Christened with a Native American word meaning “winter heaven” because of its mild winters, Kennewick is a southeastern Washington town at the confluence of the Columbia, Snake, and Yakima Rivers. It grew slowly after it was settled in 1863. Irrigation arrived in 1892, transforming the region into productive farmlands.

In 1943, the 560-square-mile Hanford Engineer Works was established, bringing thousands of workers and scientists to the first large-scale production site for plutonium for nuclear weapons.

Later known as the Hanford Site of the US Department of Energy, it began to produce electricity in the 1960s. It no longer produces plutonium and is the focus of the world’s largest environmental clean-up effort.

Kennewick has been transformed from a farm town of about 2,000 residents in 1940 to a city of about 52,000 today, a growth fueled by the Hanford Site, the Richlandbased Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River.

Kennewick is the largest of the Tri Cities, which include Pasco and Richland. It is also a port and a processing and distribution point for agricultural products.

Tri Cities Airport provides air service. Kennewick is reached by road via I-90 and I-84, and US-395.