Lake Oswego

History

The Clackamas people once occupied the land that later became Lake Oswego, but diseases transmitted by European explorers and traders killed most of the natives. Before the influx of non-native people via the Oregon Trail, the area between the Willamette River and Tualatin River had a scattering of early pioneer homesteads and farms. Settlers were encouraged by the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 and the subsequent Homestead Act. Albert Alonzo Durham founded the town of Oswego in 1847, naming it after Oswego, New York. He built a sawmill on Sucker Creek (now Oswego Creek), the town's first industry. In 1878, the company was sold off to out-of-state owners and renamed the Oswego Iron Company, and in 1882, Portland financiers Simeon Gannett Reed and Henry Villard purchased the business and renamed it the Oregon Iron and Steel Company. The railroad arrived in Oswego in 1886, in the form of the Portland and Willamette Valley Railway. A line provided Oswego with a direct link to Portland. Prior to this, access to the town was limited to primitive roads and riverboats. The railroad's arrival was a mixed blessing; locally, it promoted residential development along its path, which enabled Oswego to grow beyond its industrial roots, but nationally, the continued expansion of the freight railroad system gave easy local access to cheaper and higher quality iron from the Great Lakes region. This ultimately led to the local industry's demise. In 1955, a newly formed private company, Intercity Buses, Inc., began operating bus service connecting Oswego with downtown Portland and Oregon City. This service was taken over by TriMet in 1970. In 1960, Oswego was renamed "Lake Oswego" when it annexed part of neighboring Lake Grove. "Lake Big Ego", A 2012 article in the Daily Journal of…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and are covered by water. That area does not include more than of unincorporated land within the urban services boundary as defined by Clackamas County. Oswego Lake is a lake, originally named Waluga (wild swan) by Clackamas Indians, which has been expanded is and currently managed by the Lake Oswego Corporation. The lake supports watercraft, and a dock floats at the lake's east end, where boaters can disembark and walk to the nearby businesses. The main canal from the Tualatin River was dug in 1872. Every three years, the water level in the lake is lowered several feet by opening the gates on the dam and allowing water to flow into Oswego Creek and on to the Willamette River, enabling lakefront property owners to conduct repairs on docks and boathouses. In 2010, the lake was lowered about to allow for construction of a new sewer line, the lowest lake level since 1962, when the original sewer line was installed.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  92,105
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  91,345
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  80,991
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  72,069
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  66,771
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  66,155
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  59,990
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  59,951

Largest nearby schools

• Oregon City Senior High School
  High · Oregon City · 1,931 students · 25.1:1 ratio
• West Linn High School
  High · West Linn · 1,905 students · 23.2:1 ratio
• Adrienne C. Nelson High School
  High · Happy Valley · 1,382 students · 27.1:1 ratio
• Wilsonville High School
  High · Wilsonville · 1,269 students · 19.8:1 ratio
• Lake Oswego Senior High School
  High · Lake Oswego · 1,245 students · 19.5:1 ratio
• Lakeridge High School
  High · Lake Oswego · 1,234 students · 20.2:1 ratio
• Clackamas High School
  High · Clackamas · 1,224 students · 25:1 ratio
• Putnam High School
  High · Milwaukie · 1,106 students · 25.1:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.75 — 2026-09-05
  20 km E of Castle Rock, Washington
• M 2.61 — 2026-07-31
  18 km NE of Amboy, Washington
• M 3.18 — 2025-11-23
  5 km SE of Amity, Oregon
• M 2.66 — 2024-08-30
  14 km ESE of Molalla, Oregon
• M 2.99 — 2024-01-05
  33 km NNE of Amboy, Washington
• M 3.09 — 2023-11-24
  4 km WSW of Deer Island, Oregon