Crehst Museum

This museum has shut down and has merged the new Hanford Reach Interpretive Center (10 minutes away, down the 240).

I went here with a friend of mine and his children not really knowing what to expect. We jumped on a tour that was just starting with a wonderfully witty guide named Cal, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much stuff there is in such a tiny place. I learned the town history, some interesting information about nuclear waste, got to pet a replica waste tank wall, tried in vain to pick up a measuring cup with a robotic arm… and that wasn’t even the hands-​on section!
A great diversion for a couple hours. ^.^ Thanks for entertaining an out-​of-​towner!

I’m a museum person (I work at one), and this one is pretty small, but well put-​together. It covers a lot of different topics, most of them science-​related, but also covers the history of the area (which is kinda weird, to be honest… the history is weird… not the museum’s covering of it). If you’re clueless about the history of the Richland area, google «Hanford»…it’s a nuclear site.
I got here about 30 minutes before closing and was really impressed with the knowledge of the 2 docents who escorted me around. On the first floor is a variety of hands-​on exhibits about sound waves, static electricity, lasers, the radioactivity of various household items (like Fiestaware and candy), and a way cool robotic arm. I loved the thing. It would be awesome to sort my socks with one of those puppies, JUST ONCE! Sadly, I never made it to the bottom floor… I could’ve spent 2 – 3 hours here pretty easily, I think. Not the best place to take a kid who can’t read yet, as there’s lots of reading to be done… especially if you’re as dorky as I am and are going to want to read EVERYthing. There are enough hands-​on things that your typical 4 – 6 year-​old will at least be entertained for an hour or 2, minimum.
Outside of the museum are some cool old buses and a trailer from the early Hanford era. The gift shot is pretty cool… has a variety of actual science equipment that’s been decommissioned. I almost bought one, then decided the TSA had enough things to hassle me about.

It was really fun coming here and telling my sons some of the TC history. Of course most of the time they just wanted to play with the Robot Arm in a Box, but they did find some things pretty interesting about how this area came to be.
There are some very friendly volunteers here who have been part of the area history and can tell lots of good stories about this area’s development. Living history is always better than dry book readings if you asked me.
All in all, a great place for anyone to learn about the TC and some science too

CHREST, CRHEST, CERHST, CSRHET… for some reason I used to have the hardest time remembering the acronym. It’s CREHST, folks, and don’t you forget it! It stands for Columbia River Exhibition of History, Science, and Technology.
So, I’ve probably driven by this little museum a million times, and have had thoughts of, «man, I should go there!» Well, it was no more time for talking, it was time to bite.
I made it to the CREHST Museum on a weekday morning after a snow. I was one of the only other patrons here. I was immediately greeted by the old timer David (the docent and front desk person). I had a few questions and David answered them with tons of information. David was an engineer on the Hanford site. In fact! He was the engineer who installed the fire mitigation system in the museum… when it was 10+ miles away! Yeah, this building was used at the now-​defunct FFTF (Fast Flux Test Facility). This modular structure was moved to its current location a few years ago to make this cool museum. Thanks for the info, David!
I made my way through the museum. There are some surprisingly awesome exhibits here — I kick myself for taking so long to visit! If you want to know about our interesting local history, you can dive in and get lost in old black & white photos. There are also cool quotes to read about people who lived here back in the day (Yeah, I like to say «back in the day», what of it?!).
: HANFORD & ALPHABET HOUSE :
Of course work at the Hanford site dominates here, but it’s actually kind of cool. I liked some of the more human takes they have on Hanford. I personally loved the information on how Richland was built. I live in an «F House», and it was cool to see & read about how the Alphabet Neighborhood, consisting of hundreds of houses, was built within months (I even bought a couple pamphlets on the subject). Apparently these houses are «Cape Cod style homes». I didn’t know I was living such the high life!
There is a little info upstairs on the Alphabet Houses, but there’s even more info in the hallway downstairs. (Personally, I think there’s nothin’ like an F-​House, baby!)
: DAY’S PAY :
There’s also a story about the WWII bomber, «Day’s Pay» which was donated by the workers from Hanford when everyone donated a day’s wage to help purchase said plane.
: MANIPULATOR ARM :
Oh snap! Let’s not forget the «Manipulator Arm!» Yeah, there is one exhibit where people can try their luck on operating a mechanical arm inside of a «hot cell». Basically you have some blocks which you can try your best and picking up and moving around — if you are child of the video game era, this will be super easy for you. (If you have mad skillz, you can pick up a penny!)
This was fun!
: MELVIN THE ELK :
This was pretty cool. Did you know that we have a HUGE heard of elk nearby? I had heard legends of these elk, and might have even seen tracks of them at work, but have never actually seen one… well until a couple weekends ago while driving home from Seattle along the SR240. Yeah, I saw easily 100+ head of elk, and they were right there off the highway. It was amazing. So yeah, at CREHST, they have an exhibit on «Melvin». He was a monster elk who lived a wonderous life out on the Land Reserve. This elk was a bull of bulls. There were years when he had ALL the ladies. He lived to be around 18yrs old! This exhibit chronicles his life in antlers. There is also a mention of the wildlife biologist who studied Melvin, and lost his life in a helicopter crash in the area.
: HANDS-​ON EXHIBITS :
There is a room with plenty of hands-​on stuff for kids. Some of them aren’t hands on, but they’re cool to check out. They have one of those globes plasma ball thingies (y’know like the one Chunk played with in The Goonies). There’s a Van de Graaf machine where you can watch the magic of static electricity. LIGO has a mini laser interferometer on display **ahem, ahem**. There is a cool guitar display to see the modes of guitar strings. Basically, you have some cool things to play with here!
: GIFT SHOP :
And yeah, there is a pretty neat gift shop. Are you in the market for a dosimeter or geiger counter? If so, they can hook you up here. What about a mood ring? The have a stack of ‘em. There are tons of books on local history as well.
So yeah, for $ 4 I spent a good 60−90min here, and had a good time. Great exhibits, excellent staff, and a central location. If you’re visiting or are a local who has never been, this is a required stop for you!
A shiny, tiny, nice, & total gem!
: PS – I snapped a few photos for your perusal: