Gold Coast Historic District (Richland, Washington)

Gold Coast Historic District

F-type letter houses in 2007
Location Roughly bounded by Willis St, Davison Ave, Hunt Ave, Davison Ave, and George Washington Way, Richland, Washington
Coordinates 46°17′53″N 119°16′12″W / 46.29806°N 119.27000°W / 46.29806; -119.27000Coordinates: 46°17′53″N 119°16′12″W / 46.29806°N 119.27000°W / 46.29806; -119.27000
Area 890 acres (360 ha)
Built 1943
Architect Gustav Albin Pehrson, Hoffman Smith and Wight Co., et al
Architectural style Modern Movement
NRHP Reference # 04000315
Added to NRHP March 7, 2005[1]

The Gold Coast Historic District is a historic neighborhood of Richland, Washington. The homes in this neighborhood are Government-designed and prefabricated homes built in 1943 to house workers for the nearby Hanford Nuclear site.

About

Richland was a small farm town until the US Army purchased 1660 km² (640 sq mi) along the Columbia River for the war effort, evicting the 300 residents of Richland as well as those of the now vanished towns of White Bluffs and Hanford just upriver. The army turned it into a bedroom community for the workers on its Manhattan Project facility at the nearby Hanford Engineering Works (now the Hanford site). The population increased from 300 in July and August 1943 to 25,000 by the end of World War II in August 1945. Richland became a closed city (federally controlled Atomic Energy community), with access restricted to residents and others authorized by the U.S. Army. All land and buildings were owned by the government. Housing was assigned to residents and token rent was collected; families were assigned to houses or duplexes; single people were placed in apartments or barracks.

Much of the city was planned by Spokane architect Albin Pherson in conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers.[2] While there were dormitories and barracks built at the time, prefabricated duplexes and single family homes are all that survive today. Because homes were allocated based on family size and need, there were a number of floorplans available. These were each identified by a letter of the alphabet, and so came to be known as alphabet houses.

In 2003, neighborhood associations in Richland began to work to have the area listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 2004, the Governor’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (GACHP) began reviewing the City’s Gold Coast Historic District preservation application.[3] These efforts are still ongoing.

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ "Home Blown: The History of the Homes of Richland" (pdf). City of Richland. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  3. ↑ "Historic Preservation". City of Richland. Retrieved 2010-05-18.

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