Tigard | ||
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City | ||
Tigard, Oregon | ||
Main Street in Downtown
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Motto: A Place to Call Home | ||
Location in Oregon |
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Coordinates: 45°25′40″N 122°46′44″W / 45.42778°N 122.77889°WCoordinates: 45°25′40″N 122°46′44″W / 45.42778°N 122.77889°W | ||
Country | United States | |
State | Oregon | |
County | Washington | |
Incorporated | 1961 | |
Government | ||
• Mayor | John L. Cook | |
Area | ||
• Total | 11.81 sq mi (30.59 km2) | |
• Land | 11.81 sq mi (30.59 km2) | |
• Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) | |
Elevation | 300 ft (91 m) | |
Population (2010) | ||
• Total | 48,035 | |
• Estimate (2013) | 50,444 | |
• Density | 4,067.3/sq mi (1,570.4/km2) | |
Time zone | Pacific (UTC-8) | |
• Summer (DST) | Pacific (UTC-7) | |
ZIP codes | 97223, 97224, 97281 | |
Area code(s) | 503 and 971 | |
FIPS code | 41-73650 | |
GNIS feature ID | 1128092 | |
Website | City of Tigard |
Tigard /ˈtaɪɡərd/ is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The population was 48,035 at the 2010 census. As of 2007, Tigard was the state's 12th largest city. Incorporated in 1961, the city is located south of Beaverton and north of Tualatin, and is part of the Portland metropolitan area. Interstate 5 and Oregon Route 217 are the main freeways in the city, with Oregon Route 99W and Oregon Route 210 serving as other major highways. Public transit service is provided by TriMet, via several bus routes and the WES Commuter Rail line.
Like many towns in the Willamette Valley, Tigard was originally settled by several families. The most noteworthy was the Tigard family, headed by Wilson M. Tigard. Arriving in the area known as "East Butte" in 1852, the family settled and became involved in organizing and building the East Butte School, a general store (which, starting in 1886, housed the area's post office) and a meeting hall, and renamed East Butte to "Tigardville" in 1886. The Evangelical organization built the Emanuel Evangelical Church at the foot of Bull Mountain, south of the Tigard store in 1886. A blacksmith shop was opened in the 1890s by John Gaarde across from the Tigard Store, and in 1896 a new E. Butte school was opened to handle the growth the community was experiencing from an incoming wave of German settlers.
The period between 1907 and 1910 marked a rapid acceleration in growth as Main Street blossomed with the construction of several new commercial buildings, Germania Hall (a two-story building featuring a restaurant, grocery store, dance hall, and rooms to rent), a shop/post office, and a livery stable. Limited telephone service began in 1908.