The Town That Was Taken for the War
Town of White Bluffs
Before the reactors, before the security checkpoints, White Bluffs was a quiet river town rooted in agriculture and small-town life. In 1943, everything changed when the federal government ordered its residents to leave, and never return.
A Displaced Community in the Path of History
White Bluffs was a thriving agricultural settlement with homes, orchards, schools, and businesses along the Columbia River. In the spring of 1943, the U.S. government claimed the land for a top-secret wartime project. Residents were given just days to pack up and leave, with little explanation.
The town was dismantled, its cemetery disinterred and relocated. Most buildings were burned or demolished - except one: the White Bluffs Bank. Built in 1907 from reinforced concrete, it proved too resilient to destroy and today stands as the best-preserved symbol of the community’s past. Recently restored, the building now serves as a rare and powerful reminder of the people who once lived and worked here.
Overlooking White Bluffs today offers a solemn glimpse into a town that vanished for the sake of war, and the few pieces of it that still stand as witness.