CITY of HILLSBORO a Link to the Past

CITY OF HILLSBORO A link to the past 1843___________________________________ 1898___________________________________ David Hill’s prominent role in the 1843 Oregon The Hillsboro Argus, 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 Willamette Valley 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- Shute Park 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 Oregon Electric Railway (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 Oregon Nursery Company, 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 department. 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 Mark Hatfield 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 Intel 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

Load more