Women in Tri-Cities STEM Tourism
The Tri-Cities has a rich history steeped in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) in some of the world’s foremost scientific…
History & Science
Discover the wonders of natural history, scientific exploration, and invention!
The landscape of the Tri-Cities area has been shaped by prehistoric volcanic lava flows and Ice Age Floods, back when giant prehistoric animals like the Giant Ground Sloth, the Giant Western Camel, and the Columbian Mammoth wandered the land.
The confluence of the three rivers here was home to Native American tribes for over 10,000 years, and where the 9,000 year old Kennewick Man was found, the most important human skeleton ever discovered in North America. Lewis & Clark camped here at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers in 1805 as they explored the Pacific Northwest with the help of their interpreter Sacajawea. Where they stayed is now the site of the Sacajawea Historical State Park.
It’s also the birthplace of groundbreaking inventions and discoveries that have shaped our modern world. Richland’s roots are as a secret city during the Manhattan Project of World War II, where the world’s first full-scale nuclear reactor was built to manufacture plutonium in the race to build the atom bomb that hastened the end of the war. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) was the first in the world to detect gravitational waves caused by enormous cosmic events coming from outer space, a discovery that proved Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, and earned them a Nobel Prize in Physics. A love for science and discovery runs deep in our community—NASA Astronaut Kayla Barron is a graduate of Richland High School!
Tri-Cities Timeline
A Historical Overview
11,000 BC
Ice Age floods carve out the landscape
1805
Lewis & Clark camp at the confluence of the Snake & Columbia Rivers
1884
The Oregon Steam Navigation Company opens a railroad bridge over the Snake River in what is now Pasco.
1891
The city of Pasco became incorporated.
1904
The city of Kennewick became incorporated
1910
The city of Richland became incorporated.
1915
The Port of Kennewick is created.
1922
The Pasco-Kennewick Bridge, informally known as the Green Bridge, opens allowing automobile traffic to cross the Columbia without a ferry…
1926
The first civilian air mail flight in the United States departs Pasco for Boise, Idaho and Elko, Nevada operated by…
1930s-2000s
1931
Sacajawea Historical State Park is established at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers where Lewis and Clark camped…
1940
The Port of Pasco is created.
1996
Kennewick Man discovered.
2001
The Portland Rockies baseball team (affiliated with the Colorado Rockies) relocates to Pasco and become the Tri-City Dust Devils.
2010
The first lighthouse to be built in the United States since 1962 becomes operational on Clover Island.
2010
The formal excavation of the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Dig site began.
2011-Today
2011
A memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks, including pieces from the World Trade Center, is dedicated at…
2012
The CPCCo Planetarium opened intended to help share the wonder of science, technology and the universe with our community.
2015
Scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) on the Hanford Site and in Livingston, Louisiana detect gravitational waves for…
Related Stories
Age-Friendly Adventures in the Tri-Cities
Explore at your own pace in a community that welcomes and embraces visitors in every stage of life.
40 Things to Do in a Weekend in the Tri-Cities
It is National Travel and Tourism Week’s 40th Anniversary, and Tri-Cities is celebrating by giving you a list of 4…