Tualatin is a city located primarily in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon. A small portion of the city is also located in neighboring Clackamas County. Take a look below for 20 interesting and fun facts about Tualatin, Oregon, United States.
1. It is a southwestern suburb in the Portland Metropolitan Area that is located south of Tigard.
2. The population was 26,054 at the 2010 census.
3. The name of the city is taken from the Tualatin River, which flows along most of the city’s northern boundary.
4. It is probably a Native American word meaning “lazy” or “sluggish” but possibly meaning “treeless plain” for the plain near the river or “forked” for its many tributaries.
5. According to Oregon Geographic Names, a post office with the spelling “Tualitin” was established November 5, 1869, and the spelling changed to “Tualatin” in 1915.
6. In the 1850s, the settlement was first called Galbreath after its founder Samuel Galbreath.
7. In 1853, Galbreath built the first bridge over the Tualatin river, and the town became known as Bridgeport.
8. In the 1880s, John Sweek platted a town around the new railroad depot, and named the town Tualatin. It was incorporated as the City of Tualatin in 1913.
9. In 1962, a fossilized Mastodon (Mammut americanum) was excavated in what is now the Fred Meyer parking lot. It is now on display in the lobby of Tualatin Public Library.
10. In 1972 fossils were uncovered near Fanno Creek that were determined to be a partial skeleton of a Harlan’s Ground Sloth (Paramylodon harlani).
11. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.23 square miles (21.32 km2), of which 8.22 square miles (21.29 km2) is land and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km2) is water.
12. Tualatin is home to a majority of Bridgeport Village (“Bridgeport”), an upscale shopping area that opened in early 2005.
13. Built at the site of a former quarry, Bridgeport was designed to be reminiscent of an open-air European-style shopping experience. It features an 18-screen movie theater, several national and regional chain restaurants, and many chain retail stores.
14. Tualatin is also home to Nyberg Woods, a neighborhood and lifestyle center located at the conjunction of Interstate 5 and Nyberg road.
15. The center contains stores such as Best Buy, Old Navy, Golfsmith, and Ulta. Nyberg Woods also features restaurants such as Famous Dave’s, Panera Bread, Chipotle, Starbucks, and Five Guys.
16. Tualatin also harbors Nyberg Rivers, which opened in the fall of 2014 and is the third major retail project to be developed by CenterCal Properties in Tualatin.
17. Following the construction of Bridgeport Village and Nyberg Woods, Nyberg Rivers contains approximately 300,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, fitness, and entertainment space. Nyberg Rivers is located just off of Interstate 5 and is home to Cabela’s, New Seasons Market, LA Fitness, and restaurants including Pieology, Red Robin, Sharky’s, and Veri Bowl.
18. There are many factories on the south side of town, including a large Lam Research plant that makes electrochemical deposition tools for manufacturing semiconductors.
19. Knife manufacturers CRKT and KAI USA, which owns Kershaw and Zero Tolerance Knives, as well as Shun Cutlery are located in Tualatin. Al Mar Knives is headquartered in Tualatin, although manufacturing is done in Japan.
20. Oregon Scientific, a manufacturer of consumer electronics products, is headquartered in Tualatin.
