Museums & Interpretive Centers - Tri-Cities WA Guide

Museums, Interpretive Centers and Historical Societies - Southeast Washington

This section lists museums and intrepretive centers, heritage centers, and historical societies in Tri-Cities, Connell, Dayton, Grandview, Moses Lake, Othello, Palouse, Pataha, Pomeroy, Prosser, Sunnyside, Toppenish, Union Gap, Vantage, Waitsburg, Walla Walla and Yakima.

Tri-Cities

Connell - Connell Heritage Museum

The Connell Heritage Museum, located in the Old Town Park, is replete with historical artifacts and information. Current museum hours are Saturdays 1-4 p.m.

Dayton

Grandview Museum

The Grandview Museum (formerly the Ray E Powell Museum) offers an abundance of history display items. All types of cultural enrichment opportunities are on hand for your enjoyment. It is located at 115 W. Wine Country Road.

Mattawa - Wanapum Heritage Center

The Wanapum Heritage Center presents, maintains, and continues Wanapum history and way of life. A new 50,000 square-foot center opened in October 2015. Located next to Priest Rapids Dam off Highway 243 about five miles south of Mattawa, projects implemented at this new building will perpetuate the importance of the culture, traditions and beliefs of the Wanapum for years to come.

Moses Lake - Museum and Art Center

The Museum and Art Center in Moses Lake offers both history and visual arts and features an extensive collection of historical artifacts including the prestigious "Adam East Collection".

Palouse - The Roy M. Chatters Newspaper and Printing Museum

The The Roy M. Chatters Newspaper and Printing Museum was established to preserve the older equipment and methods of printing called "letter-press printing."

Pomeroy

Prosser Historical Museum

The Prosser Historical Museum, located at the Prosser City Park, features a variety of pioneering artifacts, Native American items, and more.

Sunnyside Historical Museum

The Sunnyside Historical Museum features a collection of artifacts and documents, as well as several displays depicting home life in Sunnyside at the turn of the 20th century.

Toppenish

Union Gap - Central Washington Agricultural Museum

The Central Washington Agricultural Museum has preserved the agricultural heritage of the Yakima Valley and Central Washington by restoring antique farm equipment and household items to educate the public about the processes and equipment used in early agriculture.

Waitsburg - Bruce Memorial Museum

The Bruce House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and maintained by the Waitsburg Historical Society as the Bruce Memorial Museum. Tours are available by appointment.

Walla Walla

White Swan - Fort Simcoe State Park Heritage Site

The Fort Simcoe State Park Heritage Site is a 200-acre, day-use heritage park in south central Washington on the Yakama Indian Nation Reservation. The park is primarily an interpretive effort, telling the story of mid-19th century army life and providing insights into the lifeways of local Native American culture.

Yakima

Museums, Interpretive Centers and Historical Societies - Northeast Oregon

This section lists museums and intrepretive centers, heritage centers, and historical societies in Boardman, Echo, Milton-Freewater, Pendleton and Umatilla.

Boardman - Sage Center

The SAGE Center is an interactive visitor center that highlights sustainable agriculture and energy. Developed by the Port of Morrow, the SAGE Center gives visitors a unique opportunity to learn about the technology that takes place locally within the Port of Morrow and region without having to visit each industry.

Echo - Chinese House Railroad Museum

The Chinese House is a railroad museum that features Union Pacific and Oregon Railway and Navigation Company tools, photos and other items used in early Echo and Oregon railroad operations. The City of Echo also boasts ten buildings or sites that are on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information, view the history of Echo and gallery of photos.

Milton-Freewater - Frazier-Farmstead Museum

The Frazier-Farmstead Museum is a six acre site listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Frazier home was built in 1892 and houses a fine collection of antique furnishings and other items of the 19th Century daily living. Most of the furnishings are the original items to the home.

Pendleton

Children's Museums

There are several children's museums in this region that serve as an educational resource with activities geared for children ages 10 and under. Some even host birthday parties!

• Children's Museum of Walla Walla
• Children's Underground (Yakima Valley Museum)
• Children's Museum of Eastern Oregon - Pendleton
• Mid-Columbia Children's Museum - Tri-Cities

Native American Tribes & Cultural Centers

This section provides information on the Native American Tribes in this region and the cultural centers they maintain that are open to the public.

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation represents the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people. In 1855 the three tribes signed a treaty with the US government, in which it ceded over 6.4 million acres to the United States.

In the treaty, the tribes reserved rights to fish, hunt, and gather foods and medicines within the ceded lands, which today is northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. Tribal members still exercise and protect those rights today.

Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation

The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation represents the "generations of people before the advance of the modern world where the lands of the Yakama extended in all directions along the Cascade Mountain Range to the Columbia River and beyond."

The Yakima Nation maintains the Yakima Nation Museum & Cultural Center for the purpose of preserving, protecting and perpetuating the Mid-Plateau lands and people throughout time.

Native American Photographs from the L.V. McWhorter Collection - Video

This Native American Photographs Video, published by the WSU Libraries, portrays a WSU History class as they worked to create a digital collection from the photographs of Lucullus V. McWhorter, who extensively documented the Nez Perce and Yakama tribes in the early 19th century. Many of the photographs are shown and discussed.

Tamastslikt Cultural Institute - Pendleton

The Tamastslikt Cultural Institute opened in August 1998 and presents an entirely new perspective on history - that of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Tribes.

Wanapum Heritage Center

The Wanapum Heritage Center presents, maintains, and continues Wanapum history and way of life. A new 50,000 square-foot center opened in October 2015. Located next to Priest Rapids Dam off Highway 243 about five miles south of Mattawa, projects implemented at this new building will perpetuate the importance of the culture, traditions and beliefs of the Wanapum for years to come.

Washington State Tribes

Washington state is home to 29 federally-recognized Indian tribes. Tribal governments are improving people's lives, Indian and non-Indian alike, in communities from Neah Bay to Usk. Learn more by viewing Washington Indian Tribes.

Hanford History - Books & Videos

This section includes books and videos related to the history of Hanford including the B-Reactor.

Arid Lands - Film

An award winning film, Arid Lands, focuses on the environmental and cultural history of the Mid-Columbia Basin. The film tells the story of the changes that have shaped this landscape, from Hanford nuclear production and federal irrigation projects, to more recent forces, such as environmental cleanup, housing development, and tourism.

Atomic Fortress: B-Reactor and its Legacy - Video

Atomic Fortress: B-Reactor and its Legacy... is a historical look at how Hanford's B-Reactor changed the history of Richland and the world. Recollections from retired Hanford workers and historians provide "hands-on" description of life at the world's first nuclear reactor in this video published by the City of Richland: Atomic Fortress - part 1, Atomic Fortress - part 2 and Atomic Fortress - part 3.

Camp Hanford - Video

The City of Richland published a video about Camp Hanford that provides a historical look at the 1943 Hanford and 1948 North Richland trailer camps, which housed the workers of the secret WWII Manhattan Project: Camp Hanford - part 1, Camp Hanford - part 2 and Camp Hanford - part 3.

Hanford Bus Tour: B Reactor - Video

Hanford Bus Tour: B Reactor video gives you a peek at what you'll see on the Hanford Bus Tour of the B Reactor: Hanford Bus Tour of the B Reactor - part 1, Hanford Bus Tour of the B Reactor - part 2 and Hanford Bus Tour of the B Reactor - part 3.

Hanford: War Construction in the Desert - Video

A video about the development of the Hanford Site in Washington state was produced by the U.S. government at or near the end of World War II: Hanford: War Construction in the Desert - part 1, Hanford: War Construction in the Desert - part 2 and Hanford: War Construction in the Desert - part 3.

Lasting Legacy: Hanford's Historic B Reactor - Video

In 2009, Hanford Communities produced the television program Lasting Legacy: Hanford's Historic B Reactor which is about the history of Hanford's B Reactor, the world's first full scale nuclear reactor. Included at the end of the program is film footage of the ceremony when the Deputy Directors of the Department of Interior and the Department of Energy visited B Reactor and presented a plaque designating the facility as a National Historic Monument.

Made in Hanford: The Bomb that Changed the World - Book

Through clear scientific explanations and personal reminiscences, Hill Willams, the author of Made in Hanford: The Bomb that Changed the World, traces the amazing but also tragic story of the plutonium bomb - from the dawn of nuclear science through World War II and Cold War testing in the Marshall Islands.

Manhattan Project at Hanford Site - Book

The Manhattan Project at Hanford Site, by Elizabeth Toomey, describes the top-secret effort undertaken during World War II to develop a weapon never imagined at "Site W" or “Hanford Engineer Works," one of three sites selected in the United States (plus Los Alamos and Oak Ridge) to research and produce weapons that were ultimately used to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki and end World War II.

Many of the WWII Hanford photos in the book were shot by Robley Johnson, who arrived at Hanford in 1943 to supervise the contractor DuPont's photography crew.

Oregon Experience: Hanford - Documentary

In 1943, as World War II raged in Europe and the Pacific, thousands of men and women from across the United States began arriving in a remote part of south-central Washington state. They knew very little about why the U.S. government had hired them — only that it was an important project to support the war effort. It was a project that would change the world forever.

The history of Hanford is traced in a one-hour long documentary produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting for the Oregon Experience.

Safe as Mother's Milk - Multimedia Project

Safe As Mother's Milk is a multimedia project created by Kim Stringfellow which examines the history of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The project uses declassified documents, news reels, and historical photography to create an unofficial multimedia documentary of the Hanford site. It illustrates the ways in which the Internet can be used to disseminate unofficial histories through multimedia technologies.

Something Extraordinary: A Short History of the Manhattan Project, Hanford, and the B Reactor - Book

Something Extraordinary provides a concise, but comprehensive narrative of the geopolitics and atomic research that led to the creation of the Manhattan Project. WSU Tri-Cities Hanford History Project faculty and staff helped authors Bob Ferguson and C. Mark Smith with the book. This book was announced during the Hanford History Project's celebration of the Hanford 75th anniversary.

T Plant - Video

Arguably the second most historic building at Hanford is the T Plant. This facility is historic in that it's the "canyon" where the plutonium used in both the world's first atomic explosion (the Trinity Test) and in the Fat Man bomb dropped over Nagasaki, Japan, in World War II was processed.

You can watch a video of a public tour of the T Plant that was produced in October 2013.

Termination Winds - Video

Termination Winds is a video that was published by the City of Richland that provides a historical look at the developement of the Hanford Engineering Works Project. The top secret WWII project that changed the face of Richland and the world forever: Termination Winds - part 1, Termination Winds - part 2 and Termination Winds - part 3.

The Area: A Journey through the Hanford Nuclear Reservation - Video

Cameron Salony, a graduate from Utah State University (2011), accepted a job with the Department of Energy at Hanford and soon found that his new workplace was a former site of plutonium production during WWII and the Cold War, but today is part of the world's largest environmental cleanup. View The Area: A Journey through the Hanford Nuclear Reservation as Cameron explored the history and issues of Hanford as he interviewed local tribal members, a citizen advisory board member, former and current workers, Hanford management, regulators and more.

The Hanford Story - Video

View video chapters of The Hanford Story, a multimedia presentation that provides an overview of the Hanford Site - its history, today's cleanup activities, and a glimpse into the possibilities of future uses of the 586-square-mile government site in southeast Washington State.

• The Hanford Story: Overview
• The Hanford Story: Groundwater
• The Hanford Story: Recovery Act
• The Hanford Story: Tank Waste Cleanup
• The Hanford Story: Plutonium Finishing Plant
• The Hanford Story: Future

Hanford History Project - Physical and Online Archive

The Hanford History Project is a physical and online archive documenting the history of the Hanford nuclear production facilities and the surrounding community, called the Tri Cities (Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco). The project has compiled a number of oral histories with residents about the Hanford area prior to the Manhattan Project and oral histories with residents about the Hanford area during and following the Second World War.

Washington State University - Tri Cities hosts the Hanford History Project. Through contract with the Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) and the US Department of Energy, the Project also manages the Hanford Collection, which is the Department of Energy's own extensive collection of documents and artifacts from Hanford's history.

Hanford History Project Publications

Washington State University Press offers Hanford Histories, a multi-volume series based on the extensive Hanford History Project archives held at Washington State University Tri-Cities. Volumes focus on science and the environment, race and diversity, constructing Hanford, the Manhattan Project and its legacies, and an illustrated history of Hanford.

Nowhere to Remember - Hanford, White Bluffs, and Richland to 1943

Legacies of the Manhattan Project - Reflections on 75 Years of a Nuclear World

Manhattan Project National Historical Park & B Reactor

Manhattan Project National Historical Park

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park was created in November 2015 and includes historic sites at Hanford, as well as Manhattan Project-related sites at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The funding and approval of the park was established by Congress late in 2014. It is the first National Historical Park of its kind, combining multiple locations as one Manhattan Project National Park.

At Hanford the park includes:

• the B Reactor National Historic Landmark, which produced the material for the Trinity test and plutonium bomb
• the Hanford High School in the Town of Hanford and Hanford Construction Camp Historic District
• Bruggemann's Agricultural Warehouse Complex
• White Bluffs Bank and Hanford Irrigation District Pump House, which together provide a glimpse into the history of the Hanford area before the arrival of the Manhattan Project

The T Plant, a chemical separations canyon, will not be in the Park initially, but visitors will learn about its vital role at other locations in the park.

B Reactor Tours

The Hanford B-Reactor National Historic Landmark Tours are offered regularly, from April through September. The free, guided tours last approximately 4 hours, including travel to and from the B Reactor and the departure location at 2000 Logston Blvd. in Richland.

Pre-Manhattan Historical Hanford Site Tours

Pre-Manhattan Historical Hanford Site Tours are available that offer visitors a chance to see the town sites and structures that existed before the Manhattan Project was formed in 1942.

B Reactor Museum Association

The B Reactor Museum Association is an all-volunteer association of individuals and groups working to preserve the historic B Reactor on the Hanford Nuclear Site as a public museum.

Atomic Heritage Foundation

The Atomic Heritage Foundation is dedicated to supporting the Manhattan Project National Historical Park and capturing the memories of the people who harnessed the energy of the atom. They have created a powerful interpretive tool called Ranger in Your Pocket. Tourists around the world can now take a virtual tour of the historic B Reactor and learn about life at the Hanford site.

The website features dozens of first-hand accounts of working on the top-secret Manhattan Project from solving the mysterious "poisoning" of the B Reactor to enduring the "termination winds."

Manhattan Project Hanford B Reactor Tour Photos

Thomas Schrantz from Bothell Washington went on the Hanford B Reactor Tour in May 2012. You can view over 100 photos he published on his Manhattan Project Hanford B Reactor Tour photostream.

Architectural History of Richland

During the 1940's, the US Government hired Albin Pherson, an architect from Spokane, to plan the entire community of Richland. Construction of the streets began on March 20, 1943 with the first house being completed (a B-house) on April 28, 1943. The houses built were assigned a letter.

Alphabet Homes - Video

The City of Richland has published a video about Richland's alphabet homes. The alphabet homes have a history just as unique to Richland as the Hanford site. This video provides recollections from residents about the challenges of living in the WWII government owned town of Richland: Alphabet Homes - part 1, Alphabet Homes - part 2 and Alphabet Homes - part 3.

In addition, a Richland resident is doing her part to make sure the Richland alphabet homes legacy is not only remembered, it's preserved as shown in this Alphabet homes online group video.

The Houses that Hanford Built

For information about the alphabet houses, check out The Houses that Hanford Built. Information on street names in 1945 and general building floor plans are also provided.

Genealogical Societies & Family History Centers

Genealogical Societies

There are several genealogical societies in Tri-Cities, Yakima, Walla Walla & Pendleton that are dedicated to preserving the past for future generations.

Tri-Cities

The Tri-City Genealogical Society was founded in 1961 as a non-profit organization whose purpose is to educate members and the public on the purposes and methods of genealogical research, and to research, record, and report materials of genealogical value for the people of, and those researching in and around, the Lower Columbia Basin region of eastern Washington state.

Pendleton

The Blue Mountain Genealogy Society is dedicated to preserving the past for future generations.

Genealogical Societies - continued

Walla Walla

The Walla Walla County GenWeb Project is maintained by Rella Gleaton.

Yakima

The Yakima Valley Genealogical Society is dedicated to helping genealogists and family historians research their roots. We have members who can help you get started on this wonderful journey of discovery that we call genealogy.

Family History Centers

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. Since 1894, FamilySearch has worked with archives, libraries, and churches in over 100 countries to facilitate economical access to records that help people find their ancestors. These records and services are available online or through over 4,600 family history centers in more than 130 countries, including the renowned Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Family history centers and FamilySearch Affiliates (such as libraries and historical societies) are free and open to the public and staffed by knowledgeable volunteers. Each facility offers both novices and experienced family historians the tools and resources to learn about their ancestors.

Family history centers in the Tri-Cities region are located in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco, Dayton, Walla Walla, Pendleton, Hermiston, Prosser, Sunnyside, and Yakima.

Historic Photos of Tri-Cities, Walla Walla & Yakima

This section lists resources related to historical photo collections for Richland, Kennewick, Pasco, Walla Walla, Yakima and the early days before and during the Hanford Manhattan Project.

Arcadia Publishing

Arcadia Publishing is best known for its iconic Images of America series, which chronicles the history of small towns and downtowns across the country. Captured in unique pictorial format, small slices of hometown history detail the often forgotten aspects of American life. With more than two hundred vintage images, each title celebrates a town or region, bringing to life the people, places, and events that define the community.

The following books have been published by local authors and retail for under $25:

• Early Pasco by Susan Davis Faulkner
• Grand Coulee Dam by Ray Bottenberg
• Grandview by Ruth A. Dirk
• Grant County by Elizabeth Gibson
• Kennewick Washington by Mary Trotter Kion
• Legendary Locals of Walla Walla by Diane B. Reed
• Manhattan Project at Hanford Site by Elizabeth Toomey
• Moses Lake by Freya Hart, Moses Lake Museum & Art Center
• Pendleton by Elizabeth Gibson
• Richland Washington by Elizabeth Gibson
• Walla Walla by Elizabeth Gibson
• Yakima Washington by Elizabeth Gibson
• Yakima valley Transportation Company by Kenneth G. Johnsen

Tri-Cities

Walla Walla

Yakima Memory - Searchable Images

Yakima Memory features searchable images from the collections at the Yakima Valley Regional Library and the Yakima Valley Museum.

Kennewick Man - Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

On, Sunday afternoon, July 28, 1996 two young men were wading along the banks of the Columbia River at the upper edge of Columbia Park, in Kennewick Washington, when one of them stepped on a skull... and Kennewick Man was discovered.

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture (University of Washington) has information about the Kennewick Man that is believed to have lived 9,200 years ago in this region.

The Burke Museum provided secure and respectful curation of The Ancient One from 1998–2017, under contract to the US Army Corps of Engineers, the government agency that controlled the remains until they were repatriated.

On Friday, February 17, 2017, the remains of The Ancient One, otherwise known as Kennewick Man, were returned to the tribes who claim him as their ancestor.

MCBONES - Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site

The Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site is the keystone site of the MCBONES Research Center Foundation. Large bones were discovered here during quarrying operations in 2000. When it was recognized that the bones were from a mammoth, excavation was halted. In 2008 the site was purchased by a local farming family who wished to see the site preserved and developed into a research center for K-12 teachers, students, and community volunteers from the Tri-Cities Washington region.

Sacajawea Heritage Days - Tri-Cities

The Sacajawea Heritage Days is held the last weekend in September and runs two days. Its purpose is to learn about and re-enact the life and skills of the the early American explorers, the Native American cultures they found along the way, and the lives of the early settlers.

There are Lewis & Clark re-enactors, members of the Umatilla and Yakama Nations, and the Wanapums. Mountain man encampments, and a variety of other people who enjoy sharing their skills and knowledge about what life was like nearly two centuries ago. This event is sponsored by the Friends of Sacajawea State Park.

Northwest Digital Heritage

Northwest Digital Heritage pulls together over 900,000 digital materials from 271 collections across 3 states, held within 36 digital repositories. Browse collections by state, location, or type of institution, or explore topics of historical and cultural significance to the Northwest.

General Washington and Oregon History

HistoryLink.org

HistoryLink.org is an online encylopedia of Washington State history that can be searched.

Oregon Secretary of State

The Oregon Secretary of State website has sections on Oregon State history where you can search historical records, view historical newspapers, and view online presentations.

Washington Rural Heritage

Washington Rural Heritage provides searchable access to digitized sources documenting the early culture, industry, and community life of Washington State.

Washington Secretary of State

The Washington Secretary of State website has sections on Washington State history where you can search historical records, view historical newspapers, and view online presentations.