About the Beaverton, Portland and Tigard Real Estate Market 

Beaverton
The Tualatin Valley and Beaverton area was originally the home of native people who referred to themselves as "Atfalati". Westerners later mispronounced the name as Tualatin. The tribe was a hunter-gatherer group which relied more on plants than animals for their food. In the spring of 1847, the first land claim (comprising 640 acres of beaverdam) located in what is now Beaverton was taken up by Lawrence Hall. He and his brother built a grist mill near present-day Walker Road. Spurred on by a railroad into town built in 1868, the small farming community west of Portland began to grow. By 1893 the City of Beaverton was formally incorporated with a population of 400. 

Beaverton is nestled between the vibrant city of Portland and the verdant farm fields of Western Washington County. The city offers a strong business environment and the attractions of a large metropolitan area, but still has a home-town feel. Its business core is growing and its urban population is increasingly diverse. Residents enjoy a wide variety of cultural and recreational opportunities, an award-winning parks district, high-achieving schools and a community-oriented government. Headquarters of global companies like Nike and Tektronix support the local economy along with many small and medium sized businesses.  

Beaverton lies seven miles west of downtown Portland in the heart of the “Silicon Forest,” the economic lifeblood of the region. Some 300 high tech companies are located there.  

It is the fifth largest city in the state and the second largest suburb in the metro area. There is a wide variety of housing stock, ranging from single-family houses on quiet cul-de-sacs to urban-core condominiums near shops and light rail transit stations.  

Beaverton offers a variety of family activities and amenities including the region’s largest farmers market, a new library, more than 100 parks, bike paths and hiking trails. It is also conveniently located within an hour’s drive of popular natural resources, including the Oregon coast, Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge.
 

Tigard
Wilson and Polly Tigard settled the area in the 1850’s. After coming to Oregon by wagon train in 1852, the Tigards staked out a 320 acre claim near Bull Mountain. The family cleared two acres for their home site, first building a log cabin and later a frame house. Soon, the Tigards had constructed the community’s first general store, which also served as a community post office, voting place and home for Tigard’s first telephone. A Victorian style house built in 1880 for Wilson Tigard’s eldest son, John, is now a historic landmark located on SW Canterbury Lane. 

Another monument to Tigard’s community spirit and past is the Tigard Windmill at SW 121st Avenue and Katherine Street. Built by Chris Christensen circa 1900 to supply well water for two residences on the Wood-Christensen farm established in 1866, it is all that remains of the once active 160 acre Wood-Christensen farm complex. Standing three stories high, the water tower supports a fully intact windmill which neighborhood residents restored in 1983. 

Tigard was incorporated in 1961 and today, is a beautiful and vibrant community located just minutes southwest of Portland in Washington County. The city is home to more than 47,000. As a community, Tigard strives to manage this growth and blend the amenities of a modern city with the friendliness and community spirit of a small town. 

A modern Tigard Civic Center which borders the Fanno Creek Greenway was completed in 1986 and houses city offices and the police department. Tigard's new library, which opened the Summer of 2004, is located at 13500 SW Hall Blvd. 

The City's "open door" policy encourages citizens to attend weekly city council meetings and observe the four-member council and mayor make important decisions. Tigard is a community building for today and its future. Local government and school leaders, citizen groups, businesses and individuals work hard to build upon Tigard's significant community attributes. The City promotes citizen participation through Citizen Involvement Teams that represent the community's four geographic areas. The teams allow citizens to become part of the decision-making process.
 

Hillsboro
Incorporated in 1876, Hillsboro has grown from a small farming community and government center into a modern city of 80,000 residents. It is the largest city in fast-growing Washington County. 

When early pioneers first reached the Tualatin Valley in the 1840s, they had only an inkling of the agricultural richness of the country. The valley was sparsely settled at the time by retiring mountain trappers and Atfalati Indians. The trackers soon began carving out a burgeoning community and government center. Most residents lived on farms or were engaged in milling and timber work. Soon they founded building, trade and retail businesses. With the arrival of the railroad in 1870s the Tualatin Valley became the breadbasket for the river port city of Portland, supplying dairy products, fruits and vegetables as well as timber products. 

During World War II, Hillsboro was the residence of many new Oregonians who had come north to work in the shipyards of Portland. Hillsboro became a bedroom community. After the war, city fathers began luring businesses to Hillsboro to create a new economic base. Business leaders formed an industrial development corporation, and the city annexed land to the north and east and laid out industrial areas. By the 1970s, the Hillsboro area had won Intel's first plant site outside California and spin-off companies from Tektronix. In the 1980s came Japanese-owned manufacturing companies. They were followed by suppliers and customers of Intel and other manufacturers, software companies, communication device manufacturers, Internet providers and branch sales and corporate offices. 

Originally called East Tualatin Plains, Hillsboro was named for David Hill, one of the adventurers who traveled the Oregon Trail by wagon train to find a new life in the Oregon Territory. Hill attended the famous Champoeg Meeting of 1843, which led to Oregon becoming part of the United States. He served as a provisional governor and was elected to the legislature of the state election of 1846. Like Hill, many Tualatin families arrived by wagon train in the 1850s and 1860s. Others traveled by ship around Cape Horn. Still others, after surviving the frenzied California Gold Rush of 1849 and 1850, moved north to Oregon. By 1850 there was a post office at Columbia, the name chosen by Hill on his donation land claim. This county seat in the early 1850s took the name Hillsborough when Hill donated a portion of his land claim for the courthouse. The name gradually was shortened to Hillsboro.  

Hillsboro has old fashioned charm, yet is only 20 minutes away from the big city amenities of Portland. It offers a variety of parks, fairs, historical places and rural beauty that can appeal to any visitor's taste. Hillsboro is the government seat of Washington County, a fast growing area of Oregon. But, people there still share a smile and extend a friendly welcome to newcomers. 

Hillsboro is one of Oregon's centers of manufacturing and technology. But you might not believe this at first, due to the lack of gridlock, skyscrapers and air pollution. Most of Hillsboro's commercial industry is done in park like industrial campus settings designed to blend in with the countryside. The people that work at companies like Epson, Toshiba, Intel, Tektronix and others live in the heart of the country, breathing fresh air, serenaded by songbirds, and soothed by the green, fertile farmland around them. 

Hillsboro is located in the middle of the warm, temperate Tualatin Valley, equidistant between the Cascade Range and the Pacific Ocean. Residents here have access to wind sailing in the Columbia River Gorge, year-round skiing on Mt. Hood, and the spectacular Oregon beaches, all only about an hour away. 

Being close to Portland means that Hillsboro residents can enjoy all of the urban fun, such as the Rose Festival, the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival, the Portland Trailblazers at Rose Garden Arena, and many other attractions. All of this is available, while being able to live in a place that still has its small town friendliness. 

The historic Old Scotch Church, organized in 1873 by twelve Scottish settlers from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is one of the oldest continuously used churches in Oregon. The eight sided steeple is architecturally unique, and the church is one of the most photographed in Oregon. Many of Oregon's pioneers, including mountain man Joe Meek, have been buried in the church cemetery.  

Hillsboro, where yesterday and tomorrow, pioneer churches and high-tech industry, small town charm and busy shopping centers all come together, is a great place to visit and live. Come and see for yourself!
 

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