Tigard is home to approximately 47,000 people and is located just minutes southwest of Portland in Washington County. Tigard is officially divided into 13 geographic areas around elementary schools and major transportation routes. Each neighborhood has been
assigned an area number, 1-13, and some carry unofficial names long associated with them prior to their current numeric designations. For instance: Area 1 does not have a particular name associated with it. Area 2 is often called Summerlake after Summerlake Park. Area 3 includes the historic Greenburg neighborhood. Area 4 is called either North Tigard or, more commonly, Metzger. Area 5 is commonly referred to as the “Tigard Triangle,” with Oregon Hwy 99W, 217 and I-5 forming the three sides of the triangle. Area 6 contains Downtown Tigard and City Hall. Area 7 is sometimes called Bonita after Bonita Road and Bonita Park. Area 8 is called Southview and rests upon a broad hill named Little Bull Mountain across Oregon Hwy 99W from the taller Bull Mountain. Area 9 is the Cook Park Neighborhood, named after the city’s largest park. It also contains Tigard High School. Area 10 is Central Tigard. It is the site of the old downtown where there is now a strip mall along Hwy 99W. Area 11 does not have a particular name associated with it. Area 12 is the incorporated part of East Bull Mountain. Area 13 lies on the northwest slope of Bull Mountain and is called West Tigard.
Like many towns in the Willamette Valley, Tigard was originally settled by several families, the most noteworthy family arriving to the area known as “East Butte” in 1852 was the Tigard family, headed by Wilson M. Tigard. The family settled and became involved in developing the community and renamed East Butte to “Tigardville” in 1886.
In 1910, the arrival of the Oregon Electric Railway triggered the development of Main Street and pushed Tigardville from being merely a small farming community into a period of growth which would lead to its incorporation as a city in 1961. The town was renamed Tigard in 1907 by the railroad to greater distinguish it from the nearby Wilsonville, and the focus of the town reoriented northeast towards the new rail stop as growth accelerated.
Although the farms that once covered Tigard are only memories, reminders of the past still remains. The John Tigard House has been preserved for all to enjoy. John Tigard constructed the house in 1880 at the corner of what is now Pacific Highway and Gaarde Street. The house threatened with demolition in the late 1970′s, but due to the efforts of the Tigard Area Historical and Preservation Association, the house was restored. In 1979, the house was entered in the National Register of Historic Places. The house now resides at the corner of SW Canterbury Lane and SW 103rd in Tigard.
