My
name is Bob
Jenkins
and I am the
Washington
County
Coordinator.
We have
many
genealogical
resources
available
here.
We would appreciate any
contributions
you would like
to make
to this site.
Washington
County, Oregon
American settlement began in the 1840s, as Oregon Trail emigrants moved west from the Willamette Valley into the open prairies and timbered foothills of the Coast Range. Early communities grew around farms, mills, and wagon roads connecting the valley to Portland and the broader Willamette region.
Washington County was officially created on July 5, 1843, one of Oregon’s original four counties established during the Provisional Government period. In its early organization, Hillsboro was selected as the county seat, a central location that developed quickly into the county’s administrative and commercial center. The choice of Hillsboro shaped the early courthouse, land, and probate records that genealogists rely on today.
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, towns such as Forest Grove, Cornelius, Beaverton, and Tigard grew around agriculture, education, and transportation links. Wheat fields, orchards, dairies, and timber operations dominated the landscape, while rail lines and interurban routes connected rural communities to Portland markets. Colleges, churches, newspapers, and rural schools documented the families who built the region.
Although Washington County later became one of Oregon’s most rapidly developing areas, its archival footprint remains rich. Land patents, donation land claim records, probate files, cemetery listings, school registers, city directories, and early newspapers provide deep resources for anyone researching families who lived in the Tualatin Valley and the surrounding foothills.
Today, Washington County preserves a legacy shaped by Indigenous heritage, pioneer settlement, agricultural roots, and evolving communities, offering genealogists a wide range of historical records that trace generations across the valley’s towns, farms, and forested hills.