| | Thumbnail | | Creator | Date | Title / Author / Date / Location | Price | | | Description |
| 8121 |  | Details | Bergdahl, Clyde | 1946 |
| Atomic Age pictorial map of Richland, Washington Hanford |
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Bergdahl, Clyde |
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| 1946 |
| LOC:86 |
| $995.00 | Bergdahl--Clyde | Atomic-Age-pictorial-map-of-Richland--Washington-Hanford | Unusual early Atomic Age pictorial map of Richland, Washington, by Clyde Bergdahl, dating to circa 1946. This very rare map combines a humorous view of the community and surrounding Columbia River country with a prominent explanation of plutonium production and a red mushroom cloud.<br><br>
Richland expanded rapidly during World War II as the residential community for workers at the nearby Hanford Engineer Works. Part of the Manhattan Project, Hanford produced the plutonium used in the first atomic test at Trinity and in the bomb dropped on Nagasaki in August 1945. Bergdahl's map places the everyday buildings and activities of this purpose-built community within the landscape of atomic production.<br><br>
The illustrated town includes housing, schools, shops, and Kadlec Hospital. Beyond Richland, the Columbia River links the Hanford installations with Priest Rapids and Grand Coulee Dam. Mount Rainier, Badger Mountain, Rattlesnake Mountain, and Horse Heaven appear alongside coyotes, mountain goats, and a wind-blowing face above the arid country labeled "Sage & Sand."<br><br>
At right, a simplified diagram traces the conversion of uranium into plutonium-239, culminating in an atomic explosion. Its placement beside the cheerful townscape offers a revealing expression of local identity in the immediate postwar years, when nuclear achievement became a source of community pride. Signed by Clyde Bergdahl at lower right.
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