Tri Cities Washington History

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Tri-Cities Washington Origin

Brief History of Southeast Washington. Pasco was the first of the Tri-Cities to be incorporated, in 1891. Kennewick was incorporated in 1904, and Richland followed in 1910. West Richland was founded by dissatisfied residents of Richland, who wished to be home owners rather than renters of government-owned houses, after the arrival of Hanford. Despite attempts by Richland to annex the community, they remained separate and eventually became incorporated in 1955. Read on to discover more...

Contents at a Glance

The Beginning
P.S. If you buy something from this page...
Washington State Stuff on Amazon

Eastern Washington ~ 15,000 Years Ago
Washington State History and Tri Cities History Resources
Early History of Tri City Washington

more...

The Beginning

The Tri-Cities area of Washington is made up of three main cities, Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, that together anchor the population base of southeastern Washington. Nestled at the confluence of the Yakima, Snake and Columbia Rivers, the area is a quickly growing area. The nearby city of West Richland is sometimes included in the Tri-Cities metropolitan area, which is considered the 191st largest metropolitan area in the United States. Kennewick is the largest of the Tri-Cities, housing over 60,000 people according to an April 2006 population estimate. Pasco and Richland are fairly comparable in size with Pasco over 46,000 people and Richland over 44,000.

Of course, the Tri-Cities area didn't start out as a bustling metropolitan area and can trace its roots to Pasco's incorporation in 1891. Kennewick and Richland followed in 1904 and 1910, respectively, creating the area that effectively became the Tri-Cities area. When a subset of residents from Richland became disgruntled with the practice at that time in Richland of only being able to rent government-owned housing, they founded West Richland and eventually incorporated as a city in 1955.

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Washington State Stuff on Amazon

Rediscovering God in America: Reflections on the Role of Faith in Our Nation's History and Future

by: Newt Gingrich

Amazon Price: $10.19 (as of 12/12/2009)

The Washington Story: A History of Our State: Centennial Edition

by: Ruth Pelz, Seattle Public Schools

Amazon Price: (as of 12/12/2009)

Eastern Washington ~ 15,000 Years Ago

Before either Native Americans or white settlers moved into eastern Washington a series of ice age floods, starting about 15,000 years ago drove miles of rushing flood waters from Montana through Idaho, eastern Washington, and down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.

These rushing waters scoured out hundreds of miles of soil, leaving interesting land formations and basaltic rock formations. The basalt rock is a result of previous volcanic activity when, over a period of millions of years, as many as 300 individual lava flows came through central Washington. This part of Washington is a land of stark contrasts.

If you travel south and west of Spokane you will see rolling hills with an occasional rock formation. These hills are mostly planted with wheat. Traveling south from Spokane heading for the Palouse area you will see the same rolling hills planted with wheat. When you go southwest from Palouse towards the town of Colfax you will drop down into the Snake River Canyon, which is almost 2,000 feet deep. There are tours of the Snake River with expert river guides. At Colfax the Palouse River flows into the Snake. North of the confluence of the Snake and Palouse rivers is Palouse Falls State Park...[more]

Washington State History and Tri Cities History Resources

HistoryLink.org: The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History: The first and largest evolving online encyclopedia of community history. A free, authoritative, and accessible reference for students, teachers, journalists, researchers, and the public.
History | Washington Secretary of State: WASHINGTON HISTORY | HISTORICAL RECORDS SEARCH |
Search for your ancestors in our collection of Washington Census and Naturalization | Additional Genealogy Resources | State Archive Records | State Library Catalog
Washington State History Museum - Discover the stories of Washington's past.: Discover the stories that connect us to Washington's past, at the place that tells them best--the Washington State History Museum.
History | Washington State Legislature: Washington Territory was created in 1853. It was carved out of the Oregon territory and consisted originally of all of what is now Washington and part of Idaho and Montana. President Franklin Pierce appointed Isaac I. Stevens, first territorial governor and he, upon arrival in the territory...
Washington History Day Home Page: History Day invites students into the exciting work of historians, detectives who delve into the past. Along the way, students develop research, analysis, presentation and social skills. Now in its 26th year nationally, History Day has proven to be an invaluable way to introduce students to the techniques of historical inquiry and the importance of history in everyday life...
American Local History Network - Washington State: Welcome to ALHN Washington State. My name is Annette Peebles and I am the host of this site. Our dream is to furnish you, the researcher, with the historical and genealogical information to round out your research on your ancestors. We will be adding links and data in a continuous fashion. All donations are gratefully accepted and the copyright for that information will continue to reside with the contributor...
Washingtonn State History News: Google Washington state history news archive of articles.
Tri-Cities History Page: Tri Cites history. Impact of Hanford, railroad, and 182 on the Tri-Cities of Washington

Early History of Tri City Washington

Pasco was the largest city in the Tri-Cities until the founding of Hanford, mostly thanks to its railroad station. It also had the most land for easy irrigation and farming.

1940s thru 1970s ~ Richland became the largest city, followed by Kennewick, over this time period. Richland High School adopted "Bombers" as its mascot (complete with mushroom cloud). In 1970, Kamiakin High School was founded in response to the continued influx of people. The economy continued to grow, but not without some turbulence. Every time the federal government cut funding at Hanford, thousands of talented, credentialed people would suddenly become jobless and quickly leave for other jobs. During this time, other employers slowly made their way into the area, but they too would often be forced to cut back jobs in the bad times. During the 1970s, Kennewick overtook Richland as the biggest city of the three and has not surrendered the title since. The Columbia Center Mall was built on land newly incorporated into Kennewick, drawing growth to western Kennewick and south Richland.

1980s thru Present ~ Completion of the Interstate 182 bridge in 1984 made Pasco much more accessible, fueling the growth of that city.[1] With the end of the Cold War, many in the area feared a shutdown of Hanford, followed by the Tri-Cities quickly becoming a ghost town. These fears were allayed after the United States Department of Energy switched the facility's purpose from the creation of nuclear weapons to the effective sealing and disposal of radioactive waste. During the 1990s, several major corporations entered the Tri-Cities, which helped to begin diversifying the economy apart from the Hanford sector. In 1995, a sixth public high school, Southridge High School, was founded. The 2000s saw continued rapid growth as the Hanford site hired hundreds of workers to help with the cleanup effort. Additionally, the Tri-Cities saw a large influx of retirees from various areas of the Northwest. During this time, and the corresponding nationwide housing boom, all three cities flourished and grew significantly. Pasco became the fastest growing city in Washington State (in terms of both % increase and # of new residents). In 2005, the Census Bureau reported that Pasco's population had surpassed Richland's for the first time since pre-Hanford days. See Wikipedia, Tri Cities Washington.