Tigard High School - Tiger Yearbook (Tigard, OR)

Wilson M. Tigard crossed the plains to this territory, then known as East Butte, in 1852. Five families, the Tigards, Grahms, Richardsons, Hicklins and Jacobs settled on five- government donation claims. The first business establishment was operated by Wilson Tigard. Appropriately, the town was named for him. He was the grandfather of Curtis Tigard who is the present manager of the Tigard branch of the First National Bank. The old Hicklin house, oldest in Tigard, is located off Walnut Avenue. The first school in the Tigard area was the McKay school in the vicinity of present-day Progress. The first school in Tigard was a one room log house which stood where the Lone Oak garage now stands, the first school district extending from the Tualatin River to Villa Ridge. The children sat on benches made from logs cut in half. They learned their ABC's first. Reading, spelling, writing, lots of geography, arithmetic-especially mental arithmetic, botany and algebra were taught. Physical education con- sisted of climbing trees and sweeping the floor of the schoolhouse. Mrs. McDonald on 90th Street was in the first class to graduate. Vincent, Grahm, and Ball were also in the first class. The journey to Portland was over a road of fir poles laid side by side, taking two hours by way of Taylor's Ferry Road and through Fulton. The first telephone switchboard and electric lights ap- peared in 1911. The Oregon Electric came through Tigard- ville beginning in 1907. As the train came through Tigard, there were always five or six crowded coaches with people standing in the aisles. The first doctor in Tigard was Dr. Sylvester R. Vincent II2 Wilson and Mary Tigard who struggled and toiled and in due time, prospered. who practiced in the community from 1902 until 1918. He was the father of Arthur H. Vincent. The post office was established in Tigard's store fnow McDonald'sj before 1893 and received mail every week from Fulton. The Grange, the first organization of Tigard, furnished the largest share of the educational and recreational life of the community. In March, 1875, Wm. Tigard donated an acre of ground as a site for the Grange hall. In Novem- ber, 1900, the Grange passed a resolution for all incomes over 31000 a year to be taxed. Early purchases were a spittoon, a water pipe to the kitchen. The first community fair was in October, 1881, and be- came an annual event. Farming as a family industry was practiced by the early settlers in area-the land grants claimed by the first people were divided into smaller parcels as more people moved to the Oregon territory. Surplus food from these farms was taken to town, and each farmer had regular customers for whom he delivered farm produce. The first church on Bend Road was built in 1886 where the present church is. It was built in 1919-St. Anthonys was built in 1910 on Guaarde Avenue. In the early settlement days of Tigard, the only means of transportation was by horses, mules or walking. Two hours was good time by horse and buggy in nice weather to go from Tigard to Portland, however, a farmer with team and wagon loaded with produce had to leave at daybreak and could barely get home before dark. All the roads were dirt at that time and remained so until about 1926. In the year 1918 or 1919 privately owned auto- mobile buses from Portland made better transportation. These were seven passenger Cadillacs and Pierce Arrows.