Editing Tri-Cities, Washington (section)

===1940s–1970s===
After the founding of the [[Hanford Site]] in 1943 as part of the [[Manhattan Project]], Richland became the largest city of the three overnight. Richland's [[Richland High School (Washington)|Columbia High School]] adopted "Bombers" as its mascot (complete with mushroom cloud logo). In 1970, [[Kamiakin High School]] (in the neighboring city of Kennewick) was founded in response to the continued influx of people. The economy continued to grow, but not without some turbulence. Every time the Hanford facilities experienced reduced funding, thousands of people would suddenly become jobless.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} During this time, other employers slowly made their way into the area, but they too would often be forced to cut jobs in the bad times. Since the 1970s, Kennewick has had the greatest population of the three cities. The [[Columbia Center Mall]] opened in 1969 on land newly incorporated into Kennewick, drawing growth to western Kennewick and south Richland.<ref name="FindlayHevly2011">{{cite book |first1=John M. |last1=Findlay |first2=Bruce |last2=Hevly |title=Atomic Frontier Days: Hanford and the American West |date=2011 |publisher=University of Washington Press |location=Seattle |page=131 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YSqUHZQ4tXsC&pg=PA131 |series=Emil and Kathleen Sick Series in Western History and Biography |isbn=978-0-295-80298-5 |lccn=2011004808 |oclc=820530076 |chapter=The Atomic City of the West: Richland and the Tri-Cities |quote=Kennewick also grew by becoming the leading retailer of the Tri-Cities with the completion of the Columbia Center shopping mall in 1969.}}</ref>