The small farming community continued to develop as weapons production climbed during the Cold War and the town was designated as a first class city in 1958.

Mushroom cloud logos are proudly displayed throughout the school and the student body used to shout "nuke 'em" at sporting events.

The mascot is named after Archie Purcell, a WWII veteran who was a ball turret gunner on the famous B-17 "A Days Pay".

As the region has diversified since its past as a federally owned Atomic City where 90% of the population was either employed by or a dependent of Hanford, the school has since received criticism for its depiction of a mushroom cloud as an unofficial logo for the school, believing that the logo and the mascot to be glorifying the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Richland has won three state championships in boys' basketball, most recently in 1979, a team led on the floor by Brian Kellerman among others.

[12][13][14] Kellerman was a four-year starter at Idaho, a top ten team in 1982, and he was the Big Sky player of the year as a sophomore in 1981.