Okay, believe it or not, after almost 15 years of living in the Tri-Cities, I’ve finally visited the CREHST Museum in Richland. Yep, first time. We took an out-of-town guest there over the Thanksgiving weekend. Cari and the kids have been there before (several times, I think), but I never joined them.

My reaction: Love it! It’s weird — the museum is smaller than I expected, but also better than I expected.

The main level has a tour of historical Richland that you can do yourself, or go along with a guide. We did the self-tour thing, stopping at the various displays and listening to the pre-recorded audio that accompanies some of them. The focus isn’t all on Hanford, but that’s a good portion of the tour (as you’d expect). My favorite display was this one of a bunch of old Hanford signs found in a pit north of the 200 area weather station:

Also on the main level is a science exhibit that had some pretty cool hands-on things. It’s from the Mobius Science Center that will open in Spokane in 2011. There’s also a bookstore on the main level.

Downstairs there are some more displays (ABC Homes, Fish of the Columbia River, etc.) and a big room where you can watch videos related to Richland, Hanford, the Columbia Basin, etc.

We were there for about an hour, I think, maybe a little longer. It’s only $4 for adults and $3 for students, so you really can’t go wrong. Highly recommend it, especially if you’ve never visited before. CREHST is located at 95 Lee Boulevard.

In addition to the photo above, I’ve uploaded a dozen more in this Flickr photoset: CREHST Museum, Richland, WA.

Thank you for reading this article on the Richland Real Estate Blog. If you arrived here looking for specific real estate information, or would like to speak with a friendly, fun, and professional real estate agent, please contact Cari via her web site or call her directly at 509 – 430 – 5342 and she’ll be glad to help. Thanks again for visiting!