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William Clark Documents Richland
The first written description of what is now called Richland came on October 17, 1805, from Capt. William Clark in the journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, when he canoed up the Columbia from a camp at the Snake River confluence. He rowed about eight miles to the spot where a "western fork" enters and reported that the rivers were filled with "incrediable" numbers of spawned-out salmon and the shore was covered with many mat-covered Indian lodges. -
Nelson Rich
The small settlement of farmers was named after one their own, Nelson RIch. -
Incorperation of Richland
The town was incorporated in 1910, yet for decades remained a tiny agricultural village. -
The Government Takeover
When World War II arrived, Richland had only 247 residents, but then in 1943, the federal government acquired Richland as part of secret wartime project to build an atomic bomb -
Booming Population
The population had boomed to about 11,00, almost entirely workers for the Handford project. -
Richlands outgrows neighboring cities.
Richland had 21,809 residents and was nearly double the size of nearby Pasco and Kennewick. -
Richland is a first class city.
The federal government relinquished ownership of Richland and it was incorporated as a first-class city. -
The Tri-Cities.
Its population as of 2007 was 45,070, and it is part of the Tri-Cities metropolitan area of 168,850.