Gresham Oregon History & Facts

Gresham is a city located in Multnomah County, Oregon, in the United States of America, immediately east of Portland, Oregon. It is considered a suburb within the Greater Portland Metropolitan area. Though it began as a settlement in the mid-1800s, it was not officially incorporated as a city until 1905; it was named after Walter Quintin Gresham, the American Civil War general and United States Secretary of State.

The city's early economy was sustained largely by farming, and by the mid-20th century the city experienced a population boom, growing from 4,000 residents to over 10,000 between 1960 and 1970. The population was 105,594 at the 2010 census, making Gresham the fourth largest city in Oregon.

The area now known as Gresham was first settled in 1851 by brothers Jackson and James Powell, who claimed land under the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850. They were soon joined by other pioneer families, and the area came to be known as Powell's Valley. In 1884, a local merchant petitioned the United States Post Office Department for a post office in his store, and offered to name it after Postmaster General Walter Q. Gresham if his request was granted. At the same time, other members of the community secured a post office called "Campground", another name for the area, referencing the religious camp meeting ground located there and the valley's usefulness as a stop-off for travelers on their way to Portland. Once the Post Office Department realized its mistake, it revoked the Campground post office.

Gresham was incorporated in 1905, the year of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition; its population at the time was 365. Lewis Shattuck, son of a pioneer family, was the first mayor. The town's economy was fueled largely by farming, including berries, grapes, and vegetables. At the time, trains ran between Gresham and Portland on an hourly basis. Gresham's early settlers would go on to form the outlying communities of Boring, Sandy, Fairview, and Estacada.

Gresham's city library, which began as a small book collection in the town's general store, was officially established as the Gresham Branch Public Library in 1913 with a grant from the Andrew Carnegie library fund.

Gresham General Hospital opened in 1959 in downtown Gresham. In 1984, the hospital moved to Stark Street and became Mount Hood Medical Center.

In August 2016 the town was the place of the racially-motivated murder of Larnell Bruce.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 23.43 square miles (60.68 km2), of which 23.20 square miles (60.09 km2) is land and 0.23 square miles (0.60 km2) is water. The total area includes parts of Fairview Creek and Johnson Creek.

Famous Peoples From Gresham Oregon

Jess Hartley
Christina K. "Jess" Hartley (born December 11, 1967) is an American novelist, writer, game creator, and editor.

Hartley is the author of the novel Exalted: In Northern Twilight published by White Wolf Publishing, and Little Yoshida, a novel published as an electronic serial, by Mind Storm Labs. She has been an author of, and contributing writer to, nearly forty role-playing games and game products (RPG) books from White Wolf Publishing/CCP North America, and Margaret Weis Productions, as well as the editor for several projects from Steampower Publishing and Rogue Games.

From 2002 to 2005, Hartley produced the ongoing feature article, Forsoothly Spoken, for Renaissance Magazine as well as doing book reviews for the publication.

In August 2009, Hartley debuted One Geek To Another, an advice, ethics and etiquette blog for the geek community. In 2010, One Geek To Another was nominated for an ENnie Award in the category of Best Blog.

Hartley was born in San Rafael, California and raised in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. She lived for several years in Easthampton, Massachusetts and then in Bisbee, Arizona. In October 2010, she returned to her native NW, and now resides in Gresham, Oregon.

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