Kennewick, WA

A remnant of Kennewick's old Green Bridge stands outside the Museum at Keewaydin, preserving a difficult history in an everyday city park. The steel cantilever-truss bridge opened across the Columbia River in 1922, replacing a ferry that carried only six cars at a time between Kennewick and Pasco. During the Manhattan Project, it became a racial boundary. Kennewick sought to exclude Black residents, while Pasco confined them to East Pasco; a sign at the bridge declared Kennewick a sundown town. The National Park Service now interprets that history as part of the regional story of wartime labor and segregation. The surviving railing gives the former crossing a physical presence after the bridge itself disappeared. Kennewick incorporated in 1904 after rail access and irrigation helped turn the Columbia's southwest bank into a shipping center for early spring crops, apples, cherries, and grapes.

The Manhattan Project's vast plutonium-production complex at nearby Hanford transformed Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco during World War II, bringing workers and federal investment to what had been a largely agricultural region. Later Columbia Basin irrigation, dams, and hydropower supported further agricultural and industrial development. That sequence still matters locally. Farms and vineyards surround the metropolitan area, and food processing remains part of the city economy. Hanford-related research and energy work continue to shape the Tri-Cities, although much of that work is centered outside Kennewick itself. Present-day Kennewick has several centers with different roles. The historic downtown on the east side mixes light industry, food processing, shops, galleries, small businesses, and residential blocks; Washington has designated it the South Columbia Creative District.

Farther west, Columbia Center and the Three Rivers campus form the regional retail and entertainment center, with the Toyota Center, convention facilities, and surrounding commercial development. Southridge combines newer housing, medical services, shops, and a sports-and-events complex. Manufacturing, food processing, retail, and services remain core parts of Kennewick's economy, with workplaces distributed among downtown, Columbia Center, and Southridge. Ben Franklin Transit's frequent Route 1 passes through downtown Kennewick and follows Clearwater Avenue between Richland and East Pasco. Transfers connect it with other Tri-Cities routes. In June 2026, the new 240X added an express link between East Kennewick's Dayton Transfer Point and Richland's Knight Street center.

The Columbia River supplies the city's largest continuous public setting. The city-owned Columbia Park covers 400 acres along the water, with boat launches, fields, trails, a fishing pond, playgrounds, and a bandshell spread along its length. The regional Sacagawea Heritage Trail continues through the park and around the Tri-Cities riverfront. Each summer, the Water Follies turns the Kennewick and Pasco shores into viewing grounds for hydroplane racing and an over-the-river air show. The 2026 Columbia Cup ran from July 24 through 26. East of the park, Columbia Drive leads toward downtown and the waterfront's wine and food-truck businesses. Along this stretch, the riverfront serves as a trail and recreation corridor; during Water Follies, it becomes a racecourse between two city shores.