(H)our History Lesson: The Development of the Tri-Cities as a Home Front City

Photo 4: Naval Air Station Pasco. The Air Station was one of the military projects that reshaped the Tri-Cities during World War II.

Franklin County (WA) Historical Society

About this Lesson

This lesson is part of a series teaching about the World War II home front, with Tri-Cities, Washington as an American World War II Heritage City. Tri-Cities, Washington is comprised of Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, and the surrounding areas. The lesson contains photographs, two background readings, and a primary source to contribute to learners’ understandings about the home front contributions of the Tri-Cities. It explores the migration of workers to meet the employment demands of the local war industries.
To see more lessons about World War II, visit Teaching with Historic Places.

Objectives:

1. Identify factors that led to the growth and development of the Tri-Cities as a home front city.

2. Describe the effects of the workforce that migrated to the Tri-Cities region.

3. Evaluate the impact of Tri-Cities contributions to home front efforts.

Materials for Students:

1. Photos 1- 8 (can be displayed digitally)

2. Readings 1 & 2 (one secondary; one primary)

3. Recommended: Washington State map with landmarks and cities.

4. Extensions: 1) Reading 3: Prison Labor, 2) “The Sage Sentinel” Collection

Getting Started: Essential Question

How did the Tri-Cities, WA region evolve as a home front city over time?

Read to Connect

The following secondary and primary source help students learn about the development of the Tri-Cities during World War II. 

Reading 1: Tri-Cities' Changing Landscape and Population

Tri-Cities' Changing Landscape and Population 

By Sarah Nestor Lane 

Teacher Tip: Optional Reading 3 shares more about Big Pasco, another example of a changing landscape. 

The development of the Tri-Cities area was influenced by the needs of the home front during World War II. Aviation and the development of the atomic bomb, or the Manhattan Project, are two examples of how the land developed and changed. Both brought in civilians and service members to the area for work. 

Aviation in Pasco  

In February 1942, the US Navy bought a large piece of land near a small airport for $5,000. They did this to move Seattle's Sand Point Naval Air Station to inland Pasco, so it would be safer from possible attacks by the Japanese during World War II. 

The Navy worked quickly to turn the empty land into a busy naval training base, called Naval Air Station Pasco. They cleared the area of brush and grass and then built runways, hangars, and barracks. At first, the base was used to train pilots and fix damaged planes that came back from the Pacific. Later, it became a place where experienced pilots learned to fly newer aircraft.  

Naval Air Station Pasco was the first place where the WAVES, which stands for Women Accepted in Volunteer Emergency Service, were allowed to live on the base. It was common for the women here to serve as "ferry pilots." This meant flying planes to Alaska and Russia to help the Allies during the war. 

Displacement for the Hanford Site 

The land for the Hanford site was selected by Civil Engineer Franklin Thompson Matthias in December of 1942. It was selected due to its isolated location and closeness to the Columbia River.  The main role of the Hanford site was to produce plutonium for the development of the atomic bomb for The Manhattan Project. The water from the river would help cool the reactors. But, the land was not empty. 

After Matthias selected the area for the Hanford site, the federal government took control of around 600 square miles of agricultural and residential land along the Columbia River using eminent domain. For comparison, this is about twice the area of the city of San Antonio, Texas. This meant the approximately 2,000 landowners and people who lived there had as little as 30 days to leave their homes. Some of them wanted to come back during the day to harvest their crops. The US Army said no to these requests because they thought it would be too hard logistically and not safe for security reasons. Before these landowners, Native American tribes had lived on the land since before recorded history. They had been removed from the land, but had limited access. The Hanford site fully restricted and removed their access. 

Farmers protested the decision to be moved from the land. Their concerns reached President Roosevelt, who was worried about the nation's food supply. A group led by Senator Harry S. Truman investigated how money was being spent during the war and wrote a letter to the Department of War, questioning why they needed so much farmland. This would lead to other agricultural efforts but did not change the course of development of the land for the Hanford site.  

Life in the Region 

Thousands migrated, or were sent to, the cities of Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland and the region. Most were to work at the Hanford Site, but there was also Naval Air Station Pasco, Big Pasco (an Army depot), and local businesses and industries. Workers included African American migrants, looking for new opportunities, and women. Both had previously been unable to work in some of the roles now available to them. Buildings, businesses, and homes had to be built to accommodate the influx of workers, and the Tri-Cities became the 5th largest city in the state of Washington. 

Local bulletins covered community events and employee bulletins also contained safety news. The “Sage Sentinel” was published specifically for those working at the Hanford site in Richland and provided similar information and updates for employees. Other city bulletins contained information on theater schedules, softball games, victory garden applications, and church events. However, local African Americans faced segregation and discrimination from most activities in Richland and Kennewick. They were wrongly segregated to areas in Pasco, and some lived in segregated housing at the Hanford site. 

Reading 2: Newspaper Article

Teacher Tip: Prior to reading, address the term “Negro,” as the author describes a group of women, and how this was used as discriminatory language at the time. We do not use this term today. Also, it is important to note that African American workers in the Tri-Cities experienced segregated living; this can be explored more with students using the next lesson in this series: Life and Work of African Americans in the Tri-Cities.

“Workers Jam Trains to Pasco” 

Thousands Pour Into City; Railways Average 300 Daily. 

By Leon Starmont, The Spokesman-Review, April 22, 1944 (p.15) 

PASCO, Wash., April 21 – Every train into Pasco brings from 50 to 1000 men and women bound for jobs that will help win the war. The average is about 300 a day. On the Northern Pacific North Coast Limited this morning there were about 150, mostly recruited by the United States employment service in New York City, western Pennsylvania and Birmingham, Ala.  

There were carpenters, plumbers, electricians, steam fitters and common laborers. There were 40 Negro women headed for Hanford, Wash., where they will be waitresses and kitchen helpers. 

Housing Provided 

Pasco is crowded far beyond its hotel and housing capacity. But the government, the army and the several contractors on federal projects in this vicinity have worked out a system of handling the newcomers that provides all except casual motorists with places to sleep and eat.  

When the westbound limited reached Spokane, all coach passengers with destination Pasco were moved into the two or three forward cars of the 20-car train’s first section.  

At Pasco a dozen men with badges and arm bands sorted them into groups segregated by occupation and names of the employer for whom they were recruited. Husbands and wives said goodbye to each other and left for temporary dormitories, most of the men to near-by “Little Pasco.” 

Curious about Country

The few white women went to the so-called transient quarters at Richland, which is actually a modern hotel. Bus after bus is lined up and loaded. Let’s follow this load of building trade workers, mostly recruited by newspaper advertising around New York and Pittsburg.  

For virtually all it is the first trip west of Chicago. For some it is the first venture west of the Hudson River. They are curious about the country and about their jobs and their working conditions. They know little about the places they are going to except that the towns are new and the jobs – whether they be at the big Pasco reconsignment base, the Hanford engineer works or other points – have to do with the war.  

Undergo Rigid Check 

Most are destined to work at Richland or Hanford, the former being a model town housing project, the latter a military installation of which Richland will be the residential area. This group goes first to a commissary for a coffee and doughnuts, then to the barracks at “little Pasco” on the east out-skirts of the city, where each man has a cot.  

After a few hours’ sleep they are taken to the Du Pont company hiring hall, photographed and fingerprinted, their labor availability checked. The next step is the union office. Most of these men are already members of some building trade union and require merely a transfer of membership to the Pasco or Hanford local.  

Other than questions about the job, they may ask such things as these: Is Mount Rainier visible from Hanford? Is there a bus to Grand Coulee dam? When will I be able to send for my wife and family? How long does the average employee stay on this job? 

Left Families Home 

The projects are so new that the last question cannot be answered. More than half the men on this train have wives and families back east but were advised to leave them there. A few have followed construction work under pioneering conditions before, in Texas oil fields or Appalachian power developments. 

By the numbers:

• The land for the Hanford Site was purchased at $5.1 million (about $86.3 million in 2022).

• In 1940 there were about 6,000 residents in the Tri-Cities area; by June 1944 there were over 50,000, becoming the state’s 5th largest city.

• 1,039,000 square feet – or about 24 acres -- the area of “Big Pasco,” a Washington State Army Depot.

Quotation to consider:

“Kennewick has increased in population more than 50 percent in the past three years, with the immediate prospect of a vaster increase.” - March 18, 1943 in The Kennewick Courier-Reporter (p.1)

Naval Air Station, Pasco, Washington, July 1943. "Pleased with their Navy chow are these two WAVES who look on approvingly as Ship’s Cook Second Class H.D. Hawley serves them lunch." The women are, (from the left), Yeoman Second Class Alice Evans and Seaman Second Class Donna Huston.

National Museum of the U.S. Navy / National Archives

Student Activities

Questions for Reading 1 and Photos 1-4

1. What type of land development was happening? Compare the development to Photo 1.
2. Why did the US Navy purchase land, and what was its purpose?
3. Describe the history of the land at the Hanford site. Do you think it was right to move the farmers? Why, or why not?
4. Why did the population of the Tri-Cities increase? What challenges may the area have faced with the increase in population? (You will build on this question after Reading 2.)

Questions for Reading 2, Photos 4-5

4. What drew newcomers to Pasco?
5. How did the government, army, and contractors handle the issue of too many people in Pasco?
6. How do you think the way newcomers were sorted and segregated in Pasco during crowded times might have affected their feelings and experiences?
7. Why may the author compare coming to the Tri-Cities to “pioneering conditions” of Texas or Appalachia? (See section “Left Families Home.”) Do you agree with this comparison, and why?

Optional: Plot Mount Rainier and the Grand Coulee Dam on a map of Washington to compare to the location of the Hanford site. How would you think these questions to the employees were answered? (See section “Undergo Rigid Check.”) How does this help you understand the location of Tri-Cities and the Hanford site?

Optional Extension Activities

Optional Reading: Prisoner Labor

By Sarah Nestor Lane 

Not all contributors to the home front in the Tri-Cities region were by choice. Italian Prisoners of War worked at a large Army depot nicknamed “Big Pasco,” while imprisoned American men from a penitentiary worked in agriculture at Camp Columbia. 

“Big Pasco” and Italian Prisoners of War

Look at Photo 7 in the Gallery, imagine the sounds and activity you would once see here: Between 100 – 225 railroad cars coming through this area daily! Believe it or not, this area was once one of the largest wartime logistics centers in the United States.  

To build the center, there were as many as 800 workers, including African American segregated labor units. It opened on August 15, 1942, and was the site of packing and repackaging supplies. Big Pasco had two parts: the "Pasco Holding and Reconsignment Point," which handled supplies going to American allies, and the "Pasco Engineer Depot," which supplied places like the Hanford Engineer Works. There was a shortage of US soldiers and civilians to operate this site on their own.  

Italian prisoners of war (POWs) were brought in to work at Big Pasco from 1944 to 1945. The Pasco Herald reported on August 10, 1944, the Italians would be "used to perform necessary labor operations which have heretofore been neglected because of the impossibility of obtaining sufficient manpower.” 

These Italian soldiers had surrendered on the battlefield and were brought to the United States to help with work. Even though they were considered enemy POWs, they were paid wages and sometimes had money to spend, like at the on-site canteen. (A canteen is a restaurant provided by an organization such as the military.) The Italian POWs did essential jobs that there weren't enough workers for. They operated heavy equipment and drove American military vehicles.

Camp Columbia and Prisoners in Agriculture 

Much agricultural land was used up for building the Hanford site. Farmers pressured the government to save the land for farming due to the high need for food during the war. In response to the pressure, Colonel Franklin Matthias, who oversaw the Hanford Engineer Works, made a deal with a government agency called Federal Prison Industries to increase agricultural production. This agency was responsible for using inmate labor. 

The Federal Prison Industries agreed to build and take care of a prison camp near the Hanford Site. Prisoners came from McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary in Western Washington. The army provided the necessary equipment and supplies for the camp and the Federal Prison Industries transferred prisoners to Camp Columbia to do the work. The prisoners selected by the prison to come were ones with no more than a year of a sentence left. They were “minimum-custody-type improvable male offenders.” These included conscientious objectors, people who were opposed to serving in the armed forces for moral or religious reasons. (Approximately less than 30% of inmates at the time were conscientious objectors.) The selection of prisoners was taken seriously, and their criminal background examined, as there were fears of a risk of access to the secrets of the Manhattan Project. 

Camp Columbia was open from February 1944 to October 1947. A total of 1,300 served there. At any given time, between 250 and 290 inmates were housed in the camp. The prisoners worked on over 1,000 acres of orchards, vineyards, asparagus, hay, and potatoes. From 1944 to 1947 the camp produced more than $500,000 worth of crops, which is worth more than $7 million today. 

Questions for Optional Reading 3 

1. What was the significance of Big Pasco during World War II? 
2. How did Italian prisoners of war (POWs) contribute to operations at Big Pasco? 
3. How did Colonel Franklin Matthias and the government address the need for increased agricultural production? 
4. How do you feel about using POWs to work at Big Pasco, and prisoners at Camp Columbia? Do you think it was fair to use inmates and prisoners for the war efforts, and what are some ethical concerns that come to mind? 

Optional Activity: Employee Newsletters

“The Sage Sentinel” Collection  

Support your students’ understandings with more visual, multimedia resources. “The Sage Sentinel” was a publication for the employees at Hanford and offer us a unique perspective into employees’ lives. Students can individually or in groups select different dated publications and report on their findings. 

1. The Sage Sentinel Collection: Hanford History Project 

1. Examine the cartoons, such as the “Life in Hanford” series. What do you notice? 

2. Read about the community happenings and events. Do you think this was a welcoming community to all? Why or why not? 

3. What surprises you about the publications? What connects to the lesson readings? 

4. You may also compare this collection to this Photo Gallery by the Hanford History Project by Washington State University Tri-Cities. 

Additional Resources

Historical Background of the Area:

Displacement at Hanford (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

First National Bank of White Bluffs (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

History of the Hanford Site (osti.gov)

Howard Amon Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Manley Bostwick Haynes and Judge Cornelius Holgate Hanford  (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Prosser Cemetery (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Tribal Nations - Manhattan Project National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Wanawish/Horn Rapids Dam (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

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The lesson was researched and written by educator Sarah Nestor Lane for the Cultural Resource Office for Interpretation and Education. This series was funded by the National Council on Public History's cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.