Basic HTML Version
26
TUALATIN CENTENNIAL
January 3, 2013
From one trail blazer to another, congratulations
to the city of Tualatin on your centennial.
- THE PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
CHEERS TO 100 YEARS
346085.010313 TC
6HUYLQJ WKH (QWLUH 3RUWODQG 0HWUR $UHD IRU <HDUV
ǁǁǁ͘ƉŽƌƚůĂŶĚŽƌ͘ŐůĂƐƐĚŽĐƚŽƌ͘ĐŽŵ ͮ
ĐĐď ϱϯϵϳϱ
ͮ ŝŶĨŽΛŐůĂƐƐĚŽĐƉĚdž͘ĐŽŵ
/Ĩ ŝƚ ƉĞƌƚĂŝŶƐ ƚŽ 'ůĂƐƐ͕ ǁĞ ĐĂŶ ŚĞůƉ͘ WůĞĂƐĞ Ăůů dŽĚĂLJ
&RQJUDWXODWLRQV 7XDODWLQ
<HDUV
408296.010313 TC
Makes Cabinets and Woodwork Beautiful, Again!
342524.010313 TC
• Refinish • Restore
• Reface • Paint
Happy
100th
Tualatin!
www.refinishfirst.com
503.522.6188
OR CCB 196296
Tualatin family owned business
T
he Trail Blazers repre-
sent Rose City as one
of Portland’s two ma-
jor league teams. Off
the court, they hone their skills
and stay in fighting shape in a
34,000-square foot facility in the
7300 block of Childs Road dedi-
cated to their team.
Opened in 1999, the facility
gives players all-hours access
to two, full-sized courts, top-of-
the-line weight-training facili-
ties, a lounge, kitchenette and
video workroom.
A few of the players even
choose to make a home in Tual-
atin. In 2009, then-Blazer Bran-
don Roy paid $1.7 million for a
5-acre estate that boasted a
6,000-square foot house, swim-
ming pool and tennis courts.
Tualatin is
Blazers’
home away
from home
By SAUNDRA SORENSON
Pamplin Media Group
T
ransportation has always in-
formed commerce,” local histori-
an Loyce Martinazzi said.
Like when Sam Goldbreath
put a ferry in place on Tualatin’s south
bank, which happened to be a river
crossing on his own property. The Ore-
gon Trail pioneer’s solid thinking be-
came an integral part of a network of
ferries that allowed river access to a
young Portland.
To secure a less fairweather method of
crossing the Tualatin River, a toll bridge
was created in 1856. Once tolls had paid
off the cost of its construction, the bridge
was free — and it was the first one ever
built across the river. The story goes that
the residents of what would later be
called Tualatin named their town Bridge-
port in recognition of this first early pub-
lic works project.
Meanwhile, the river below was a ma-
jor commercial thoroughfare. It became a
major medium for transporting goods
such as lumber.
Entrepreneurship continued to grow
around transportation as railway compa-
nies laid their tracks through town.
When extending its line from Elk Rock
west to Dundee, the Portland and Willa-
mette Valley Railway Company in 1886
purchased right-of-way from landowner
John Sweek. And Sweek identified multi-
ple revenue streams in the deal: Since he
knew the company would need railroad
ties, he quickly established an on-site
sawmill to process lumber from trees
felled on his land.
Sweek’s keen eye for opportunity would
in a sense lay the foundations for the
town that he himself named Tualatin (a
gross mispronunciation of a local Native
American tribe): With the railway’s depot
at the north of his property, he built out a
town center. The year 1887 was the start
of Sweek’s homespun city planning, as he
sold off parcels of his property as lots
along the roads he designated.
Portland and Willamette Valley Rail-
way was bought out by Southern Pacific,
and it was only then that Tualatin resi-
dents saw the first train come through
their increasingly developing town. There
was a daily train trip between Tualatin
and Portland, carrying both commercial
loads and passengers.
It would take another 20 years, but a
second railway arrived when Oregon
Electric Railroad connected its Salem-
Portland route by running track along
Boones Ferry Road.
It was 1906, and more frequent daily
passenger train schedules connected Tu-
alatin to what was becoming a bustling
metropolis. Within the decade, as more
commerce and accommodations popped
up around the new railway depot, Tuala-
tin would be viewed as a suitable week-
end destination. In 1912, successful Port-
land businessman who had been denied
entry to traditional golf clubs because
they were Jewish would created their
own recreational facilities, founding Tual-
atin Country Club.
Now of course, as a truly modern city
blessed with truly diverse natural beauty
— and as the place where major inter-
states 5 and 205 meet — Tualatin’s city
leaders spend much of their time figuring
out how to balance the two elements to
the mutual benefit of both.
A history in transportation