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Date
Visited:
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Saturday,
October 9, 2004 |
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City
Visited #:
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430 |
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County:
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Benton |
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Visited
With:
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David & Randy |
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City Name
History:
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City shares the same naming
history as Richland, but
lies to the west. Called
Chemna by the Native Americans and Benton Post Office by the early
settlers, the town was given its present name in 1905 to honor Nelson
Rich of Prosser, who helped locate the township, and who was a partner
in land holdings and an irrigation company in the area. Rich, a
state legislator, introduced the bill that created Benton County out of
the eastern portions of Yakima and Klickitat counties. Conversion
from farm community to government town to a full-fledged city resulted
from the creation of the adjacent Hanford plutonium project by the
Atomic Energy Commission during World War II. The city was
originally incorporated in 1908, disincorporated by the AEC in 1946, and
reincorporated as a first-class city in 1958. |
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Comments:
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