Bruggemann Ranch

Status: Most Endangered Places

Year Listed: 2018

Location: Benton County

Location: Manhattan Project National Historical Park

After immigrating to the United States from Germany in 1926, Paul and Mary Bruggemann purchased a large ranch along the Columbia River in 1937. The Bruggemanns became one of the most successful farming families in the region but were evicted by the US Government in 1943 to make way for plutonium production. The copious supply of water from the Columbia combined with cheap, reliable power made the area an ideal location for the development of the Manhattan Project.

The pre-Manhattan Project history of the Hanford Reach area was nearly erased over the ensuing decades, but with the recent establishment of the Hanford Unit of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, a new interest in uncovering the layered history of the site has developed. Only four structures remain from the pre-Manhattan era: Hanford High School, the White Bluffs Bank, the Allard Pumphouse, and the only privately built structure remaining: the Bruggemann cook house.

The Bruggemann site was once a substantial ranch with multiple structures and around 2000 acres of orchards. Today, only the cook house remains. The building is constructed of river cobble and is the last surviving example of this once common architectural technique in the area. The cook house is currently unsheltered from the elements with no clear plan for preservation, and advocates are seeking to bring more attention to the importance of preserving the little physical history that remains. The nearby White Bluffs Bank was recently restored, and advocates would like to see the cook house also restored and used to interpret the pre-Manhattan Project history.

Because of its proximity to the Vernita Bridge, the northernmost access point to park, a restored cook house could logically serve as an entry point and interpretative space that could communicate the significance of the pre-Manhattan Project history to park visitors.

B Reactor, Hanford Site

Status: Saved!

Year Listed: 2004

Location: Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Benton County

B Reactor is the world’s first full-scale plutonium production nuclear reactor. It was constructed in only 13 months, from October 1943 to September 1944, and became operational under the supervision of pioneer physicist Enrico Fermi. B Reactor is widely recognized as the building that gave birth to the Atomic Age and one of the most stunning technological advancements of the 20th century. Located at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hanford Site, B Reactor was the first of nine reactors built on the reservation as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Plutonium extracted from B Reactor was used in the Trinity Test—the world’s first nuclear explosion, in Alamogordo, New Mexico—as well as the “Fat Man” bomb the United States used against Japan in World War II.

The story of Hanford’s B Reactor was once one of the most secure secrets imaginable, but today it is a well-known historic site. Yet, as clean-up efforts at Hanford began in 1989, B Reactor’s future was uncertain. Questions persisted over which structures, if any, should be saved given the high levels of contamination. Some debated the value of saving any buildings the vast majority of the public might never see. The Washington Trust sought answers to these questions by including the B Reactor on the 2004 Most Endangered List. The listing coincided with a federal study to consider the addition of Manhattan Project sites to the National Park System. The Washington Trust advocated for this, along with the B Reactor Museum Association, Department of Energy decision-makers, Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, and then-Representative Doc Hastings. Completed in 2008, the study recommended including the property in a new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, allowing B Reactor to be removed from the Most Endangered List. In December 2014, legislation sponsored by Senator Maria Cantwell was passed to create the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. Park planning remains underway, but the public can already tour the B Reactor and see its intact control room and exhibits.