Sherwood, Oregon

SHERWOOD, OREGON S herwood is a city located in Washington County, one of the fastest growing and most dynamic counties in Oregon, some 15 miles southwest of Portland. Prior to the arrival of immigrants from the eastern U.S., the Sherwood area was inhabited by the Atfalati band of the Kalapuya nation, who ranged across the valley as hunter-gathers. Sherwood was first incorporated as a town in 1893, and was originally named Smockville after its founder, James Christopher Smock. It was given its current name by a local businessman, Robert Alexander, in 1891, who likely named it after his hometown of Sherwood, Michigan. The main industry in the 1890s was a pressed brick yard which closed in 1896, a victim of the deep recession of 1893. The Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 revived Sherwood’s economy. For most of its history, Sherwood grew slowly – by 1960, its population was only 680, doubling to around 1,400 by 1970. During the last decade of the 20th century, Sherwood experienced a real boom in population and expansion - by 2000, there were almost 12,000 residents in the town. In the early years of the 21st century, Sherwood was the fastest-growing city in Oregon, a pace which slowed considerably when the housing bubble burst in 2006-07. GROWING IN A POSITIVE WAY