Kennewick is a city in Benton County in the Columbia River Plateau region of Washington State. Kennewick together with Pasco and Richland are known as the "Tri-Cities" of Washington.

Kennewick is a city in Benton County in southeastern Washington. It is the most populous of the three cities collectively referred to as the Tri-Cities (the others being Pasco and Richland). Kennewick is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, opposite Pasco and just south of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers. As of the 2004 census estimates, the city had a total population of 60,118, making it the largest city in Benton County.

History

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Kennewick was officially incorporated on February 5, 1904. Previously, the town had been known by many names, arguably the strangest was "Tehe" which was allegedly attributed to the reaction from a native girl's laughter when asked the name of the region.

The name "Kennewick" is believed to be a native word meaning "grassy place." It has also been called "winter paradise," mostly because of the mild winters in the area.

Kennewick Man is the name for the remains of a prehistoric man found on a bank of the Columbia River nearby, sometimes thought to have Caucasian features, despite being indigenous and living 9000 years ago. Ownership of the bones has been a matter of great controversy.

Attractions

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Kennewick is the host city of the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League, as well as of the Arena Football League's Tri-Cities Fever. They both play their home games in the Toyota Center, which hosts many other regional events as well. Every year during the summer, hydroplane racing takes place at the Water Follies event on the Columbia River. Residents from all of southeastern Washington come to Kennewick to shop in the city's commercial district, the center point of which is Columbia Center Mall.

Geography

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Kennewick is located at (46.203475, -119.15927).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 63 km² (24.3 mi²). 59.4 km² (22.9 mi²) of it is land and 3.6 km² (1.4 mi²) of it (5.67%) is water.

Demographics

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As of the census of 2000, there were 54,693 people, 20,786 households, and 14,176 families residing in the city. The population density was 920.9/km² (2,384.9/mi²). There were 22,043 housing units at an average density of 371.2/km² (961.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 82.93% White, 1.14% Black or African American, 0.93% Native American, 2.12% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 9.4% from other races, and 3.37% from two or more races. 15.55% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 20,786 households out of which 37.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.6 and the average family size was 3.15.

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