center. Kadlec is a Level II trauma center and often receives victims from car accidents. Patients needing further care are often transported to
Harborview Medical Center Harborview Medical Center is a public hospital located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is owned by King County and managed by UW Medicine. Overview Harborview Medical Center is the designated Disast ...
in Seattle, which is the only Level I trauma center in the Pacific Northwest. Children with significant medical needs are often treated at Seattle Children's. Seattle Children's operates a clinic in Kennewick.


Notable people

* Adelle August, actress and 1952 Miss Washington USA * Stu Barnes, former
Tri-City Americans The Tri-City Americans are an American major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League and based in Kennewick, Washington. Founded in 1966 as the Calgary Buffaloes, the team settled in Kennewick in 1988 after a number of re ...
and NHL player, now an assistant coach with the
Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...
* Jeremy Bonderman,
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
pitcher,
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
* Adam Carriker, defensive end for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League and graduate of Kennewick High School * Rick Emerson, former radio personality * Janet Krupin, actress, singer, writer, and producer * Olaf Kolzig, former Tri-City Americans and
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
goaltender, Washington Capitals * Damon Lusk,
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
driver * Ray Mansfield,
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
player, center,
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...
* Michael McShane, United States Judge for the District of Oregon * Leilani Mitchell, Professional basketball player * Travis Nelson, Oregon Legislator and graduate of Kennewick High School * Shawn O'Malley, Major League Baseball outfielder,
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...
* Scot Pollard, former
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
player * Mike Reilly, NFL quarterback, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Rams, CFL quarterback, Edmonton Eskimos * Russ Swan, Major League Baseball pitcher,
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
,
Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...
,
Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
* Brittney Zamora, racing driver


See also

* * List of sundown towns in the United States


References


External links


Official city website

Benton-Franklin Trends
{{Authority control 1904 establishments in Washington (state) Cities in Benton County, Washington Cities in Washington (state) Populated places established in 1904 Washington (state) populated places on the Columbia River Sundown towns in the United States Washington (state) placenames of Native American origin World War II Heritage Cities