Washington County is one of 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon and part of the Portland metropolitan area. The 2020 census recorded the population as 600,372, making it the second most populous county in the state and most populous "Washington County" in the United States. Hillsboro is the county seat and largest city, while other major cities include Beaverton, Tigard, Cornelius, Banks, Gaston, Sherwood, North Plains, and Forest Grove, the county's oldest city. Originally named Twality when created in 1843, the Oregon Territorial Legislature renamed it for the nation's first president in 1849 and included the entire northwest corner of Oregon before new counties were created in 1854. The Tualatin River and its drainage basin lie almost entirely within the county, which shares its boundaries with the Tualatin Valley. It is bordered on the west and north by the Northern Oregon Coast Range, on the south by the Chehalem Mountains, and on the north and east by the Tualatin Mountains, or West Hills.
Durham is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. Incorporated in 1966, the city is surrounded by Tigard and Tualatin and is adjacent to the Bridgeport Village shopping complex. The population was 1,351 at the 2010 census.
Forest Grove is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, 25 miles (40 km) west of Portland. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a commuter town in the Portland metro area. Settled in the 1840s, the town was platted in 1850, then incorporated in 1872, making it the first city in Washington County. The population was 21,083 at the 2010 census, an increase of 19.1% over the 2000 figure (17,708).
Garden Home-Whitford is a census-designated place (CDP) consisting of the neighborhoods of Garden Home and the smaller Whitford area in Washington County, Oregon, United States. They are located in the southwest hills of Portland, near Beaverton. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 7,081.
Gaston is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. Located between Forest Grove to the north and Yamhill to the south, the city straddles Oregon Route 47 and borders the Tualatin River. Named after railroad executive Joseph Gaston, its population was 637 as of the 2010 census.
Metzger is a census-designated place and unincorporated community, in Washington County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 3,765. It is named for Herman Metzger, who platted the community. It is a suburb located within Portland, Oregon.
Sherwood is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. Located in the southeast corner of the county, it is a residential community in the Tualatin Valley, southwest of Portland. As of the 2010 census, Sherwood had a population of 18,194 residents. The city's population for 2019 was estimated to be 19,879 by the U.S. Census. Sherwood was first incorporated in 1893 as a town. Originally named Smockville after its founder, James Christopher Smock, the town was given its current name by local businessman Robert Alexander in 1891. The name "Sherwood" may have come from Sherwood, Michigan or the Sherwood Forest in England.
Rivergrove is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A small portion of the city extends into nearby Washington County. Its name is a portmanteau of the Tualatin River, which forms its southern border, and Lake Grove, a community that is now part of Lake Oswego. The population was 370 at the 2010 census.
Tualatin is a city located primarily in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon. A small portion of the city is also located in neighboring Clackamas County. It is a southwestern suburb in the Portland Metropolitan Area that is located south of Tigard. The population was 27,942 at the 2020 census.
The Tualatin River is a tributary of the Willamette River in Oregon in the United States. The river is about 83 miles (134 km) long, and it drains a fertile farming region called the Tualatin Valley southwest and west of Portland at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley. There are approximately 500,000 people residing on 15 percent of the land in the river's watershed.
The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland, Oregon. The valley 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.
Sprague River is an unincorporated community in Klamath County, Oregon, United States. It is about 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Klamath Falls near the Sprague River, northwest of Oregon Route 140.
Westport is an unincorporated community and census-designated place on the Columbia River in Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 321.
Laurelwood is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The community is located southwest of the Portland metropolitan area near Oregon Route 47 along Laurelwood Road, to the east of the city of Gaston and Wapato Lake. Laurelwood, a farming community, has a population of approximately 500 people. Settled in the 1860s, the community was home to Laurelwood Academy from 1904 until 2007. A large portion of the community is of the Seventh-day Adventist faith.
Disston is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Oregon, United States, southeast of Cottage Grove where Brice Creek and Layng Creek join to form the Row River. It is about a mile west of the Umpqua National Forest. Its post office opened in 1906 and ran until 1974. Cranston Jones—the first postmaster—was also one of the founders of the first sawmill in Disston and the name of the town came from the famous Disston saws.
River Mill Hydroelectric Project, also known as River Mill Dam and Station M, is a hydroelectric dam and powerhouse in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. It is just north of Estacada, Oregon, on the Clackamas River at river mile 23.5. It received its name from being near a sawmill that was located along the river.
Dilley is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Oregon, United States. It is located south of Forest Grove and north of the city of Gaston on Oregon Route 47 in the Portland metropolitan area. Settled in the late 1840s, the community was platted in 1874 after the arrival of the railroad.
Scoggins Creek, formerly known as "Scoggin Creek", is a 19-mile (31 km) tributary of the Tualatin River in Tillamook and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is named for pioneer settler Gustavus Scoggin.
Hinkle is an unincorporated community along the Umatilla River in northwestern Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. It is south of Hermiston, near Interstate 84/U.S. Route 30 and Oregon Route 207, within the Pendleton–Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is the site of the Union Pacific Railroad's (UP) Hinkle Locomotive Service and Repair Facility, part of the Hinkle Freight Classification Yard.
Minnehaha was a sternwheel-driven steamboat which was built in 1866 on Oswego Lake, then known as Sucker Lake, in Oregon, United States. Minnehaha was later transferred to the Willamette and Columbia rivers where it operated for the first part of the 1870s.
