Beaverton, OR

Beaverton is a city in Washington County, in the U.S. state of Oregon that is located 7 miles (11 km) west of Portland in the Tualatin Valley. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was 97,494 at the 2020 census, making it the second-largest city in the county and the seventh-largest city in Oregon. Beaverton is an economic center for Washington County along with neighboring Hillsboro. It is home to the world headquarters of Nike, Inc., although it sits outside of city limits on unincorporated county land.

The hunter–gatherer Atfalati tribe of the Kalapuya people inhabited the Tualatin Valley prior to the arrival of European–American settlers in the 19th century. They occupied a village near the Beaverton and Fanno creeks called Chakeipi, which meant “place of the beaver”, and early white settlers referred to this village as Beaverdam. Lawrence Hall took up the first land claim in 1847 and established a grist mill. The entry of a railroad in 1868 spurred growth in the small farming communities and led to the town’s incorporation in 1893.