Oregon Department of Forestry

About forestry service, 97242, Portland, OR, US, Oregon

Forest Grove is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, 25 miles (40 km) west of Portland, within the Tualatin Valley. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a commuter town in the Portland metro area . Settled in the 1840s, the town was platted in 1850, then incorporated in 1872, making it the first city in Washington County. The population was 26,225 at the 2020 census, an increase of 8% over 2010 figure (21,083). Pacific University is located here. Old College Hall on campus, and nine other sites in the city, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. == History == 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.