Town of Hanford

Once a thriving farm town with schools and churches, Hanford disappeared almost overnight to make way for the Manhattan Project. Its name now belongs to a site, but its history belongs to its people.

Where a Community Was Lost to a National Secret

Hanford was a growing town with roots in farming and railroads, located near the Columbia River. Like White Bluffs, its location made it ideal for the government’s needs: access to water, distance from population centers, and room for a massive secret project.

In 1943, residents were evicted and the town erased from the map. Their land was paved over by reactors, support facilities, and restricted zones. What remains today are the remnants of homes and businesses buried beneath the sand, and the legacy of people who were quietly displaced by history.

The name “Hanford” now conjures reactors and science, but it was once a town full of lives, dreams, and memories - a story still worth telling.