Tigard, Oregon

Wilson Tigard arrived in the area known as East Butte in 1852 and settled with his family. Tigardšs son, Charles F. Tigard, buildt a general store, a meeting hall and later served on the Oregon Legislature. The general store became the home for the areašs post office, which prompted the renaming of East Butte to Tigardville by Charles F. Tigard in honor of his father. Tigardville remained a small farming community until the arrival of the Oregon Electric Railroad (OERR) in 1910. The OERR not only brought the development of Main Street, but also shortened Tigardville to Tigard, distinguishing it from neighboring community, Wilsonville.

Tigard continued to grow and officially became a city in 1961. Although the farms that once covered Tigard are only memories, reminders of the past still remains. The John Tigard House has
been preserved for all to enjoy. John Tigard constructed the house
in 1880 at the corner of what is now Pacific Highway and Gaarde Street. The house was threatened with demolition in the late 1970šs, but due to the efforts of the Tigard Area Historical and Preservation Association, the house was restored. In 1979, the house was entered in the National Register of Historic Places. The house now resides at the corner of SW Canterbury Lane and SW 103rd in Tigard.

Population:
Click here to see population numbers from the latest census for Tigard and other Oregon cities.

Geography:
The city is situated in the Tualatin Valley, 80 miles east of the Pacific Ocean and 70 miles west of Mt. Hood, in the Oregon Cascade Mountains.

Tigard covers an area of 11 square miles. Population forecast for 2005 estimates 47,280 people. This tremendous growth has coincided with the rapid development of Washington County as a high technology center, and more importantly, an attractive place to live. The 1990 census cites 12,008 households for Tigard of which 67 percent were family households with a median income of $35,669. The county and city labor force is highly educated with a substantial percentage of professional and technical workers.