Wilsonville, Oregon
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Wilsonville is a city in Clackamas and Washington counties 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 ...
. Founded with the name Boones Landing for the Boones Ferry that crossed the
Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...
, the community became Wilsonville in 1880. The city was incorporated in 1969 with a population of approximately 1,000. The population was 19,509 at the 2010 census and grew to 26,664 as of the 2020 census. Located within the
Portland metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metropolitan area, metro area with its urban area, core in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington (state), Washington. It has 5 principal cities, the largest being Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Man ...
, the city also includes the planned communities of Charbonneau on the south side of the river and Villebois on the western edge. Wilsonville is bisected by
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 ...
and includes I-5's Boone Bridge over the Willamette River. Public transportation is provided by the city-owned South Metro Area Regional Transit, which connects to the Portland-based
TriMet The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) is a Transit district, transit agency that serves most of the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area. Created in 1969 by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, Oregon legi ...
through TriMet's
WES Commuter Rail The Westside Express Service (WES) is a commuter rail line serving parts of the Portland metropolitan area's Washington County, Oregon, Washington and Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned by TriMet and ...
and by bus at the Tualatin Park & Ride. The public school districts are the West Linn-Wilsonville and Canby school districts, and the only traditional high school is Wilsonville High School.
Clackamas Community College Clackamas Community College (CCC) is a public community college in Oregon City, Oregon. Founded in 1966, it is one of the largest community colleges in the state of Oregon. Clackamas Community College offers courses at three campuses: the cent ...
and Oregon Tech have satellite campuses in the city. Wilsonville has a council-manager form of government and operates its own
library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...
, public works, and parks and recreation department. Fire and police protection are contracted out to other regional government agencies. The city is home to several technology companies including
Siemens Digital Industries Software Siemens Digital Industries Software (formerly UGS and then Siemens PLM Software) is an American computer software company specializing in 3D & 2D Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software. The company is a business unit of Siemens, operates un ...
, along with Stream Global Services, the largest employer in the city. Wilsonville contains many distribution and manufacturing buildings adjacent to Interstate 5, such as regional distribution facilities for Coca-Cola and
Rite Aid Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. Prior to its first bankruptcy in 2023, it was the th ...
. Retail centers include Argyle Square on the north and the Town Center Shopping Center to the south. Media in Wilsonville consists of the Portland area broadcast stations, regional newspapers, and the local '' Wilsonville Spokesman'' newspaper.


History

Alphonso Boone, the grandson of
Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...
, settled in what would later become Wilsonville in 1846 and established the Boones Ferry across the
Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...
in 1847. The ferry gave rise to the community of ''Boones Landing'', which eventually grew into Wilsonville. Originally, the area was part of what became Yamhill County, but was transferred to the current Clackamas County in 1855. The first post office was established in 1876 with the name ''Boones Ferry''. Wilsonville became the name of the community on June 3, 1880, named after the first postmaster, Charles Wilson. That same year the first school, Wilsonville Grade School, was opened as a single-room building. By 1890, the railroad had reached town and the community contained depot, several hotels, a saloon, a tavern, a bank, and several other commercial establishments. In 1897, the twelve school districts in the vicinity of Wilsonville up to
Lake Oswego Lake Oswego ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah County, Oregon, Multnomah and Washington County, Oregon, Washington counties ...
merged to create a single district. A railroad bridge was built across the river for the
Oregon Electric Railway The Oregon Electric Railway (OE) was an interurban streetcar, interurban railroad line in the U.S. state of Oregon that linked Portland, Oregon, Portland to Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. History Service from Portland to Salem, Oregon, Salem began in ...
beginning in 1906. The bridge was completed the next year and service from Wilsonville south to Salem began in 1908. A new Methodist church was built in the community in 1910, which was used until 1988 and is still standing. Two years later, a new two-room school replaced the old
one-room school One-room schoolhouses, or One-room schools, have been commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, and Spa ...
, which in turn was replaced by a modern school in the mid 1900s, all on the same property. In 1939, the wooden trestle part of the railroad bridge across the Willamette caught fire and burned. Boones Ferry was decommissioned after the Boone Bridge opened in 1954 carrying what was then the Baldock Freeway, and is today Interstate 5. In 1961, the Dammasch State Hospital mental hospital opened on the west side of the community. Gordon House, the only house in
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 ...
to be designed by architect
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
, was built in 1963 near what became Charbonneau and moved to the Oregon Garden in 2001. Wilsonville was flooded in 1964 and the first fire station was built in 1966. Wilsonville was incorporated as a city on October 10, 1968, with a population of about 1,000. In 1971, the planned community of Charbonneau on the south side of the river was annexed into the city the year after development began.
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 ...
built a campus in the city beginning in 1973, which was later sold to
Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...
. The following year Wilsonville's city hall relocated from Tauchman House at what is now Boones Ferry Park to a trailer and the next year the first city manager was hired. A standalone post office was built in 1976 at Boones Ferry and Wilsonville roads, with city police protection added in 1979. In 1980, the city reached a population of 2,920, and in 1982 the library was opened. The next year, a new city hall was opened, replacing a trailer that had served as city hall since 1975. In 1988, the city opened their first library building, which replaced the one-room library located in space leased from the school district. The population grew to 7,106 at the 1990 census, and in 1991 the Town Center Shopping Center along Wilsonville Road opened. Due to growth in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, the school board approved building a new high school to be located in Wilsonville in 1992. Author Walt Morey owned an estate in Wilsonville and after his death in 1992, his widow sold the property to a developer. The housing development built on that property, Morey's Landing, bears his name as does the children's section of the Wilsonville Public Library. Walt Morey Park, a bear-themed park located in Morey's Landing, contains a life-size 8-foot-tall wooden statue of Morey's most famous literary creation,
Gentle Ben Gentle Ben is a bear character created by author Walt Morey and first introduced in a 1965 children's novel, ''Gentle Ben''. The original novel told the story of the friendship between a large male bear named Ben and a boy named Mark. The story ...
. Living Enrichment Center, a New Thought Church with as many as 3,000 members, was headquartered in Wilsonville from 1992 until 2004. The church closed that year after problems that including money laundering by the church leaders led to the bankrupting of the church. In 1995, Dammasch State Hospital was closed by the state of Oregon, and the site was then proposed as a location for what became the
Coffee Creek Correctional Facility Coffee Creek Correctional Facility is a women's prison and prisoner intake center in Wilsonville, Oregon, United States. Operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections, the 1,684-bed facility opened in 2001 at a campus. The selection of the ...
, which opened in 2001 at a different site to the north of the old hospital grounds. In protest of the construction of the prison, specifically the effect on property values, Larry Eaton began erecting
school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to Student transport, transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter ...
es on his property. The former grounds of the state hospital have been redeveloped as Villebois, a primarily residential planned community. Also in 1995, Wilsonville High School opened as part of the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, the first high school in the city's history. In 1998, lack of an adequate long-term water supply forced the city to suspend adding any new developments to the city. A new water treatment plant on the Willamette River opened in 2002 to address this need. The Wilsonville Public Library was expanded to nearly four times the size of the 1988 building with an expansion finished in 2002. Wilsonville Primary School was closed in June 2001, and later sold with the property and turned into a shopping center, anchored by an
Albertsons Albertsons Companies, Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho. With 2,253 stores as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 and 270,000 employees as of fiscal year 2019, the company is the second-large ...
supermarket. In September 2006, Wilsonville opened a new $9.9 million, two-story brick and steel
city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
after a controversy concerning its location led to unsuccessful attempts to recall several elected officials in the city, including the mayor. In 2007, the old city hall building was turned into a new public works and police department. During the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
, Nike closed its distribution center in Wilsonville, projector maker
InFocus InFocus Corporation is a privately owned American company based in the state of Oregon. Founded in 1986, the company develops, manufactures, and distributes Digital Light Processing, DLP and LCD Video projector, projectors and accessories as well ...
moved its headquarters from the city, and retailer G.I. Joe's that was headquartered there went out of business. In 2010, the
Oregon Institute of Technology The Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech) is a public college in Oregon with a residential campus in Klamath Falls, Oregon, an urban campus in Wilsonville, Oregon, and additional locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Seattle. Almost all s ...
took over the InFocus building to house the school's Portland area campus. A new shopping center named Old Town Square anchored by a Fred Meyer store opened in 2011 along Interstate 5 at Wilsonville Road, which also included a McMenamins location. Lowrie Primary School in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District opened in 2012 in the Villebois part of the city. The Villebois Community Center in that area was completed in 2013. A fire in March 2019 destroyed 20 homes that were being built in the Villebois area. In 2021, Fry's Electronics closed its store that had opened as Incredible Universe in 1992, while museum World of Speed and the local bowling alley also closed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. In June 2021, the city hit on June 28, 2021, during a heatwave, Wilsonville's highest recorded temperature. The only theater in town, a nine-screen
Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain that operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with 5,720 screens in 420 theaters as of December 31, 2024. Founded on August 10, 1989, it ...
, closed in July 2023.


Geography

Wilsonville is located on the southern edge of the
Portland metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metropolitan area, metro area with its urban area, core in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington (state), Washington. It has 5 principal cities, the largest being Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Man ...
, sitting at an elevation of above sea level. Primarily in the southwestern part of Clackamas County, the northern section is in Washington County. It is located on the north side of the
Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...
around where Alphonse Boone established the Boones Ferry. Neighboring cities are Tualatin on the north, Sherwood to the northwest, and Canby and
Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...
to the southeast. Newberg in Yamhill County is approximately 14 miles west along Wilsonville Road. The Willamette separates the majority of the city from Charbonneau, a planned community and neighborhood within the city limits, on the south. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Waterways in addition to the Willamette River include Arrowhead Creek, Meridian Creek, Basalt Creek, Seely Ditch,
Boeckman Creek Boeckman may refer to: * Alan L. Boeckmann, American businessman * Todd Boeckman, American football player * Vicki Boeckman, American musician Von Boeckman * James Von Boeckman, American politician * Ramona von Boeckman, American basketball player ...
, and Coffee Lake Creek. The Boeckman and Coffee Lake creeks account for 85% of the runoff in Wilsonville. Coffee Lake Creek is on the west side of the city and includes the Coffee Lake Wetlands. The foothills of the Chehalem Mountains lie to the west of Wilsonville, with most land within the city on level ground. Wilsonville divides the city into 16 neighborhood groups, designated A through P. Within each of these planning areas are individual neighborhoods, and occasionally a neighborhood spans several of these groups. For instance the Villebois development covers areas D through G. Individual neighborhoods include Charbonneau, Wilsonville Meadows, Canyon Creek North, Town Center, RiverGreen, Frog Pond, and Old Town to name a few. Wilsonville's Old Town neighborhood, the oldest of the neighborhoods, is located south of Wilsonville Road along Boones Ferry Road adjacent to the landing of the old Boones Ferry and contains the original portions of the town.


Climate

Wilsonville, as part of the
Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...
is within the Marine west coast climate zone. Summers in Wilsonville are generally warm, but temperatures year-round are moderated by a marine influence from the Pacific Ocean.Taylor, George
The Climate of Oregon.
Oregon Climate Service. Retrieved June 25, 2007.
Wilsonville receives most of its
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
during the mild to cool winter months, with the wettest period from November through March. July and August are the warmest months with an average high temperature of , while December is the coolest month with an average low of . December is also on average the wettest month with . The highest recorded temperature, , occurred June 28, 2021, during a record breaking heatwave throughout the Pacific Northwest. Wilsonville's lowest recorded temperature was on December 23, 1998.


Demographics

The city has a significant population of families that use Wilsonville as a halfway point between jobs in different cities, mainly Salem and Portland. Wilsonville incorporated with an estimated 1,000 residents in 1969 and grew to 2,920 people at the 1980 Census. As of the 2020
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, the population totaled 25,492. Part of the population count includes inmates at the
Coffee Creek Correctional Facility Coffee Creek Correctional Facility is a women's prison and prisoner intake center in Wilsonville, Oregon, United States. Operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections, the 1,684-bed facility opened in 2001 at a campus. The selection of the ...
that opened in the city in 2001.


2020 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2020, there were 25,492 people, 9,750 households, and 5,374 families residing in the city. This was an increase from 19,509 people, 7,859 households, and 4,658 families at the 2010 census. The population density of the city was , versus in 2010. There were 10,213 housing units at an average density of 1,321.8 (531.3/km2) in 2020, compared to 8,487 housing units at an average density of in the prior national census. The racial makeup of the city was 85.3%
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 ...
, 1.5%
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, 3.8% Asian, 0.4%
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 ...
, 4.8% from other races, and 3.2% 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 of any race were 12.1% of the population. In 2010, the racial makeup was 83.8%
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 ...
, 1.9%
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, 4.7% Asian, 1.0%
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 ...
, 2.0% from other races, and 5.6% 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 of any race were 11.7% of the population.


Economy

Wilsonville has often had more jobs in the city than residents due to its location along Interstate 5. This location has led to the city becoming headquarters for several major local and national companies, as well as home to facilities of several national companies. Companies with their headquarters in the city include design software maker
Mentor Graphics Mentor Graphics Corporation was a US-based electronic design automation (EDA) multinational corporation for electrical engineering and electronics, headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon. Founded in 1981, the company distributed products that ass ...
and imaging systems manufacturer
FLIR Systems Teledyne FLIR LLC, formerly FLIR Systems Inc, (an acronym for " forward-looking infrared"), a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies since January 2021, specializes in the design and production of thermal imaging cameras and sensors. Its main custo ...
. Copier and printer manufacturer
Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...
operates a large facility in Wilsonville, and is the city's largest employer. The company acquired the color printing and imaging division of
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 ...
corporation in 2000. Xerox, Mentor Graphics, and FLIR are all adjacent to each other north of Boeckman Road along Parkway Avenue. InFocus and Mentor were both founded by former employees of Tektronix. Wilsonville is home to many other business located in industrial parks straddling Interstate 5 that are filled with manufacturing and distribution facilities. Xerox and Mentor Graphics are the city's two largest employers as of 2006, the only two to employ more than 1000 people. Other large employers in the city are
Tyco Electronics TE Connectivity plc is an American-Irish domiciled technology company that designs and manufactures electrical and electronic components. It serves several industries, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, and energy. TE Connecti ...
( Precision Interconnect),
Sysco Sysco is an American multinational corporation that sells, markets, and distributes food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, sports stadiums, and other venues that serve food. It also sells foodservice supplies and ...
,
Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins, Inc. was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radi ...
, and Rite Aid. Additionally,
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
operates a bottling plant in the city. Retail in Wilsonville is concentrated mainly along Wilsonville Road near the Interstate 5 interchange. This includes the Town Center Shopping Center and related developments along Town Center Loop, which included Fry's Electronics, one of the former largest employers in the city, which closed in 2021.
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
had a plant, producing the
Surface Hub The Surface Hub is a brand of interactive whiteboard developed and marketed by Microsoft, as part of the Microsoft Surface family. The Surface Hub is a wall-mounted or roller-stand-mounted device with either a 55-inch (140 cm) 1080p or an 8 ...
, from 2015 to mid-2017, with the loss of 124 jobs.


Culture

Media in Wilsonville consists of the 28 radio stations and 7 television stations broadcast in the Portland media market, regional newspapers such as ''
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 ...
'', and the local paper, the '' Wilsonville Spokesman''. The ''Spokesman'' is published once a week on Wednesdays and has a circulation of 3,176. There was a single movie theater operated by
Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain that operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with 5,720 screens in 420 theaters as of December 31, 2024. Founded on August 10, 1989, it ...
, operated from 1996 to 2023, which featured the first stadium style seating in the Northwest.
Wilsonville Public Library The Wilsonville Public Library (WPL) is the single-location public library of the city of Wilsonville, Oregon, Wilsonville, Oregon. Established in 1982, the library moved to its present location near Wilsonville Memorial Park in 1988. The WPL is ...
, founded in 1982, is a member of Library Information Network of Clackamas County and had an annual circulation of 493,000 in 2006 to 2007. The library is located adjacent to Wilsonville Memorial Park, the largest and oldest of the city's 12 parks. Memorial Park includes a water feature, athletic fields, and the Stein-Boozier Barn used as meeting space, among other amenities. Town Center Park also has a water feature along with a visitor's center operated by the Clackamas County and the Oregon Korean War Memorial. Other parks in the city are River Fox Park, Park at Merryfield, Montebello Park, Hathaway Park, Courtside Park, Tranquil Park, Willamette River Water Treatment Plant Park, Willow Creek/Landover Park, Canyon Creek Park, and Boones Ferry Park located on the Willamette River at the landing for the defunct Boones Ferry. The Wilsonville Community Center holds classes and community programs as well as community meeting space. Wilsonville holds an annual arts fair each May called the Wilsonville Festival of Arts. Another annual event, Wilsonville Celebration Days, started in 2000 and replaced Boones Ferry Days. A
farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...
started in 2009 at the Villebois development, held on Thursdays from May into October. Charbonneau Golf Club is the only
golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...
in the city, with Langdon Farms and Sandelie just to the south and east respectively. Wilsonville also is along the Willamette Greenway series of open spaces and trails. Wilsonville is the setting for the 2008 film '' Wendy and Lucy''.


Government

Wilsonville has a home rule charter and is a council-manager governed municipality where the unelected
city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...
runs day-to-day operations. The current city manager is Bryan Cosgrove. The mayor and four-person city council are elected to four-year terms. , Wilsonville's elected officials are Julie Fitzgerald (Mayor), Kristin Akervall (Council President), Joann Linville, Caroline Berry and Katie Dunwell. Fire protection and police protection are contracted to other area governmental agencies. Fire services are provided by Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, and that agency operates two
fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equ ...
s in the city. Police service is contracted out to the
Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Clackamas County ( ) is one of the List of counties in Oregon, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county sea ...
, with a captain serving as the chief of police and officers using vehicles marked as Wilsonville Police. The city's Parks and Recreation Department runs 12 parks, with Memorial Park the largest at . Wilsonville also provides its own water supply and
wastewater Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...
treatment. The wastewater system was built in 1972, while the water system was upgraded with a new treatment plant in 2002. Water is drawn from the Willamette River from the Wilsonville Water Treatment Plant built at a cost of $46 million in conjunction with the
Tualatin Valley The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland, Oregon. The valley is formed by the meandering Tualatin River, a tributary of the Willamette River at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, east of the Northe ...
Water District. The city used to use wells to provide drinking water, but those began to run dry in the late 1990s. The plant's initial capacity was 15 million gallons per day, but can be expanded to 120 million gallons per day. Neighboring Sherwood began receiving water from the plant in 2012. The city has a single library branch, a building on Wilsonville Road. The majority of the city is within the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, but the Charbonneau area is part of the Canby School District. Public transit is provided by the city through South Metro Area Regional Transit (SMART), which has ten routes that serve Wilsonville and connect to other cities. It has connections to the regional
TriMet The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) is a Transit district, transit agency that serves most of the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area. Created in 1969 by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, Oregon legi ...
system, which includes the Westside Express Service commuter rail that terminates in the city. At the federal level, Wilsonville lies within Oregon's 6th congressional district, represented by
Andrea Salinas Andrea Rose Salinas (born December 6, 1969) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2023. Oregon's 6th congressional district includes all of Yamhill and Polk counties, the part of Marion County that includes ...
. In the
State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...
, the city is in District 13, represented by Aaron Woods. In the
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
, the city is represented by Courtney Neron Misslin in House District 26. In addition, Wilsonville lies within District 3 (represented by Gerritt Rosenthal) of the Metro regional government.


Education

Most of Wilsonville is in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, however portions south of the Willamette River are within the Canby School District and areas just to the west lie within the Sherwood School District. Elementary school (or Primary school as the district refers to it) education in the city includes Boeckman Creek, Boones Ferry, Lowrie, and Stafford Primary Schools. These schools serve grades K–5. A new primary school, named Frog Pond, is under construction and will open in the fall of 2025 on Boeckman Road. Students living in the boundaries of Boeckman Creek and Lowrie Primary schools attend Inza Wood Middle School and the students living in the boundaries of Boeckman Creek, Frog Pond, and Stafford attend Meridian Creek Middle School. Students at Stafford are given a choice between Meridian Creek and Athey Creek Middle School in West Linn. All students living in Wilsonville attend Wilsonville High School. They can also choose to enroll at Riverside High School, a smaller open-enrollment school with
International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...
classes. Students in the boundaries for the Canby School District attend Howard Eccles Elementary for grades K–6, Baker Prarie Middle for grades 7–8, and Canby High School for grades 9–12. Students in the boundaries for the Sherwood School District attend Hawks View Elementary for grades K–5, Sherwood Middle School for grades 6–8, and Sherwood High School for grades 9–12. The city is also in the
Clackamas Community College Clackamas Community College (CCC) is a public community college in Oregon City, Oregon. Founded in 1966, it is one of the largest community colleges in the state of Oregon. Clackamas Community College offers courses at three campuses: the cent ...
district and has a satellite campus on Town Center Loop. Opened in 1992, the campus was originally known as the Oregon Advanced Technology Center. The Oregon Institute of Technology operates its Portland area campus in the city along Interstate 5. The private, for-profit Pioneer Pacific College operated their main campus in the city until 2020.


Transportation

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 ...
runs north-south through the middle of the city and crosses the Willamette River on the Boone Bridge. Wilsonville has two interchanges with the freeway north of the river, at Wilsonville Road on the south and where Boones Ferry Road meets Elligsen Road on the north end of town. To the south of the river, the Charbonneau interchange crosses I-5 at the southern limit of the city. Boeckman Road is the only other street that crosses I-5 and links the western and eastern parts of Wilsonville. Wilsonville Road, 95th Avenue, Boones Ferry Road (northern portion is Oregon Route 141), Boeckman Road, Town Center Loop, French Prairie Drive, Elligsen Road, Parkway Avenue, and Stafford Road are the main roads in the city. Transit service used to be provided by
TriMet The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) is a Transit district, transit agency that serves most of the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area. Created in 1969 by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, Oregon legi ...
, but the city decided to opt out and now operates South Metro Area Regional Transit (SMART). SMART has connections with Salem's transit service, Canby's transit service, and TriMet. The Westside Express Service (WES), a commuter rail line to Beaverton, began operations in February 2009. Wilsonville Station is the southern terminus of the nearly line operated by TriMet, and the station is the hub for SMART services. Freight rail service is provided by the Portland and Western Railroad over the same tracks as WES, with connections to
BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
. These tracks run north-south and cross the Willamette over the Portland and Western Railroad Bridge. The city does not have an airport, with Aurora State Airport to the south as the closest public field and Portland International Airport 17 miles north as the closest commercial airport. Although located along the river, there are not any port facilities, though there is a marina located on the east bank (south side) of the Willamette.


Notable people

The city has been home to a variety of notable people ranging from politicians to athletes and authors. Famous politicians to call Wilsonville home include former governor
George Law Curry George Law Curry (July 2, 1820 – July 28, 1878) was a predominant American political figure and newspaper publisher in the region that eventually became the state of Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he published a newspaper in St. Louis, Miss ...
, Congresswoman Edith Green, federal judge James M. Burns, and former mayor and state representative Jerry Krummel. Athletes of note have included football player Derek Devine, professional golfer Brian Henninger, and baseball player and manager Del Baker. Those prominent in the legal field are Gordon Sloan, and R. William Riggs. Others include children's author Walt Morey, businessman Tom Bruggere, baseball coach Mel Krause and actor
Frank Cady Frank Randolph Cady (September 8, 1915 – June 8, 2012) was an American actor best known for his role as storekeeper Sam Drucker in three American television series during the 1960s – '' Petticoat Junction'', '' Green Acres'', and ...
. Actor
Henry Thomas Henry Jackson Thomas (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had the lead role of Elliott Taylor in the film '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and rece ...
is a current resident of Wilsonville, having moved there in 2014.


Sister city

Wilsonville has one
sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is 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 are early examples of inte ...
relationship. The city established a relationship with Kitakata, in the Fukushima province of Japan, in 1988. Kitakata, in the northern part of
Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...
, has an estimated population of 55,000. Then-Wilsonville Mayor Jerry Krummel visited Japan in 1994 to attend a ceremony honoring Kitakata's 40th birthday. The mayor of Kitakata visited Wilsonville in 2008 to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the relationship.


See also

*
List of ghost towns in Oregon According to several historians, the United States, U.S. state of Oregon contains over 200 ghost towns. Professor and historian Stephen Arndt has counted a total of 256 ghost towns in the state, some well known, others "really obscure." The hig ...
– Boones Ferry was a ghost town subsumed by Wilsonville


References


External links

*
Wilsonville visitor website

Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce

Historic images of Wilsonville
from Salem Public Library {{Good article Cities in Oregon Cities in Clackamas County, Oregon Cities in Washington County, Oregon Portland metropolitan area Populated places established in 1969 1969 establishments in Oregon Populated places on the Willamette River