Beaverton, Oregon

According to Oregon Geographic Names, Beaverton's name is derived from the settlement's proximity to a large body of water resulting from beaver 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".[11]

The natives had a village called Chakeipi, meaning Place of the Beaver, and early settlers referred to it as "Beaverdam". Early settlers include the Hall Family from Kentucky, the Denneys who lived on their claim near present-day Scholls Ferry Road and Hall Blvd, and Orin S. Allen, from western New York.[11] Lawrence Hall purchased 640 acres (2.6 km²) in Beaverdam in 1847 and built a grist mill with his brother near present-day Walker Road.[11] 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.[11]

After the American Civil War, 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.

Beaverton was an early home to automobile dealerships. A Ford Motor Company 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.

Aerial view of Beaverton in the 1950s

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 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.

Beaverton Depot for Oregon Electric Railway, ca. 1911

The Round in 2009

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.[12] The "interim" plan actually covered a period of more than ten years; from the county's perspective,[12] 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.[13] The lobbying effort succeeded quickly, with the Oregon Legislative Assembly enacting Senate Bill 887,[14] 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, 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.[15] In 2016, Nike unveiled plans to expand its campus by 3.2 million square feet (approximately 3 million square meters) at a projected cost of one billion dollars.[16]

The Oregon State Legislature has also passed legislation which redetermined Washington County's urban growth boundary to include more development.[17][18] In 2018, the Metro Council voted to once again expand the urban growth boundary to include the Cooper Mountain urban reserve area.[19]

In 2016, voters approved a $35 million bond for a new 75,000 square foot Public Safety Center built to withstand a major earthquake. It will house the city's Emergency Management and Police Departments.[20] Construction began in September 2018 and it is expected to open during the summer of 2020.[21][22]

The city has tried to encourage transit-oriented development around the city's MAX Light Rail stations. The Round, a mixed-use development around Beaverton Central MAX Station on the site of a former sewer plant, was announced in 1996.[23] In 2014, the City of Beaverton moved its city hall into The Beaverton Building, an office building in The Round.[24] The Round currently consists of 24,000 square foot of retail space with 63 residential condominiums located above.[25] 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.[26][27] A planned arts center at the former site of the Westgate Theater, The Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, 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.[28]

As of the census[7] of 2010, there were 89,803 people, 37,213 households, and 21,915 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,794.6 inhabitants per square mile (1,851.2/km²). There were 39,500 housing units at an average density of 2,108.9 per square mile (814.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 73.0% White, 2.6% African American, 0.6% Native American, 10.5% Asian, 0.5% Pacific Islander, 8.2% from other races, and 4.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino 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.

Reser's Fine Foods, processor and distributor of fresh 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.[36] Beaverton is home to the world headquarters of Nike, Inc. Its headquarters are located on an unincorporated area inside, but excluded from, Beaverton city limits. Cedar Hills Crossing is a shopping mall within the city of Beaverton.[37]

Phoenix Technologies operates its Northwestern Regional Office in Beaverton.[38]

As part of the Silicon Forest, Beaverton is the location of numerous technology organizations and companies including[39] Linux Technology Center of IBM,[40] Tektronix, Maxim Integrated Products, VeriWave, and Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC), a non-profit tech startup incubator.[41]

According to the City's 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[42] the largest employers in the city are:

• Beaverton Farmer's Market
• BG's Food Cartel
• Cooper Mountain Nature Park
• Cooper Mountain Vineyards
• Hyland Forest Park
• Red Tail Golf Center
• Tualatin Hills Nature Park
• Veterans Memorial Park (Beaverton, Oregon)

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.[43][44]

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, 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.

In January 2013, Beaverton became the first city in Oregon to have an ice rink dedicated to the sport of curling, the Evergreen Curling Club.[45][46] In January 2017, the Evergreen Curling Club hosted the United States Curling Association Senior Women's National Championship.[47]

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

TriMet buses parked at Beaverton Transit Center

Beaverton is served by transit bus, commuter rail, and light rail services predominantly operated by the Portland area's regional transit agency, TriMet. The agency's MAX Light Rail serves the city with seven light rail stations. From west to east, the stations are: Elmonica/Southwest 170th Avenue, Merlo Road/Southwest 158th Avenue, Beaverton Creek, Millikan Way, Beaverton Central, Beaverton Transit Center, and Sunset Transit Center.[49][50] Beaverton Transit Center is TriMet's busiest transit center;[51] it is a stop on the MAX Blue Line, which runs west to Hillsboro and east to Gresham, and the western terminus of the MAX Red Line, which runs to Portland International Airport.[52] The transit center also serves as a transfer point for numerous bus routes serving the west side and is the only MAX-served station with a connection to TriMet's WES Commuter Rail,[53] which runs south to Wilsonville. Hall/Nimbus, the second station southbound on WES, is also located in Beaverton.[54] Intercity bus services operating 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 connecting the city with downtown Portland,[55] operating later as a separate company, Tualatin Valley Buses, Inc., through the 1960s. This was one of four privately owned bus companies serving the Portland metropolitan area which became collectively known as the "Blue Bus" lines. All four companies were replaced in 1970 by TriMet, a then-new regional transit authority,[56] 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 (I-5).