Beaverton, Oregon
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Beaverton is a city in the Tualatin Valley, located in Washington County in the U.S. state of
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
, with a small portion bordering Portland. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was 97,494 at the 2020 census, making it the second most populous city in the county and the seventh-most populous city in Oregon. Beaverton is an economic center for Washington County along with neighboring Hillsboro.


History


Early settlement

According to '' Oregon Geographic Names'', Beaverton's name is derived from the settlement's proximity to a large body of water resulting from
beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...
dams. The area of Tualatin Valley that became Beaverton was originally the home of a Native American tribe known as the '' Atfalati'', which settlers mispronounced as ''Tualatin''. The Atfalati population dwindled in the latter part of the 18th century, and the prosperous tribe was no longer dominant in the area by the 19th century when settlers arrived. The tribe named their village Chakeipi, which translates to "place of the beaver", which early settlers referred to as "Beaverdam." Early settlers include the Hall Family from
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
, the Denneys who lived on their claim near present-day Scholls Ferry Road and Hall Blvd, and Orin S. Allen, from western New York. Lawrence Hall purchased in Beaverdam in 1847 and built a
grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...
with his brother near present-day Walker Road. His was the first land claim in the area. He was soon followed by Thomas Denney in 1848, who came to the area and built its first sawmill. In 1860, a toll plank road from Portland to Beaverton was completed over a trail called Canyon Road. After the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, numerous other settlers, including Joshua Welch, George Betts, Charles Angel, W. P. Watson, and John Henry, laid out what is now known as Beaverton hoping they could bring a railroad to an area once described as, "mostly swamps & marshes connected by beaver dams to create what looked like a huge lake." In 1872, Beaverton's first post office opened in a general store operated by Betts, who also served as the first postmaster of the community. Betts Street, where the current post office now stands, is named in honor of him. In 1893, Beaverton, which by that time had a population of 400, was officially incorporated. Alonzo Cady, a local businessman, served as the first mayor. Many major roads in Beaverton are named for these early settlers.


20th century

Beaverton was an early home to automobile dealerships. A
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
dealership was established there in 1915; it was purchased by Guy Carr in 1923 and over the years Carr expanded it into several locations throughout Beaverton. There are still several dealerships near the intersection of Walker and Canyon Roads. In the early 1920s, Beaverton was home to Premium Picture Productions, a movie studio which produced about fifteen films. The studio site was later converted into Watt's Field and associated aircraft manufacturing facilities. A second Beaverton airport, Bernard's Airport, was later developed farther north, at the present location of the Cedar Hills Crossing mall. The town's first library opened in 1925. Originally on the second floor of the Cady building, it has been moved repeatedly; in 2000 it was moved to its current location on Hall Boulevard and 5th Street. A branch location was opened for the first time in June 2010, when the Murray-Scholls location opened near the Murrayhill neighborhood. The Beaverton libraries and 15 other local libraries participate in the Washington County Cooperative Library Services.


21st century

In December 2004, the city and Washington County announced an "interim plan" which would lead to Beaverton becoming the second-largest city in Oregon, second only to Portland.County Board Approves Interim Plan with Beaverton
, a December 2004 article from the Washington County website
The "interim" plan actually covered a period of more than ten years; from the county's perspective, the plan supported its strategy of having cities and special districts provide urban services. The city of Beaverton also attempted to annex certain businesses, including Nike, which responded with a legal and lobbying effort to resist the annexation. The lobbying effort succeeded quickly, with the Oregon Legislative Assembly enacting Senate Bill 887, which prohibited Beaverton from annexing Nike without the company's consent. The bill also applied to property owned by Electro Scientific Industries, Columbia Sportswear, and
Tektronix Tektronix, Inc., historically widely known as Tek, is an American company best known for manufacturing test and measurement devices such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and video and mobile test protocol equipment. Originally an independent c ...
, and in August 2008 the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals ruled that the bill also barred the city from annexing property belonging to Leupold & Stevens. (See below, under Economy.) Beaverton's legal efforts to annex Nike cost the city over one million dollars. The Oregon State Legislature has also passed legislation which redetermined Washington County's urban growth boundary to include more development. In 2018, the Metro Council voted to once again expand the urban growth boundary to include the Cooper Mountain urban reserve area. In 2016, voters approved a $35 million bond for a new Public Safety Center built to withstand a major earthquake. The center, which opened in fall of 2020, now houses the city's Emergency Management and Police Departments. Construction began in September 2018. The city has tried to encourage transit-oriented development around the city's
MAX Light Rail The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five lines connecting the Neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon, six sectio ...
stations. The Round, a
mixed-use development Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...
around Beaverton Central MAX Station on the site of a former sewer plant, was announced in 1996. In 2014, the City of Beaverton moved its city hall into The Beaverton Building, an office building in The Round. The Round currently consists of 24,000 square foot of retail space with 63 residential condominiums located above. BG's Food Cartel, Beaverton's first food cart pod, opened in 2018 and has 31 food carts, a speakeasy bar, and an event venue. Adjacent to The Round, the 550 seat Patricia Reser Center for the Arts opened in 2022, and was made possible by pledges from the Beaverton Arts Foundation and Pat Reser along with public sources. The groundbreaking was performed on November 13, 2019. In addition to the Reser Center, a new 125-room hotel opened next to The Round in February 2021. The performing arts center, apartments, city hall, hotel, MAX light rail station, plazas, food carts, and nearby businesses are collectively known as Downtown Beaverton.


Geography

Beaverton covers a total area of , all of it land except for small creeks, ponds, and lakes. The city is located along the eastern edge of the Tualatin Valley just west of the Tualatin Mountains. It is bordered by Portland to the east, Hillsboro to the west, and Tigard to the south. Much of the remaining area surrounding Beaverton in the north and southwest constitutes unincorporated Washington County land. The elevation within city limits ranges from as high as above sea level to as low as above sea level. The city averages at above sea level.


Neighborhoods

The city of Beaverton is divided into 13 neighborhoods: Central Beaverton, Denney Whitford, Raleigh West, Five Oaks, Triple Creek, Greenway, Highland, Neighbors Southwest, Sexton Mountain, South Beaverton, Vose, West Beaverton, and West Slope. Each neighborhood runs a Neighborhood Association Committee (NAC) to discuss neighborhood affairs, with the exception of Five Oaks and Triple Creek, and Denney Whitford and Raleigh West each sharing a NAC.


Climate


Demographics


2020 Census

As of the census of 2020, there were 97,494 people. The racial makeup of the city was 59%
Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...
, 2.9%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 1.0% Native American, 12.2% Asian, 0.5%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 8.7% from other races, and 12.5% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino residents of any race were 18.1% of the population. As of 2020 the median income for a household in the city was $38,261, and the median income for a family was $71,806. Males had a median income of $41,683 versus $31,204 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,419. About 5.0% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.


2010 Census

As of the census of 2010, there were 89,803 people, 37,213 households, and 21,915 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 39,500 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 73.0%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 2.6%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.6% Native American, 10.5% Asian, 0.5%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 8.2% from other races, and 4.5% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino residents of any race were 16.3% of the population. There were 37,213 households, of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.1% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.03. The median age in the city was 34.7 years. 22.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 33% were from 25 to 44; 24.5% were from 45 to 64; and 10.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.6% male and 51.4% female.


Economy


Company headquarters

Reser's Fine Foods, processor and distributor of freshly prepared foods, has headquartered in Beaverton since 1960. Leupold & Stevens, maker of rifle scopes and other specialty optics, has been located on property adjacent to the City of Beaverton since 1968. The Beaverton City Council annexed that property in May 2005, and Leupold & Stevens challenged that annexation. The company eventually won the legal fight in 2009 with the city, thus the company was de-annexed from the city. R.M. Wade & Co., manufacturer of agricultural and irrigation equipment, is the oldest family-owned company in the state of Oregon.


Technology companies

As part of the Silicon Forest, Beaverton is the location of numerous technology organizations and companies, including Linux Technology Center of IBM,
Tektronix Tektronix, Inc., historically widely known as Tek, is an American company best known for manufacturing test and measurement devices such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and video and mobile test protocol equipment. Originally an independent c ...
, ADI formerly known as Maxim Integrated Products, VeriWave, Khronos Group and Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC), a non-profit tech startup incubator.
Phoenix Technologies Phoenix Technologies Ltd. is an American company that designs, develops and supports core system software for personal computers and other computing devices. The company's products commonly referred to as BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) or fir ...
operates its Northwestern Regional Office in Beaverton.


Largest employers

According to the City's 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are:


Tourist attractions

*Beaverton Farmer's Market * BG's Food Cartel * Cooper Mountain Nature Park * Cooper Mountain Vineyards *Hyland Forest Park * Patricia Reser Center for the Arts * Tualatin Hills Nature Park * Veterans Memorial Park * Jenkins Estate


Shopping

Cedar Hills Crossing is a shopping mall within the city of Beaverton. Facilities include a variety of restaurants, big-box retailers, a bowling alley, and more.Harrington, Patrick (October 10, 2002). "Mall changing its look, identity and access routes". ''
The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...
''.
Progress Ridge Town Square is a lifestyle center also in Beaverton which includes shops and restaurants.


Government

The current mayor of Beaverton is Lacey Beaty, who was first elected in 2020. The Beaverton City Council consists of six councilors. The Mayor and City Councilors are all elected at large to serve four-year terms in a council-manager form of government where the Beaverton City Council and Mayor hire a city manager who is the administrative head of the city.


Sports

The Howard M. Terpenning Recreation Complex, opened in 1978, features swimming, athletics, tennis, baseball, softball and basketball facilities.


Little League

In 2014, the Beaverton–Aloha Little League Intermediate baseball team won the state tournament and traveled to Nogales, Arizona to play in the regional tournament, where they accumulated a 2–2 record. In 2006, the Murrayhill Little League baseball team qualified for the 2006 Little League World Series, the first Oregon team in 48 years to go that far. Murrayhill advanced to the semi-finals before losing; the third-place game was rained out and not rescheduled. In addition, a Junior Softball team from Beaverton went to 2006 World Series in
Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in King County and the twelfth largest city in the state of Washington. ...
, ending in sixth place. In 2002, Beaverton's Little League Softball team took second place to Waco, Texas, in the Little League Softball World Series.


Curling

In January 2013, Beaverton became the first city in Oregon to have an ice rink dedicated to the sport of
curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...
, the Evergreen Curling Club. In January 2017, the Evergreen Curling Club hosted the United States Curling Association Senior Women's National Championship.


Education

The public schools serving most of Beaverton are part of the Beaverton School District. There are six public high schools in the district – Aloha High School, Beaverton High School, Mountainside High School, Southridge High School, Sunset High School, and Westview High School. It also has several public option schools serving grades 6-12 like the International School of Beaverton, Arts and Communication Magnet Academy, and Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering. Merlo Station High School is another alternative learning school within the district. Portions of Beaverton are in the Hillsboro School District and the Portland Public Schools school district. Private schools in the area include German American School, Holy Trinity School, Jesuit High School, Saint Cecilia Grade School, Southwest Christian School, Valley Catholic School, Willamette Valley Academy, and WoodHaven School.


Colleges and universities

* Portland Community College (PCC)  — Although it is based in Portland, some facilities operate in Beaverton.


Infrastructure

Fire protection is provided through Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue. EMS services are provided by Metro West Ambulance.


Transportation

Beaverton is served by
transit bus A transit bus (also big bus, commuter bus, city bus, town bus, urban bus, stage bus, public bus, public transit bus, or simply bus) is a type of bus used in public transport bus services. Several configurations are used, including low-floo ...
,
commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
, and
light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
services operated by the Portland metropolitan area's regional transit agency, TriMet.
MAX Light Rail The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five lines connecting the Neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon, six sectio ...
serves the city with seven light rail stations; from west to east, they are: , , , , , Beaverton Transit Center, and Sunset Transit Center. The MAX Blue Line serves all seven stations while the MAX Red Line serves only Beaverton Transit Center and Sunset Transit Center. Beaverton Transit Center, TriMet's busiest transit center, in addition to MAX, serves as a transit hub for bus routes mostly operating on the west side and as the northern terminus of WES Commuter Rail. , the second station southbound on WES, is also located in Beaverton. Intercity bus services with stops in Beaverton include POINT and TCTD. Oregon Electric and Red Electric interurban lines once served the city in the early 20th century. In the 1940s, Tualatin Valley Stages, a division of Portland Stages, Inc., provided limited bus transit service between the city and downtown Portland; it operated later as a separate company, Tualatin Valley Buses, Inc., through the 1960s. This was one of four privately owned bus companies that served the Portland metropolitan area and were collectively known as the "Blue Bus" lines. All four companies were replaced in 1970 by TriMet, which expanded bus service to cover more areas of Beaverton. The city is the location of a major freeway interchange for U.S. Route 26 (US 26; Sunset Highway) and Oregon Route 217 (OR 217). The Sunset Highway connects Beaverton to Hillsboro and the Oregon Coast to the west and Portland to the east. OR 217 travels from Beaverton south through Tigard and terminates at an interchange with
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
(I-5).


Notable people

* James Allsup – far-right political commentator * Shoshana Bean – singer, actress * Charles E. Bernard – aviator * Chase Boone – soccer player * Cameron Brink – basketball player * John Brotherton – actor * Mike Byrne – drummer for
The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...
* Janet Chvatal – actress * Grace Crunican – general manager for Bay Area Rapid Transit * Ward Cunningham – inventor of the wiki * Brad Fitzpatrick – programmer * Ted Geoghegan – screenwriter * Barrie Gilbert – inventor * Erik Hurtado – professional soccer player * Ian Karmel – stand-up comedian and writer * Gloria Calderon Kellett – writer * Anne Kenney – television producer * Morten Lauridsen – composer * Michael McQuilken – director * Moultrie Patten – jazz musician * Rubio Rubin – professional soccer player * Ari Shapiro – radio journalist * Royal Skousen – professor * Todd Snider – musician * Courtney Taylor-Taylor – lead singer of The Dandy Warhols * James B. Thayer – Army brigadier general * Tommy Thayer – lead guitarist for
Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
* Mike "Smitty" Smith – drummer for Paul Revere & the Raiders


Sister cities

Beaverton's
sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...
are: * Gotemba, Japan (1987) * Hsinchu, Taiwan (1988) * Cheonan, South Korea (1989) * Birobidzhan, Russia (1990) * Trossingen, Germany (1993) * Cluses, France (1999)


References


External links

* {{Authority control 1868 establishments in Oregon Cities in Oregon Cities in Washington County, Oregon Populated places established in 1868 Portland metropolitan area