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Old newspapers, pinned to the places they wrote about — the streets you can still walk today.
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State College confirmed hydrophobia in a hog’s head from a Richland-area ranch, prompting dog quarantines and warnings that unusually bold coyotes could spread the disease through the valley.
“The situation is serious and a strict quarantine will probably have to be maintained throughout the entire valley.”
A catastrophic flood on the Yakima River leaves homes submerged, stock lost, and two local men drowned in a tragic crossing attempt.
“The water came up and surrounded the house and made it impossible to remain any longer.”
Women turn out in force at Gibbs Hall, nominate Mrs. C. D. Hopper for council, and promise a bachelor mayor the fight of his life.
“It would seem that a brighter day is in sight for Richland when the mothers of the town take enough interest in politics to attend the caucuses.”
A 10-year-old boy drowns while bathing near the Richland bridge despite the desperate rescue attempts of his playmates.
“The other boys swam to the rescue but were unable to bring their struggling companion to the shore.”
A Richland man faces federal charges for treasonable utterances against the President and the U.S. Army during the fervor of the First World War.
“This is a free country and no man can be arrested for speaking his mind about the president or anybody else.”
Predators are creeping into town limits at night, forcing residents to arm themselves after a man was bitten in the fields.
“It is up to everyone to see that they have some weapon of defense if they are compelled to be out after dark, even inside the town limits.”
Henry Bahr had planned to move in with his daughter in Kennewick after one more season. Instead, a neighbor found him dead in his ranch house, his livestock starving in the barn.
“Mr. O'Brien's first thought was for the stock, and on going to the barn found them in a deplorable condition from want of food and water.”
A rabies outbreak among coyotes and livestock forces a town-wide quarantine, pitting the health of the public against the freedom of household pets.
“The gravest danger is from the dogs and dog owners should put forth every effort to assist the authorities in stamping out the disease.”
In a historic local election, Mrs. C. D. Hopper secures a seat on the Richland City Council, marking a significant milestone for women in regional civic leadership.
“This is the first time in the history of Richland that a woman has ever been elected to the city council.”
A Richland rancher faces local justice after beating his horse until exhaustion.
“Justice Howes scored him in no measured terms for his inhuman treatment of a dumb beast.”
Community members organize a massive drive to protect orchards from an overwhelming pest invasion.
“Otto Haueisen bagged the largest number and won the beautiful silver cup offered by the F. G. Bier Hardware company.”
Twenty tons of hay and a large barn are lost at the Anthony ranch near Richland; family home saved by neighbors.
“It was only by the strenuous efforts of Richland men who hurried to the scene in automobiles that the family home was saved.”
A trio of burglars leads the sheriff on a high-stakes chase through the desert sand before being flushed out of the hills.
“These men, who had been tracked in the sand from the scene of the crime, broke and ran, but a couple of shots from the sheriff’s gun caused them to change their minds.”
Without a bridge, Richland business leaders struggle to find affordable transport to Kennewick.
“It is absolutely necessary that something be done at once as Richland is practically isolated at the present.”
A procedural shortcut taken by county commissioners to build a bridge has backfired, with the state declaring their contract void for lack of competitive bidding.
“The action of the county commissioners in letting a contract for the Richland bridge is irregular and consequently the contract will be considered null and void.”
In April 1914, a dispute over a base-running call in Richland escalated into a physical standoff, forcing an umpire to forfeit the game and leaving the Highland team walking off the field in protest.
When her livestock was threatened, a Richland woman stood her ground against a predatory intruder with nothing but a club and an ax.
“Throwing the club with all her force (men folks to the contrary notwithstanding) hit the coyote such a blow that he fell over stunned.”
The town's largest mercantile establishment burned to the ground early Wednesday morning in a blaze suspected to be caused by faulty electrical wiring.
“The flames had made such headway before they were discovered that all efforts to save any of the stock were futile.”
A rapid temperature rise melts deep snow, turning Richland streets into lakes and threatening the town's infrastructure.
“The streets and roads are literally lakes while nearly every cellar in town is full of water.”
The newly organized school board selects a superintendent and vows to conduct its official business in the open.
“One of the first official acts was to announce that complete publicity was to be given each board meeting.”
Farmers in the Fruitvale district are calling for organized rabbit drives as pests devastate alfalfa fields.
“The farmers must get together and DO IT NOW.”
Local farmers consider a co-operative plan to stabilize the regional cream market by partnering with the Kennewick Fruit Produce Company.
“Not only have the dairymen themselves deplored the situation... but merchants of the valley have had it called to their attention that this state of affairs did not tend to increase their own prosperity.”
After rejecting a used chemical fire engine from Kennewick, the Richland city council pivots toward building a self-sufficient water system.
“The opinion is veering toward the favorable consideration of a municipally owned water system.”
A combination of unseasonable rains and falling market prices forces local growers to plow under their crops in favor of more reliable produce.
“A number of farmers have decided to plow up their strawberries, claiming that on account of the big risks which they have to assume... they can realize more from their land if planted to early potatoes.”
Stagnant water and mosquito breeding grounds prompt urgent civic repairs in districts three and seven.
“It has become quite a nuisance with its noisome smells and mosquito breeding proclivities.”
A post office and a general store are looted in a single night as deputies scour the countryside for suspects.
“Richland is experiencing its first real metropolitan excitement due to the fact that on Tuesday night two real robberies were committed.”
A budget-conscious councilwoman clashes with the Mayor over the cost of the city clerk position.
“A heated argument followed in which Mr. Arbuckle seemed to take the view that no matter what the saving to the city would be, that the office of city clerk must be held by a taxpayer.”
A brutal winter and lack of food drives starving jackrabbits into the heart of Richland's orchards.
“He has seen as many as a hundred jacks around his hay stack at one time while he shot thirteen in five shots.”
A budget dispute in Richland turns personal when a council member challenges the city clerk's pay, leading the clerk to offer a defiant ultimatum.
“I would resign on the spot if Mrs. Hopper would resign from the city council and take the position as clerk at a salary of $5 a month.”
While the community prepared for a festive Fourth of July celebration in the park, encroaching floodwaters threatened local farms and the picnic grounds themselves.
“It is the idea to have some patriotic songs and speeches in order to give the children a more comprehensive idea of what is meant by ‘The Fourth of July’ aside from the firecracker idea.”
After a daring nitroglycerin heist at the Richland post office, a trail of discarded gear and footprints in the sagebrush leads sheriff’s deputies to three suspects.
“It was a rather curious fact, altho the men were roughly dressed each wore kid gloves.”
A heated school board race draws record-breaking turnout, sparking calls for more transparency in local governance.
“No bets were overlooked by either side in grabbing the chance of a loose voter and the enthusiasm ran high.”
Richland stockholders clash over selling their local phone system to a Kennewick-based manager.
“As usual, the telephone meeting ended by everybody disagreeing and the matter is as far from being satisfactorily settled as it ever was.”
After years of public access to private land, a local farmer threatens to ban all visitors due to vandalism and reckless behavior.
“He has stood this violation of his hospitality for a long time and has at last reached the stage where patience is no longer a virtue.”
Strawberry farmers in Richland are banding together to bypass established marketing associations and are calling for Kennewick growers to unite with them to control local fruit prices.
“I have yet failed to find a grower who does not admit that the salvation of the fruit business depends upon co-operation at the producing end of the line.”
Richland voters rally behind a candidate who pledges to defer to local road associations, highlighting the ongoing tension of geographical isolation.
“Richland feels, on account of her isolated position from which she does business with Kennewick, that it’s not only fair, but good business, to keep the road under the personal supervision of one who uses it.”
County Commissioner R.E. Pratt defends the county board against accusations of negligence regarding the Richland bridge disaster.
“The 'I told you so' observer is a familiar sight and never fails to show up on such occasions as these.”
Highlands residents seek to curb the rising costs of fashion through a communal hat-trimming event.
“There is no excuse for your paying more than four bits for your wife's next Easter bonnet.”
A tragic river accident in Richland leaves a community in mourning as the search for thirteen-year-old Eddie Hellinger comes to a sorrowful close.
“This is one of the saddest incidents in the history of the Richland district.”
While the butcher was away for his midday meal, thieves carefully bypassed his security and cleaned out the till.
“The men must have kept close tab on his movements because they immediately proceeded to cut a large piece out of the screen door.”
Citizens and local youth organize a massive, community-wide rabbit hunt to curb the population explosion of jackrabbits in Benton County.
“Ladies of the neighborhood followed the hunters in a wagon loaded with watermelons and did their part in reviving the spirits of any who seemed in need of such nourishment.”
Thieves looted a general store and commandeered a local horse and wagon to escape the scene.
“The Chinese and negro quarters were both closely searched but none of the missing articles found.”
A packed meeting at Amon Hall backs a growers’ union, and organizers head to Kennewick to bring neighboring farmers into the cooperative before the 1916 crop.
“Kennewick growers are being earnestly invited to join the Richland men and so make a better price and market for the 1916 potato crop an assured fact.”
Residents are fed up with the 'notoriously bad' mail service between Kennewick and Richland.
“It would mean further delay that if his letter got to Kennewick last Saturday forenoon any time after 7:30 o’clock he would not get such letter... till the next Tuesday about noon!”
Richland's high school students join the Ladies' Civic Club to systematically combat the local pest population.
“Medical men have warned of the great danger of disease through what was formerly considered the innocent fly.”
After the river froze, stopping boat deliveries, Richland residents held a mass meeting to protest their isolation.
“the height of indignation has been reached by the citizens and ranchers.”
A state veterinarian quarantines the Columbia River Valley after a mad dog bites local animals, ordering dogs tied or muzzled from the Horn to the Columbia.
“All the dogs within the city limits are being kept tied up or muzzled, while a like law will now be in effect for those in the country district.”
Thirty farmers from Richland and Kennewick spend a day inspecting five kinds of silos and hearing state experts explain how to keep winter feed from molding.
“That the future of the Richland district depends on its dairy herds to a great extent is conceded by everyone.”
A rabid beast terrorizes local farms and breaks up a neighborhood baseball game before being put down.
“The animal picked up the stone in its mouth and charged round the farm, breaking through chicken fences and snapping at the horses.”
A former Tacoma mayor pivots from city hall to heavy civil engineering, bringing a crew of eighteen to remake the Richland landscape.
“Any one who has kept posted on political affairs in the City of Destiny for the past few years are familiar with the name of Geo. T. Wright.”
After a two-year hiatus, members of the Christian Church in Richland hold services in Amon Park while planning for a permanent hall.
“The membership having come prepared to supply physical nourishment after being given spiritual.”
Town residents donate labor and money to add a centerpiece to Amon Park.
“The work has practically all been donated by men of the town and quite a good sum of money has been subscribed to cover the expense of installing.”
A young woman leaped into a runaway automobile as it rolled toward a ditch, highlighting the dangers of early car ownership.
“Seeing the machine moving, Miss Blanche, with rare courage, sprang into the seat.”
Local farmers advocate for a new, flatter road to the Leslie Siding, seeking to reduce transport costs and bypass difficult terrain.
“The present road to Leslie from Richland makes it necessary to go through private land and climb an extremely high hill.”
Young men register for wartime service as local school principal resigns to manage family farm.
“Some of them didn’t go very willingly, however, but most of the Richland men who have not volunteered to date have a pretty good reason for such negligence.”
A young man goes missing on the Columbia River after his launch engine fails, triggering a town-wide search.
“Some patrolled the shore with lanterns and a number went out in boats to aid in the work.”
Local women form a Red Cross auxiliary, securing a permanent headquarters to sew supplies and support the war effort.
“There is no woman in Richland who can afford to miss this opportunity... as she can tell us more in a minute than we can learn in a week from writing letters.”
Columbus B. McAlpin, a pioneer of the Richland valley, trades his 200-acre ranch for a Queen Anne apartment building.
“Mr. McAlpin has come to the conclusion recently that a quarter of a century given to agricultural pursuits is quite enough for him.”
A brush fire south of Richland consumes vital lumber for the Horn Rapids Irrigation company, serving as a warning for local farmers.
“This is only another example of what careless attention to brush and weed fires may cause.”
A local rancher’s persistent attempts to perform high-speed automobile somersaults leave both him and his Ford in need of repair.
“The car, after a few shots of tonic and the application of a little liniment by 'Doc' Gilhuly at the White Bluffs Garage, is able to be up and around.”
With a rapidly growing subscriber list, the community-owned Richland Telephone Company faces a shortfall in its expansion funds.
“The company is owned by stockholders who are nearly all farmers who live in the district.”
A local transfer driver accidentally struck a woman with a trailing wagon, highlighting the hazards of rural road traffic during the horse-drawn era.
“She says that hereafter she will look behind every wagon she sees to be sure they are not coming in relays.”
A local woman narrowly avoids tragedy while camping near Timmerman's Ferry.
“Too much steam had accumulated that the lid was forced off and flew up in her face propelled by the force of the steam pressure.”
A brutal autumn wind storm carpeted local orchards in harvest-ready apples, turning a bountiful season into a salvage operation.
“Fine large apples of all varieties which were ready to pick the first of October are literally carpeting the ground.”
Irrigation seepage has turned productive farmland into bogs, sparking a major local reclamation project.
“As very generally happens to a region that is put under irrigation the low spots become swamps through seepage and useless for farming purposes.”
A minor errand for a loaf of bread leads to the total loss of a Richland home.
“On chancing to look out the window he saw the flames leaping from his own home and before he could get back, the place was past saving.”
Local and federal authorities are tracking leads after a recent post office heist in the region.
“Jack Martin has been deputized and is assisting the sheriff’s office and the government detective in running down evidence and clues.”
With taxes already high, Richland residents—even friends of the commissioners—oppose building a new county courthouse in Prosser, Kennewick, or Horse Heaven.
“The burden of taxation is high enough without this additional expense, and the people of the county would like to see themselves on a much better footing financially than they are at present before such an undertaking is commenced.”
When a Richland nursery salesman disputed his pay, the town improvised a three-man board instead of a courtroom.
“The board decided to split the difference and make each side stand one-half of the disputed sum.”
A massive engineering project kicks off in Richland as the Wright Construction Company brings in heavy machinery and a crew to tackle the area's drainage needs.
“About all the big teams and all the big wagons in the district were rounded up this week to help haul in an heavy machinery.”
A year after the mail was stolen, five men finally split a $600 federal reward — and the one now somewhere in the Atlantic on a hospital ship has no idea.
“It takes a long time to get money from the government under circumstances of this kind, but it will come in pretty handy now with the increasing cost of living.”
Land agents pack up the valley's finest produce — mammoth sugar beets, honeydew casabas, and one 250-pound potato crop — and ship it to Chicago to convince Eastern buyers that this sagebrush country is a garden.
“There is no doubt the shipment consists of some of the finest specimens of the different products that could be assembled in any section of the United States.”
White Bluffs leaders successfully push to prioritize internal county roads over state-favored highway surfacing.
“It would be manifestly unfair to use funds raised by taxes in this county on roads that are built by state appropriation.”
A complex, multi-state real estate trade involving land in Idaho, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Hanford reshuffles several prominent residents.
“It’s a good thing these people get their mail in town as it is doubtful that any of Uncle Sam’s rural route men could keep track of them.”
Engineering work is transforming marshland into valuable agricultural property north of Richland.
“Already the tullies in the swamps which have been drained are beginning to die.”
The Costellos' spread three miles north of Richland, once the McAlpin homestead, is judged the foundation of one of the finest stock farms in the irrigated country — if the water can be lifted onto it.
“Here was the foundation of one of the finest stock farms in the irrigated section and when properly developed would, in their estimation, be worth close to $50,000.”
A series of swift convictions and heavy fines target illegal hunting activities near Richland.
“N. G. Palmer, game warden of Benton county, is making violations of the game laws a hazardous business in his county.”
As World War I dominates civic life, Richland residents rally to establish a local Red Cross auxiliary and raise funds for the front.
“It is up to the people who stay at home to see that they do their share toward making it possible for them to be properly taken care of on the battlefields.”
When smoke began to fill the bedroom walls, a quick-thinking resident saved her home from total ruin.
“Mrs. Teachout says that there is no doubt in her mind that if she had gone away without discovering the fire the house would have been a total ruin.”
A town’s attempt to humble a cocky stranger with a legendary bucking horse backfires when the animal decides to behave.
“The stranger said, 'Thank you, gentlemen, for giving me $6.10 and such a pleasant ride.' Now, what do you think of that?”
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