At a recent city of Richland park tour of Claybell Park, Parks and Public Facilities Director Chris Waite reported that city records were vague on where the name Claybell Park originated. No one at city hall seemed to know, he said.
Looking for answers
After the tour, the Observer began looking for the answer.
“I’d never heard of Claybell Park until a few years ago,” four life-long Richlanders each told the Observer. They had no idea where the name came from.
According to Waite, city records show information about creating a park at the Meadow Springs neighborhood that was being built in the mid-1970s, the next references are to “Claybell Park,” but with nothing to indicate how the name was chosen.
The Observer’s research in the Tri-City Herald archives showed the same thing. In 1977 the city proposed funding for parks in the new Meadow Springs neighborhood. In a 1978 recreation bond proposal, there was a park named Claybell.
After former Mayor Bob Thompson described his native son Bonafide’s – “born at Kadlec Hospital in 1955,” — he told the Observer in a telephone conversation that he had no idea how Claybell was named. Thompson served on the Richland City Council for 27-years, He was mayor for eight of those. He lives in the Claybell Park neighborhood.
Thompson suggested that property records might have some answers.
More research
The Observer followed Thompson’s advice and researched the Benton County property records and other sources. The property records indicated that some land that is now Claybell Park was donated by Meadow Springs Development. Davin and Milo Bauder were associated with that. Some land came from the state of Washington. The word “claybell” never appears.
An internet search provided a list of people named “Clay Bell,” but none are associated with Washington.
According to Ancestry, in 1880 one family of Claybells lived in Ohio and they were 100% of the Claybells recorded in the USA.
City funded Claybell Park.
The Tri-City Herald reported in March 21, 1977, that the Richland City Council voted to spend money on parks in Meadow Springs, Resolution 25-77,
By October 23,1978, city voters were considering a $3 million recreation bond that included $420,000 in park improvements. Under the proposal, Claybell Park received two softball fields, two tennis courts, a soccer field, two basketball courts and other improvements.
The proposal fell short of passing. Only 55% voted yes and 60% was required.
Contact the Observer.
If you know how Claybell Park was named, contact the Observer. Residents await answers
Clay bells seem to be part of Asian culture. After WWII, an organization, Sister Cities, was set up with the thought that each city would learn about each other. In 1972, there was an annual conference in Seattle. Seattle has several sister cities and so do other WA cities. 1974 was the 1st international conference. Richland had a sister city, Hsinchu, Taiwan. I can’t find anything that says when they became sister cities, perhaps it was in the 70s. Since clay bells are something that is part of the Asian culture, maybe the name is connected to the sister city relationship. History of Sister Cities – https://sistercities.org/about-us/our-mission/our-history/ List of WA sister cities, on which Richland appears, but Richland is not listed on the Sister Cities website. Also Hsinchu is on the internet as a sister city for Cupertino, CA since 2007. https://www.ltgov.wa.gov/washington-sister-cities/
Hi Renee, Thank you for your comments about “Sister Cities” and the possibility that they could explain Claybell Park’s name. I spent some time going through the Tri-City Herald archives. While I found quit a few references to the “Sister City” program, I only found one relating to Richland. The one reference referred to a city in Taiwan as possibly being a sister city. This did pop up about Japanese clay bells: https://www.goenne.com/garagara. I’ve been told that Mike Bauder, one of the developers of Meadow Springs who gave the property to the city, may have the answer. I hope so. Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy
Hi Renee, I think you’re right that the name Claybell likely refers to clay bells that originated in Japan. They were also made in Richland’s sister city, Hsinchu, Taiwan. Read what I wrote here: https://tricitiesobserver.com/2025/07/06/w-e-johnson-would-love-his-park-the-52-in-25-richland-park-walks-continue-along-with-the-speculation-on-how-claybell-park-was-named/
Seems like it would’ve been documented in meeting minutes when the park was established.
Hi Mary, I agree that we would expect the naming to be referred to in the city minutes, but Chris said they looked at city records and found what I found in the Herald records. First it’s a park and the next thing you know, it’s Claybell Park. Maybe I should see how far back they went checking the minutes. Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy
I was hired by the City of Richland in March of 1980 and was assigned to begin the final designs and construction documents for the parks that were approved as park of the park bond. All I know is that Milo Bauder was instrumental in donating the the land to the City and he probably was involved in coming up with the name Claybell Park, as he was done for other park land he has donated to the city as part of different subdivisions he developed. Maybe his son Mark might have some insight.
Dave Bryant.
Retired Senior Park Planner
Hi Dave, Thank you so much for this information. It would explain why there appear to be no records of the city naming the park. I will reach out to Mark Bauder to ask what he remembers about the park name. Thanks again, Randy.