CITY OF HILLSBORO A link to the past

1843______1898______David Hill’s prominent role in the 1843 , Hillsboro’s third Provisional Government leads to the choice of newspaper, is first published. The Argus his home in Columbia as the seat of Tuality eventually merges with the Hillsboro District, bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Independent in 1932 and becomes the town’s Willamette River, and the straits of Juan de Fu- sole newspaper under the leadership of Emma ca. Columbia is renamed Hillsborough (later McKinney and her son W. Verne McKinney. shortened to Hillsboro) in his honor after his 1905______death in 1850. The first bridge is built across Jackson Bottom. 1859______The stench from an old open sewer pipe in that Oregon becomes the 33rd state. vicinity is so bad that a farmer nearby complains he would not even run his pigs there. 1872______Ben Holladay’s Railroad reach- es Hillsborough. When rebuffed by city fathers after requesting free land near the courthouse, Holladay relocates the rail line five blocks to the south, near Mirror Lake (now Jackson Bottom).

1876______Hillsborough receives its city charter from the State legisla- Property of Washington County Museum ture. The cen- terpiece of the new city’s 1906______downtown is Sewell’s Grove southeast of downtown is sold to the two story, the city by John Shute for use as the city’s first three-year- park. Banker Shute offers the city a lower price old brick if the park is named after him, and Shute Park was created. Property of Washington County Museum courthouse. Sixteen years 1907______later in 1892, pioneer nurseryman John Porter The Oregon Condensed Milk Co. building on plants the landmark sequoias on the south side Southwest First Avenue is purchased by Pacific of the building. Coast Condensed Milk Co. Pacific Coast later becomes Carnation, and the condenser plant in Hillsboro eventually becomes a pet food factory.

Photos provided by the Washington County Museum except where indicated

CITY OF HILLSBORO A link to the past

1913______1908______Weil’s Department Store opens, replacing the (OER) trains begin run- Tualatin Hotel at the center of the block on Main ning from Hillsboro to Portland. The Street between Second and Third avenues. A downtown station is at Second and Washing- grand fashion show complete with live orchestra ton, one block from the Hatfield Station termi- draws an estimated 900 people in March 1922. nus of Westside MAX (which runs on the OER alignment). Southern Pacific brings a second Property of Washington County Museum electric railway to downtown Hillsboro in 1912.

Property of Washington County Museum

Weil’s Department Store 1914______The city’s new library opens at Second and Oregon Electric Railway Lincoln, funded by a foundation established by Scottish steel magnate Andrew Carnagie. The 1911______property for the library is donated by Dr. Samuel The first sanitary sewer district is created to Linklater, whose widow later builds the Linklater replace septic tanks in the downtown. Effluent Estate next door. is conveyed, in clay pipes with mortar joints, to a large septic tank, then discharged into the 1918______Tualatin River. Twenty-five years later the city’s Minnie Jones Coy opens a hospital at Second and first sewer treatment plant will open south of Oak. Seven years later the hospital relocates to downtown, funded by a federal grant and loan Seventh and Baseline. Ms. Coy later builds a new, during the Great Depression. larger hospital across the street in 1940 at a cost of $23,000. Two years after her death in 1952, the 1912______structure becomes the new Tuality Community Oregon Governor Oswald West issues a Hospital. proclamation granting women voting rights in 1920______state and local elections. In a city election a few The Ray-Maling Cannery is constructed on the site days after the proclamation, Miss Rose Cave of the present Washington County Jail. As down- becomes the first woman in Hillsboro and town Hillsboro’s largest employer for many years, Washington County to cast a ballot. it is purchased by Birdseye in 1943 and closes in 1975. Some reports indicate that the flash freezing process for vegetables was invented at this facility.

Photos provided by the Washington County Museum except where indicated

CITY OF HILLSBORO A link to the past

1922______1938______The Oregon Commercial Club, to better define The remaining residents of Orenco, the compa- its purpose and to identify with similar ny town of the , vote organizations nationwide, renames itself as the to dissolve their municipal corporation after the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce. bankruptcy of the nursery company during the Great Depression and the subsequent departure of most of the community’s businesses and resi- 1925______dents. After moving throughout Washington County for decades, 1947______the Washing- One of the largest and oldest businesses in ton County downtown Hillsboro, the Imperial Feed Mill, is Fair finds a destroyed by fire. The loss of three grain new home at warehouses, the grain elevator and the offices Shute Park. totaled over $300,000 in damage. The mill is The only such an important asset to local farmers it is permanent rebuilt in 1949. structure at Property of Washington County Museum the fair is the Shute Park 1948______pavilion, built in 1921. The hardwood floor in The congregation of Trinity Lutheran lays the the pavilion serves as a roller skating rink when foundation for their new church at the corner of the fair is not in season. Fifth and Main. The church began in Hillsboro in 1917, and Sunday services were held in German until 1933. Through a generous 1929______donation from Glenn and Viola Walters, the city The original Venetian Theatre shows the first purchased the property from the Lutherans in “talkie” ever in Hillsboro. “Broadway Melody” 2000, renovated it and reopened the facility as draws an audience of over 1,000: the Argus an arts center in 2004. reports “several hundreds were turned away.” 1953______Downtown businesses stay open late to entice Financed by a $90,000 bond three years earlier, Hills- out-of-town moviegoers. boro’s first municipal swimming pool opens across Maple Street from Shute Park. The outdoor pool is such a success that voters later approve an additional $28,150 levy to create a city parks and recreation depart- ment.

Photos provided by the Washington County Museum except where indicated

CITY OF HILLSBORO A link to the past

1954______1969______KUIK Radio, then known as KRTV, Washington Senator speaks at the dedication County’s only exclusive radio station, begins and opening ceremony for the Oregon Graduate broadcasting from its station on Second Street Institute (OGI) on 185th Avenue east of the city. in downtown Hillsboro. OGI was the only private institution in Oregon offering both masters and doctoral degrees in 1956______the physical sciences. Orange Phelp’s Venetian Theatre, built in 1925, 1973______is gutted by fire, collapsing the roof. Phelps The City accepts the deeds to the IOOF and rebuilds the theatre but renames it the Town. Masons portions of the Pioneer Cemetery from The original name, and the theatre’s promi- the Hillsboro Cemetery Endowment Fund nence in downtown, is restored in 2008. Association and takes over its management. The Association had formed in 1952 to maintain the 1962______badly neglected site. Funded by a National Institute of Health grant of $1.9 million to the Medical Research Foundation 1975______of Oregon, the first of its kind Oregon Primate Hillsboro receives a $142,000 community Research Center is dedicated on its site on development block grant (CDBG) for purchase of 185th Avenue east of Hillsboro. a building for the two-year old Senior Center. The site at Eighth and Washington is a former church. A larger Senior Center, also financed in 1965______part by CDBG funds, was built in 1990 next to Ownership of the Hillsboro Municipal Airport is Shute Park. transferred to the Port of Portland. The city had 1979______purchased the airport in 1938 for $7,500, but opens its first Hillsboro campus at costs of operations and maintenance exceeded Hawthorne Farm. The Hawthorne Farm campus expectations. is a research and development facility unlike the Aloha fabrication facility, which opened three years earlier. 1966______Construction finally begins on Scoggins Dam 1984______after almost 30 years of local, state and federal After six years of effort, the city’s efforts. The water in Henry Hagg Lake behind Comprehensive Plan receives acknowledgement the dam will serve multiple purposes: irrigation; from the Land Conservation and Development recreation; supplemental municipal water; and Commission. The new Plan places land use improved water quality. Construction will be designations on the undeveloped and completed in 1975. unincorporated area between the city and , including the abandoned 300-acre Ronler Acres subdivision.

Photos provided by the Washington County Museum except where indicated

CITY OF HILLSBORO A link to the past

1989______2000______Sunset Esplanade Shopping Center opens on After a three-year visioning process that began by Highway on the site of the asking Hillsboro residents “What do you want Beglinger Farm. Hillsboro to look like in the year 2020?”, the City 1996______Council adopts the Hillsboro 2020 Vision and The flood of 1996 Action Plan, Hillsboro’s 20-year community plan, required City by resolution in May. Council to declare a 2004______state of The Streets at Tanasbourne, a 419,194 square foot emergency “lifestyle center” outdoor mall anchored by Macy’s in and REI, opens in northeast Hillsboro. Hillsboro by 2005______resolution. The Civic Center is built becoming the second Lead- The flood ership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) caused Photo provided by Gold rated municipal building in the U.S. It is de- closures of the City of Hillsboro signed as a mixed-use project guided by principles Highway 219, TV set forth from the community through an extensive Highway at Dairy Creek and multiple neighbor- citizen involvement process resulting from the City hoods. Council’s adoption of the Hillsboro 2020 Vision and Action Plan. A day long community celebration was 1997______held. capsule and entertainment for people of all The first phase of Orenco Station opens. Orenco ages. Station is a new mixed-use neighborhood on the southern portion of the former Ronler Acres subdivision. The northern portion of Ronler Acres, after purchase and consolidation by the city through , had been pur- chased by Intel in 1994. 1998______Former Mayor is instrumental in extending to downtown Hillsboro. Photographer David Brunn The Hillsboro Central Station (Washington Street between Third and Fourth avenues) sits 2009______on the same site as the station for the old Ore- The first electric vehicle charging station is gon Electric Railway. installed on Main Street in front of the Tom Hughes Civic Center Plaza. As part of the city’s commitment to sustainability, this was the first of many charging stations to be installed within the city.