Richland

Richland, city, Benton county, south-central Washington, U.S., at the juncture of the Yakima and Columbia rivers. With Kennewick and Pasco, it forms a tri-city area. Named in 1905 for Nelson Rich, a local landowner and state legislator, it remained a farming village (population about 250) until 1942, when, with the development of the atomic bomb, it became part of the 400,000-acre (160,000-hectare) reservation of the Hanford Engineer Works. Developed by the federal government, Richland was...