Forest Grove, Oregon

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Coordinates: 45°31′17″N, 123°6′32″W
Forest Grove, Oregon
Location in Oregon
County	Washington County
Incorporated	1872
Mayor	Richard G. Kidd
Area
- City	12.3 km² (4.7 sq mi)
- Land	11.9 km² (4.6 sq mi)
- Water	0.3 km² (0.1 sq mi)
Elevation	64.01 m (210 ft)
Population
- City (2000)	17,708
- Density	1,486.3/km² (3,850.5/sq mi)
Time zone	Pacific (UTC-8)
- Summer (DST)	Pacific (UTC-7)
Website: http://www.ci.forest-grove.or.us

Forest Grove is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, 25 miles west of Portland.

Forest Grove was a missionary settlement founded in 1841 by Alvin and Abigail Smith.[1]According to Oregon Geographic Names, the name Forest Grove was selected on January 10, 1851 at a meeting of the trustees of Tualatin Academy (later known as Pacific University). It is probable that trustee J. Quinn Thornton suggested the name. Before the name Forest Grove was adopted, that part of the county was known as the West Tualatin Plain. Previous post offices in the area were called Tuality Plains and Tualatin. The city was incorporated in 1872.

Pacific University has been the most distinctive aspect of the town throughout its history. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a bedroom suburb of Portland. The population was 17,708 at the 2000 census. Estimates in 2004 put the population at over 19,000.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Education
4 History
5 Sister Cities
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Forest Grove is located at 45°31′17″N, 123°6′32″W (45.521372, -123.108759)^GR1. It is on the western edge of the Portland metropolitan area and the Willamette Valley.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.3 km² (4.7 mi²). 11.9 km² (4.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (2.75%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 17,708 people, 6,336 households, and 4,131 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,486.3/km² (3,850.5/mi²). There were 6,702 housing units at an average density of 562.5/km² (1,457.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 81.46% White, 0.43% African American, 0.89% Native American, 2.11% Asian, 0.24% Pacific Islander, 11.39% from other races, and 3.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.31% of the population.

There are 6,336 households out of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.24.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18, 13.4% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $40,135, and the median income for a family was $47,733. Males had a median income of $36,139 versus $25,703 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,992. About 10.4% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.2% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Education

The principal landmark of Forest Grove is Pacific University, a private school of higher education.

[edit] History

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Forest Grove almost became the home for Nike Headquarters. Nike originally had plans to put their Headquarters in open land surrounding Forest Grove High School. On a drive to Forest Grove, Nike's CEO Phil Knight supposedly got lost and came to the conclusion that Forest Grove would not be a good home for Nike due to the possibility of employees of Nike getting lost on the drive to work. Knight then decided that Beaverton, Oregon would be a much more accessible location and has been located there since.

Some movies that have been filmed in Forest Grove include, Zero Effect, & The Empire Strikes Back [2], the TV show Nowhere Man was also filmed there numerous times.