Tualatin

Tualatin Oregon is named after the Tualatin Indian Tribe that lived here a long time ago. In fact many of the names in this area are derived from Native American Tribes.

 

The city of “Tualatin” was established in 1869, and the spelling changed to “Tualatin” in 1915. In the 1880s, the settlement was sometimes called Bridgeport, probably because of the nearby bridge, one of the first built over the Tualatin River. The Population of Tualatin Oregon is 27,545 as of 2016.

Tualatin Oregon is just south of Tigard on I-5- where 5 and I-205 intersect. The Tualatin River meanders through it- giving rise to river based parks and houses on the river. The core of the town has a lot of 70’s and 80’s homes – and newer, but as you get out away from the middle of Tualatin Oregon, there are some gorgeous country homes – some right on the river. Tualatin is a sister city to Tigard – the school system is called Tigard-Tualatin, and a lot of the kids who live in Tigard end up going to Tualatin High. Sitting south of Tigard, southwest of Lake Oswego, northeast of Sherwood, and west of West Linn, it takes about 15 minutes to get into downtown if you are near the freeway.

The downtown area was revamped a few years ago, around a little lake and fountain. There are restaurants on the lake, paddle boats you can rent, and the fountain is like a miniature of the big fountain on Front street in Portland. The kids, and young at heart, run through it all summer long to cool off – it’s like getting away to a little resort! Tualatin is serviced by the Wes Commuter Rail connecting it to Wilsonville, Tigard, and Beaverton with easy connection to the Max which makes it great for commuting to Portland.

Tualatin Oregon is one of the fastest growing communities in the state . It’s a really good place to raise a family. When school lets out for the summer, Tualatin offers lots of creative and fun activities to keep children and young people busy: kickflipping at the skateboard park, scrambling around on the play equipment at Ibach Park, participating in the library’s summer reading program, attending a city and school district-sponsored summer camp for middle schoolers, or paddling a kayak or canoe rented at Brown’s Ferry Park.

Offering more than 260 acres of high quality parks, natural areas, and greenways – with trails, river access, wetlands, wildlife areas, Tualatin is doing a lot to preserve the wildlife and natural areas around it. Opening in February 2016, the Tualatin River Greenway Trail has received state and national awards for excellence, design, and stability.

There is a lot of open land – forests, meadows, woods, and farmland that surround Tualatin. And as they build houses, they keep green spaces a big part of the neighborhoods. There are a lot of little parks dotted all over Tualatin- with trails that sometimes connect, sometimes don’t.

Every year in the summer, the city has a Crawfish Festival right in a park near the downtown area at Community Park– a 28 acre park on Tualatin Rd – The Crawfish Festival is a fun, family-oriented, festival of live music, food, games, crafts, and the famous crawfish eating contest. They taste like little lobsters or shrimp – and they are all under the rocks in the Tualatin River!