Hanford: Enjoy a Pre-War Historic Sites Tour

General Leslie Groves of the Army Corps of Engineers directed Lieutenant Colonel Franklin T. Matthias to search the United States for the perfect location to produce plutonium. The site needed to be vast and away from major cities and highways. There also needed to be large amounts of water to cool the reactors and a plentiful supply of electricity. Matthais found what he considered the perfect spot alongside the Columbia River in the arid part of Washington. Groves approved the site that Matthais recommended. Shortly after, the Manhattan Project acquired towns and surrounding farms through eminent domain in 1943. This action displaced Tribes, farmers, and townsfolk. Although most traces of these people are gone, there are still some structures on the Hanford Site that hark back to life before the Manhattan Project. The US Department of Energy offers Pre-War Historic Sites Tours that explore the communities of Hanford and White Bluffs that were displaced by the Hanford Site. At the White Bluffs Bank, you can see the only surviving structure from the small town where local farmers went to shop and socialize. Surviving buildings at the Bruggemann Ranch demonstrate the prosperity that large farmers attained before the Manhattan Project. At the Hanford High School, you can see a major community institution that educated local people prior to the Manhattan Project.