West Richland Washginton

Here is a little information about West Richland, Washington, sometimes called the "fourth" city of the Tri-Cities region. West Richland Washington is where I grew up. West Richland was very small about 10 years ago, but now is the most sought after area in the Tri-Cities area.

History of West Richland

Agitation for a separate county for West Richland began in 1901, when the county was to be named Riverside, and in 1903 when it was to be McKinley, and in 1905, when it finally succeeded, it was called Benton in honor of Nelson Hart Benton, a Missouri Senator, who was the author of Manifest Destiny. Benton was formed in April 1905, and renamed in July to Richland. Benton County was formed on March 8, and the declaration was signed June 17, 1905, by Governor Albert E. Meade and Thomas Hickey, Secretary of State. Two families who settled in the West Richland district were the McNeills and the Souths. Chinamen, who were panning for gold on the Yakima at that time, helped to build their house. It still is in use.

McNeill (Alex) was later to be sheriff of Benton County, when it was formed in 1905. When he was a cowboy, he told that there was but one cottonwood tree on the Yakima. All the rest was sage brush and river willow. Drilling began in 1914 for gas wells on Rattlesnake Hills, and until the wells closed down in 1941, people traveled the Old Inland Empire Highway, now called Van Giesen Street in West Richland, turned North on Grosscup Blvd., which was Hanford Highway, the intersection being at the base of Arneburg Hill, which we now call Flattop.

Arneburgs lived just to the northeast of the hill, across the canal at the location where Reichts lived. The Chamber of Commerce purchased 2 1/2 acres below Flat Top in 1960. Plans were made to level and seed in 1962, construction of a baseball field and picnic area were also started. Now called Flat Top Park, it is leased to the City of West Richland. Cement was poured for construction of a chamber building at a later date. Construction started in November of 1961 for a sewer system and was completed in June 1962. West Richland was officially incorporated in 1955. According to the census bureau in 1960, West Richland had a population of 1,347.

West Richland Demographics

Census 2000 Demographic Profile Highlights (data from the US Census)

General Characteristics -	Number	Percent	U.S.
Total population	8,385
Male	4,224	50.4	49.1%
Female	4,161	49.6	50.9%
Median age (years)	32.9	(X)	35.3
Under 5 years	772	9.2	6.8%
18 years and over	5,644	67.3	74.3%
65 years and over	509	6.1	12.4%

One race	8,198	97.8	97.6%
White	7,813	93.2	75.1%
Black or African American	47	0.6	12.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native	42	0.5	0.9%
Asian	138	1.6	3.6%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	2	0.0	0.1%
Some other race	156	1.9	5.5%
Two or more races	187	2.2	2.4%

Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	405	4.8	12.5%

Household population	8,377	99.9	97.2%
Group quarters population	8	0.1	2.8%

Average household size	2.85	(X)	2.59
Average family size	3.24	(X)	3.14

Total housing units	3,092
Occupied housing units	2,937	95.0	91.0%
Owner-occupied housing units	2,575	87.7	66.2%
Renter-occupied housing units	362	12.3	33.8%
Vacant housing units	155	5.0	9.0%

Social Characteristics -	Number	Percent	U.S.
Population 25 years and over	5,253
High school graduate or higher	4,753	90.5	80.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	1,529	29.1	24.4%
Civilian veterans (civilian population 18 years and over)	858	14.8	12.7%
Disability status (population 5 years and over)	1,198	15.4	19.3%
Foreign born	418	4.9	11.1%
Male, Now married, except separated (population 15 years and over)	2,101	69.3	56.7%
Female, Now married, except separated (population 15 years and over)	2,108	66.1	52.1%
Speak a language other than English at home (population 5 years and over)	564	7.3	17.9%

Economic Characteristics -	Number	Percent	U.S.
In labor force (population 16 years and over)	4,522	74.5	63.9%
Mean travel time to work in minutes (workers 16 years and over)	25.1	(X)	25.5
Median household income in 1999 (dollars)	57,750	(X)	41,994
Median family income in 1999 (dollars)	61,813	(X)	50,046
Per capita income in 1999 (dollars)	22,499	(X)	21,587
Families below poverty level	90	3.9	9.2%
Individuals below poverty level	384	4.5	12.4%

Housing Characteristics -	Number	Percent	U.S.
Single-family owner-occupied homes	1,832
Median value (dollars)	124,800	(X)	119,600
Median of selected monthly owner costs	(X)	(X)
With a mortgage (dollars)	1,136	(X)	1,088
Not mortgaged (dollars)	320	(X)	295

(X) Not applicable.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Summary File 1 (SF 1) and Summary File 3 (SF 3)

West Richland Washington Community Profile

History of West Richland

West Richland Demographics

Census 2000 Demographic Profile Highlights (data from the US Census)

West Richland WA Maps

More Information about West Richland