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January 3, 2013
TUALATIN CENTENNIAL
15
1913
—Tualatin was in-
corporated, mayor and al-
dermen were elected, two
saloons were soon operat-
ing, coal oil, street lights in-
stalled.
1914
—Tualatin Country
Club, an executive golf
course, was laid out.
1918
—Many young men
went off to World War I
while polio and flu epidem-
ics hit Tualatin hard.
1925
—Methodist Church
burned, new church built
next year.
1926
— First city hall
built.
1935
—Volunteer Fire De-
partment organized and the
city dug a well.
1936
—High school stu-
dents went to Sherwood or
Tigard high schools.
1937
—Overflow of the
Tualatin River caused mas-
sive flooding.
1939
—New brick elemen-
tary school opened as old
school closed.
1940
—Veterans of For-
eignWars organized.
1940
— 4-H programs pro-
vided learning experienes
for youth.
1941
—Many local men
and women joined the
armed forces for World War
II; others worked in ship-
yards.
1948
—Melville and Jes-
sie Chase Eastham donated
6 acres to the city of Tuala-
tin for a park.
TUALATIN
TIMELINE
Continued from page 12
Continued on page 18
Mayor Lou Ogden
HOW DO YOU SEE TUALATIN DEVELOPING AND
CHANGING IN THE NEXT 100 YEARS?
A century is clearly a long time into
which to gaze and garner a glimpse of what
might occur. To that point, the Tualatin of
today surely could not have been imagined
in 1913. That said, it is inevitable that we
will be a much larger city. Our 30-year pro-
jections are to grow by about 50 percent
and in 100 years we will be perhaps three
times our current size. It is curious to won-
der about technology since probably the
biggest influence on our past growth, that
is, cars and trucks, weren’t even a part of
our culture a century ago. We may not be a
“Jetson” community with airborne, single-
occupancy vehicles or a “Star Trek” com-
munity with teleportation and rematerial-
ization.
However, I think it is safe to say that ve-
hicular congestion as we know it today will
be very much a passé thing of the 21st Cen-
tury. In that case, our community will be
more accessible, and I predict, more inter-
connected, person to person. While various
forms of communing via technology will be
the norm, the need for people to associate
with people face to face will never become
antiquated. Social gathering places will
abound in myriad formats, much like today.
Parks, natural areas, commercial attrac-
tions and the “town square” will still be an
integral part of our society, and I predict
Tualatin will be able to maintain that
“small town sensation” even in light of the
technological marvels that await us in the
coming century. Tualatin will surely be a
center for high-paying jobs, close-knit
neighborhoods and great amenities, much
like today. The phrase, “a great place to
live, work and play” will still be our credo.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF TUALATIN
TRIVIA?
There are many, and of course, though I
have served on our City Council now for 20
years, and lived in Tualatin more than 30
years, I knowmost trivia only by the re-
porting of such historical guardians as
Loyce Martinazzi. So the fact that our main
thoroughfare downtown was named for the
ferryman on the Willamette River who was
the grandson of Daniel Boone, and the mys-
tery murder of Helen Jennings, the town
“hottie” in 1916, are of great intrigue.
During the 1960s, upon hearing on a na-
tional TV show that the Tualatin Crawfish
Festival was the best in America, a New Or-
leans Voodoo queen cast a hex on our festi-
val. Amajor biker gang brawl at the festival
the following year was perhaps more than a
coincidence. In my personal experience, the
trivia I most starkly recall is the motto on
the side of the trucks owned by the dog
food company previously located at the in-
tersection of Martinazzi Avenue and Tuala-
tin-Sherwood Road: “Going to the Dogs.”
We’ve come a long way, wouldn’t you say?
WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR PROUDEST ACCOM-
PLISHMENTS AS MAYOR OF TUALATIN?
Certainly the completion of the Tualatin
Commons is a high point during my time,
though that project was largely the fruit of
the labors of Mayor Stolze and those pre-
ceding him. I was merely fortunate to be in
office when it came to fruition. We have
opened four parks during my tenure: Ibach,
Browns Ferry, Jurgens and North End of
Community Park, as well as placed artifi-
cial turf at Tualatin High School, making
that field available for general public use
year-round. All of those occurred because
of the willingness of our citizens to invest
by passing bond issues. Similarly our citi-
zens voted to build a state-of-the-art police
facility and thanks to unwavering determi-
nation by various city councilors and oth-
ers, we enjoy a new library.
Tualatin boasts a vibrant business sector
with many high-paying jobs and renowned
shopping. A large portion of our outstanding
neighborhoods have been developed since I
have been in office. We have made substan-
tial transportation improvements, including
both of our Interstate 5 interchanges being
rebuilt, Tualatin-Sherwood and Tualatin
Road rebuilt and the addition of WES.
Perhaps the biggest is yet to come and
that is the extension of 124th Avenue south
and east around Tualatin to I-5. After years
of work, that connection is finally moving
the point that it will definitely be built,
though it will take several more years to
complete. We have a revitalized recreation
program for all ages and an active Youth
Advisory Council. Most recently, through
the efforts of dozens of dedicated citizens,
we have the beginnings of a city-wide Citi-
zen Involvement Organization. The last 20
percent of this century has been good for
Tualatin.
A little Q&A
Steve Stolze, mayor of Tualatin 1988-1994
HOW DO YOU SEE TUALATIN DEVELOPING AND
CHANGING IN THE NEXT 100 YEARS?
I am hoping that our biggest issue, which
is transportation, is finally manageable,
with perhaps one jurisdiction (Tualatin)
having not only the control, but the ability
to pay for street improvements for the
whole city, not the current cookie cutter
control that now exists.
I believe our mayor and council will have
a different look, in that technology and so-
cial media will change the way business is
done and governance itself will take a whole
new approach to things.
I sincerely hope our schools regain the
stature we once had, and that our children
will feel and believe it is worthwhile to com-
plete their education.
I see our history being
preserved, but I see much
different ways to define
wetlands, conservation
lands, etc., and how they
are managed.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE
PIECE OF TUALATIN TRIVIA?
I have always thought it
was interesting that our
city council, prior to my
running, had both Roy
Rogers and Charlie Brown on it.
Also, I delivered the groundbreaking
speech at the Oki Semi-conductor plant in
Japanese, without the knowledge of anyone
else until I began speaking . . . that was in-
teresting.
WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR PROUDEST ACCOM-
PLISHMENTS AS MAYOR OF TUALATIN?
Although I was in office for only 6 years,
we grew from a sleepy town of about 6,000
people to a city of over 19,000 during my
term, and the management of that growth,
the concept and development of the Com-
mons, the centerpiece of our city and the
most used area of the city, seems to have
been the reason I ran, but also I was able to
bring many large companies into our city in
the Leviton Property area, creating thou-
sands of new jobs for our area. I was able to
raise the funds to build the grandstands at
Tualatin High School as chairman of the
fundraising group and saw the opening of
the state-of-the-art high school.
I am particularly proud of the Com-
mons, and the way it has brought this
community together and the city staff and
consultants that helped make it come to
fruition.
Q
City leaders talk about Tualatin’s development
STOLZE