Tualatin Heritage Center

About

Need a place for your gathering? The Tualatin Heritage Center is perfect for weddings, receptions, meetings, holiday parties, anniversaries, reunions, etc. Call 503-885-1926 for more information about how to rent this unique facility.

Story

Hand built in 1926 by local residents, the building was first known as the Community Methodist Church and later the Tualatin United Methodist Church. In its 80 years as a church, it was the scene of countless christenings, weddings and funerals, and for many years was Tualatin's only church.

When the City announced in 2003 the need to widen the east side of Boones Ferry Road in downtown Tualatin, the cry went up to save the 1926 Craftsman-style church standing in the way. The building was offered to the Tualatin Historical Society, and, after careful inspection deemed it sound enough to be moved, the Society began a campaign to save the building and refit it to become a Heritage Center.

Signatures and promised donations were gathered from over 1500 supportive citizens; an operational agreement was made with the City of Tualatin; and the project was launched. City Council members, City staff members, City advisory committee members, and several dozen Historical Society members mobilized to raise funds, arrange the move, and plan the building's new use.

On July 17, 2005, the old church building was lifted off its foundation and rolled down several streets to its new home on Sweek Drive. After several more months of structural changes and updating it was opened for dedication and ribbon cutting on February 11, 2006, to become the new Tualatin Heritage Center.

In its new role as the home of the Tualatin Historical Society, co-operated with the City of Tualatin, it provides a place for programs and activities for the general community. Events include concerts and recitals, birdwalks along the wetlands, plays by the Lumiere Players, art shows, oral history and genealogical workshops, jam making sessions, knitting and crocheting workshops, and Mad Science for K-6 kids.

On permanent display in the Heritage Center is a 14,000-year-old tusk and molars of Tualatin's mastodon, Native American stone bowls, tools, arrowheads, and an 1879 ox yoke. Periodic exhibits have included the Kalapuya/Atfalati Indians, vintage photos of early Tualatin, historic buildings at risk, and photos of Tualatin floods. Also on view are erratics washed down in the Missoula floods. And the Heritage Garden displays a collection of flowers, plants and shrubs from early farms and homes, including a cutting from a rose plant carried on the Oregon Trail by the Robbins family.

In addition, the Tualatin Heritage Center is available to rent for family reunions, weddings and receptions.