Richland, Washington

Richland () is a city in Benton County, Washington, United States. It is located in southeastern Washington at the confluence of the Yakima 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, Richland forms the Tri-Cities metropolitan area.

The townsite was established in 1905 and incorporated as Richland in 1910. The U.S. Army acquired the city and surrounding areas in 1943 for the establishment of the Hanford nuclear site, part of the Manhattan Project during World War II. Richland was transformed into a bedroom community for Hanford workers and grew to 25,000 residents by the end of the war. The city remained under control of Hanford contractors until it was re-incorporated as a city in 1958.

History

For centuries, the village of Chemna was at the mouth of the Yakima River. Today the village site is called Columbia Point. From the village, the indigenous Wanapum, Yakama, and Walla Walla people harvested salmon runs entering the Yakima River. Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 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 fourth-class city.

Population growth in Richland accelerated following the opening of a permanent bridge over the Yakima River in 1907 and a highway to Kennewick in 1926. A cable ferry to Pasco operated across the Columbia River from 1894 to 1931, when it was replaced by a modern bridge.

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 Way) is named after the first president, who was a surveyor; Stevens Drive is named after John Frank Stevens, chief engineer of the Panama Canal and Stevens Pass; Goethals Drive is named after George W. Goethals, designer of the Panama Canal; and Thayer Drive is named after Sylvanus Thayer, superintendent of West Point and later founder of the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. The rule is that if alphabet houses reside on a given street, they are named after an engineer or a type of tree.

Cold War era

With the end of the war, the Hanford workers' camp, originally located 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. Management of the Hanford site and Richland itself was transferred to General Electric. The federal government relinquished its land holdings in 1957 and sold the city's real estate to residents; the last home was sold on May 16, 1960. 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 re-incorporated as a chartered first-class city on December 10, 1958, five months after residents voted in favor of self-governance as a city. Among the first additions to the new city was an expanded public library, which had been built by General Electric out of a Quonset hut. 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.

After the production boom

thumb|right|The former Richland City Hall was demolished

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 logo. Some of the streets platted after 1958 are named after U.S. Army generals (such as Patton Street, MacArthur Street, Sherman Street, and Pershing Avenue) and after various nuclear themes (Einstein Avenue, Curie Street, Proton Lane, Log Lane, and Nuclear Lane). A local museum, the Reach Museum,

tells the story of the cultural, natural, and scientific history of the Hanford Reach 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, Oregon State University, and Washington State University. Richland is also home to Kadlec Regional Medical Center. Columbia Basin College'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.

thumb|left|Richland Community Center

thumb|upright| An exercise class in a multipurpose room of the Richland Community Center

The Richland Community Center is adjacent to Howard Amon Park, 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 several important civic events including the Green Living Awards and the Fall Carnival. As of 2016, the city plans to rebuild city hall across Jadwin Avenue in the parking lot of the U.S. Federal Courthouse. The former city hall would be sold to eligible businesses.

Police services

The City of Richland Police Department is composed of approximately 58 commissioned police officers and 15 support staff.

Economy

Technology

After the end of World War II, Richland continued to be a center of production and research into nuclear energy and related technology. It has been the home of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) since 1965. One of the two Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory 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, operating PNNL
Bechtel National Inc., building a waste vitrification plant
Washington River Protection Solutions (a partnership of Amentum, Atkins, and Orano), controlling operations of the nuclear waste tank farms
Washington Closure Hanford (a partnership of AECOM, Bechtel, and CH2M Hill), providing waste management and cleanup efforts, including decontamination and demolition (D&D) of facilities along the Columbia River
Hanford Mission Integrated Solutions (a partnership of Leidos, Centerra Group, and Parsons) providing infrastructure and sitewide services
Central Plateau Cleanup Company (a partnership of Amentum, Atkins, and Fluor), responsible for D&D of facilities on the site's Central Plateau
EnergySolutions, providing services to the U.S. government
Energy Northwest, generating nuclear power at a nearby reactor facility
Framatome creating nuclear fuel
Lockheed Martin Services, Inc., providing technology services
The U.S. Department of Energy, which operates the Hanford Site

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, which processes potatoes and other foods.

The production of wine in the lower Columbia Basin has become one of the area's main industries. Richland lies at the center of a viticulture area which produces internationally recognized wines in four major Washington appellations and serves as a center for wine tours. The Columbia Valley appellation which surrounds Richland contains over 7,000 hectares planted with wine grapes. On the west, the Yakima Valley appellation includes 5,000 hectares. To the east, the Walla Walla Valley 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 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

{| class="wikitable"

! #

! Employer

! # of employees

| Battelle / Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

|4,500

| Kadlec Regional Medical Center

|3,532

| Bechtel National

|2,943

| Washington River Protection Solutions

|2,129

| Hanford Mission Integration Solutions

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. Elevation at the airport is .

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. 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 affirmed the Franklin County decision.

Richland Wye

thumb|right|Looking west from a park with a statue commemorating Sacajawea towards [[Badger Mountain (Benton County, Washington)|Badger Mountain through a business zone]]

Richland Wye () is a community within the eastern city limits of Richland. It is the location of the sole access bridge to Bateman Island over the Columbia River.

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. During the 2021 Western North America heat wave, the maximum temperature of was recorded in Richland which tied the previous all-time record high temperature in the state of Washington. Nearby, the Hanford Site recorded a high of , the new state record.

Demographics

Based on per capita income, 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.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Richland had a population of 60,560. The median age was 37.5 years. 24.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.1 males age 18 and over.

There were 24,327 households in Richland, of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.4% were married-couple households, 18.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

| White || 46,646 || 77.0%

| Black or African American || 931 || 1.5%

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 431 || 0.7%

| Asian || 3,161 || 5.2%

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 161 || 0.3%

| Some other race || 3,210 || 5.3%

| Two or more races || 6,020 || 9.9%

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 8,030 || 13.3%

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 48,058 people, 19,707 households, and 12,974 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 20,876 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 87.0% White, 1.4% African American, 0.8% Native American, 4.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.7% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic and Latino 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 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 living in the city. The population density was . There were 16,458 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 89.55% White, 1.37% African American, 0.76% Native American, 4.06% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 1.85% from other races, and 2.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino 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 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 for the city was $25,494. About 5.7% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, 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 station, where the Portland-Chicago Empire Builder makes a stop. Ben Franklin Transit provides bus transportation within Richland and the Tri-Cities area.

Interstate 82 runs to the west of the city and connects to Yakima, Washington and Interstate 90, to the north, and Hermiston, Oregon and Interstate 84, to the south. Interstate 182 provides the primary east–west connection among the Tri-cities, Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco.

Notable people

James (Jim) F. Albaugh – executive vice president, The Boeing Company
Stu Barnes – National Hockey League former player; an owner and coach of the Tri-City Americans
Kayla Barron – NASA astronaut
Beefy – nerdcore artist; real name Keith A. Moore
Tyler Brayton – National Football League player
Travis Buck – Major League Baseball player and assistant baseball coach at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles
Orson Scott Card – science fiction writer; born in Richland
Gene Conley – MLB pitcher and National Basketball Association player, Richland High School
Larry Coryell – jazz guitarist, RHS class of 1961
Westley Allan Dodd – serial killer and child molester
Santino Fontana – Broadway and film actor
Liz Heaston – first female to score points in a college football game (played for Willamette University in Salem, Oregon
Ty Jones – NHL player and first round pick in the 1997 NHL draft
Kurt Kafentzis – NFL player
Mark Kafentzis – NFL player
Olaf Kölzig – retired NHL goaltender and owner of the Tri-City Americans
James N. Mattis – United States Secretary of Defense; general in the U.S. Marine Corps
Mike McCormack – U.S. Representative from the Fourth Congressional District
Jimmy McLarnin – Irish boxer
Nate Mendel – Sunny Day Real Estate and Foo Fighters bassist
Michael Peterson – country western singer
Jason Repko – MLB player
Leon Rice – college basketball coach
Kathryn Ruemmler – White House counsel to President Barack Obama
Hope Solo – United States women's national soccer team goalkeeper
Sharon Tate – actress; Miss Richland, 1959
John Archibald Wheeler – theoretical physicist
Rachel Willis-Sørensen – operatic soprano

Sister city

Richland's sister city is:

Hsinchu, Taiwan

References

External links

Hanford Reach National Monument
Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters