to
Update
is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, west of Portland. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a bedroom suburb of Portland. Settled in the 1840s, the town was platted in 1850 and then incorporated in 1872 and was the first city in Washington County. The population was 17,708 at the 2000 census. As of 2007, the estimated population is 20,775.
Located in the Tualatin Valley, Oregon routes 6, 8, and 47 pass through Forest Grove with 47 and 8 signed as the Tualatin Valley Highway. Pacific University has been the most distinctive aspect of the town throughout its history. Old College Hall on campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places along with nine other structures in the city. Local employers include the university as well as Tuality Forest Grove Hospital and Merix Corporation.
Prior to the 1840s when Euro-Americans settled the area, the Atfalati band of the Kalapuya Native American tribe lived on the Tualatin Plains in what is now Forest Grove. In 1841, Alvin T. and Abigail Smith were among the earliest to use the Oregon Trail and settled on what was first known as West Tualatin Plain. They overwintered with Henry Harmon Spalding, arriving in what is now Forest Grove in the fall. Intending to be missionaries, they found little potential as most of the natives had succumbed to European diseases. Smith served as the community's first postmaster beginning on February 1, 1850, and his log cabin served as the post office.
, the name Forest Grove was selected on January 10, 1851, at a meeting of the trustees of Tualatin Academy (later known as Pacific University). Resident and school trustee J. Quinn Thornton suggested the name, which he also had used for the name of his homestead. The name referred to a grove of oak trees that still stand on what is now the campus of the university. Previous post offices in the area were called Tuality Plains and Tualatin, with Forest Grove adopted on December 31, 1858. The city was platted in 1850.
In 1860, the population reached 430, but declined to 396 in 1870. Forest Grove was incorporated by the state in 1872, the first in the county. In 1880, the now Chemawa Indian School opened in the city to train Native Americans, but moved to Salem in 1884. The population reached nearly 1,300 in 1900, and in 1908 the Oregon Electric Railway began serving the city.
There are ten buildings on the National Register of Historic Places and an entire 18 block district (Clark District) with homes dating as far back as 1854, and several dozen pre-1900. These include the Alvin T. Smith House, First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Old College Hall.