The Tualatin Plains are a prairie area in central Washington County , Oregon , United States . Located around the Hillsboro and Forest Grove areas, the plains were first inhabited by the Atfalati band of the Kalapuya group of Native Americans. Euro-American settlement began in the 1840s.
17-796: Located in the Tualatin Valley , the Tualatin Plains are drained by the Tualatin River . They are bounded on the north and east by the foothills of Tualatin Mountains , and to the south by the foothills of the Chehalem Mountains . On the west the foothills of the Northern Oregon Coast Range define their limit. Native Americans were the first inhabitants the area, subsisting as a hunter-gather society. The Atfalati band, like many of
34-469: A small portion of their boundaries and contain among the highest concentrations of Laurelwood soils in the state. The valley is traversed by the Tualatin River and is bordered on the north and east by the Tualatin Mountains , a spur of the Northern Oregon Coast Range . The latter range also comprises the valley's western border. To the south lie the Chehalem Mountains , separating the region from
51-768: A suburban growth patterns that interspersed with remaining areas of orchards and farm fields. Most of the communities in the valley are served by TriMet , the Portland-area mass transit agency. In 1998, the MAX Light Rail system was extended from Portland into the valley as far as Hillsboro. Tualatin Valley sits at the northwestern edge of the Willamette Valley , known for its production of wine, especially Pinot noir . Established in 1970 in Tualatin Valley, Ponzi Vineyards
68-615: Is formed by the meandering Tualatin River , a tributary of the Willamette River at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley , east of the Northern Oregon Coast Range . Most of the valley is located within Washington County , separated from Portland by the Tualatin Mountains . Communities in the Tualatin Valley include Banks , Forest Grove , Cornelius , Hillsboro , Aloha , Beaverton , Sherwood , Tigard , and Tualatin . In
85-614: The Tualatin Valley Highway (the descendant of the old plank road), form a suburban corridor stretching west of Beaverton. Beaverton is famous as the location of the Nike, Inc. campus, the company's world-wide headquarters. Nike, along with Intel in Hillsboro, provide a large base of employment in the valley. Much of the valley is now within the Portland urban growth boundary , resulting in
102-469: The Tualatin Hills connecting Portland with Beaverton. The road was completed in 1860 after financial setbacks. According to Oregon historian Stewart Holbrook , the building of the plank road was the decisive event that allowed Portland to surpass its rival Oregon City for supremacy as the economic hub of the territory. The railroad was extended into the valley in 1868. The growth of agriculture in
119-561: The early 19th century, the valley was inhabited by the Atfalati , a hunter-gatherer Kalapuyan band that spoke a dialect of Northern Kalapuyan . In the middle 19th century, the Atfalati lived in several villages in the valley, including Chakeipi ("Place of the Beaver", translated by early white settlers as "Beaver Dam"). Early Euro-American settlers called the valley the "Twality Plains", a corruption of
136-679: The east plains, naming the settlement Columbus, which would eventually become Hillsboro. In 1844, some of these early pioneers established a church at West Union , the first Baptist church west of the Rocky Mountains . When the Provisional Government of Oregon formed in 1843, the Plains were part of the Twality District that was composed of the northwest section of the region, including what would become Portland . After Clatsop County
153-681: The first grist mill in the valley. In 1849 Thomas Hicklin Denney and his wife Berrilla built the first sawmill in the Beaverton area, leading to a later boom in the timber industry . The lack of roads connecting the upper valley to the Willamette River quickly became a hindrance to early settlers. In 1850, the Oregon Territory created the Portland & Valley Plank Road Company to build a road through
170-502: The fur trade settled on the north section of the plains. These included George W. Ebbert , Joseph Meek , and Caleb Wilkins among others. Congregational minister Harvey L. Clark started a missionary school in 1841 just north of East Tualatin Plains, now Hillsboro . The school was soon moved to West Tualatin Plains (now Forest Grove) where in 1847 Clark was joined by Tabitha Moffatt Brown , the Mother of Oregon. In 1842, David Hill settled on
187-604: The landscape. Communities such as North Plains , Beaverton , Reedville , and Cornelius would join Forest Grove and Hillsboro on the Tualatin Plains. In the 1950s growth of an electronics industry focused on Tektronix would create the foundation for what is known as the Silicon Forest . Tualatin Valley The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland , Oregon . The valley
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#1732859020356204-570: The main Willamette Valley . The Tualatin River flows mainly from the west to the east and leaves the valley in the southeast at West Linn in Clackamas County. Tualatin Valley's geographical center is located southeast of Hillsboro, and the general elevation of the valley is 180 feet (55 m) above sea-level . Atfalati Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
221-590: The name of the Atfalati tribe. Other early variations included Falatin, Nefalatine, Twalaity, and Quality, with each roughly translated as slow river to describe the Tualatin River, or may translate as land without trees. The valley was one of the earliest settled farming regions in Oregon, as settlers began arriving in 1840. In the spring of 1847, Lawrence Hall filed the first land claim, comprising 640 acres (2.6 km ), at Beaver Dam (later Beaverton) and constructed
238-582: The tribes in the Willamette Valley , would burn the flat lands of the valley to promote the growth of grasslands. This annual activity promoted easier hunting and seed gathering among other benefits. It also kept much of the land on the valley floor un-forested. By the 1830s diseases decimated the native populations in the region, including the Tualatin Plains. In the 1830s the Hudson's Bay Company used some of these fire‐cleared areas to raise crops for use at Fort Vancouver and in trade. In 1840, former mountain men of
255-684: The valley was eventually limited in the middle 20th century by the need for irrigation . In 1966, the United States Bureau of Reclamation built the Tualatin Project, bringing additional water to many parts of the valley in the last federal reclamation project in the Pacific Northwest . In the second half of the 20th century the valley became increasingly suburbanized and now forms a distinct cultural area that rivals Portland itself in political and economic influence. The communities along
272-605: Was among the first Oregon wineries to produce estate-grown Pinot Noir. Its 130 acres of family-owned vineyards are LIVE Certified Sustainable and it is one of the largest wineries in Oregon. As of June 3, 2020, Ponzi Vineyards is located within the Laurelwood District AVA which was approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). The Tualatin Hills AVA was also approved at the same time in 2020. The two AVAs share
289-457: Was drawn from it, the remainder became Twality County in 1845, and Washington County in 1849. At that time Portland was still part of the county, and agricultural goods from the Plains were transported there to be sold. This led to the building of a plank road between the Plains and Portland, known as Canyon Road , which helped to secure Portland as the main port for Oregon. Later years saw increased settlement and eventual urbanization over much of
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