Connecting People and Places

Once a former railroad spur, the three-quarter-mile Tigard Heritage Trail is now a pathway for commerce and culture.  Thanks to the work of hundreds of people and dozens of partners, the Tigard Heritage Trail has opened new access to parks and trails, livable neighborhoods and the city’s vibrant Downtown. The already popular bike and pedestrian pathway now celebrates local heritage and identity as a “pedestrian boulevard” with historic and cultural landmarks.

Visitors and neighbors will enjoy another link to Tigard’s growing trail system and a long-sought space for community gatherings in Rotary Plaza. 

Interconnected Lives: Past, Present and Future

The intertwining of our region’s rail history and Tigard’s cultural identity led to the concept of the Outdoor Museum. The Museum artistically interprets the rich and sometimes complicated history of Tigard and the surrounding region. Tigard’s Outdoor Museum includes three major artworks and a series of interpretive installations that tell the story of Tigard’s heritage.  The trail is tied together by upright abstracted panels designed by urban artist, Suenn Ho.  Ho’s series of interpretive works will also include plaque cards sharing pivotal stories in the region’s history.

Featured stories include:

• Baχawádas Louis Kenoyer (1868-1937) the last known speaker of the Tualatin Kalapuya language.

• Harry Kuehne (1891-1960), horse lover and Austrian-American settler.

• Peter Hing (1906-1990) who helped transform Tualatin Valley’s forests into farmland.

• John Cash (1848-1928) and Annie Cash (1861-1905) black pioneers who pursued education and opportunities for their children in the Tualatin Valley.

• Yoshio Hasuike (1915-2011) and Sachiko Furuyama (1920-2019) Tigard residents who discovered the importance of neighbors during World War II.

• Evangelina “Vangie” Sanchez (1943-present), community leader and single mother who fought for Mexican and Tejano children to grow up with opportunities to succeed.

The Outdoor Museum displays a story yet to be told; Tigard as a multicultural community and a historic destination. Through personal narratives and interpretive artworks, Tigard’s rich history anchor visitors in time and in steel, providing a place and an opportunity to consider a future of possibilities.

Public Art on Display

Through a National Endowment of the Arts Grant, three artists were selected to create large public art pieces inspired by the Tigard community, the regions rich history and the personal narratives curated for the Outdoor Museum.

Lindo-Lawyer, professional muralist, is inspired by communities surrounding her mural sites, making her the perfect match for this project that seeks to highlight and bring awareness to the experiences of historically-marginalized communities. Lindo-Lawyer created her compositions after a period of intensive research into local histories, leveraging support from Five Oaks Museum (previously the Washington County Museum), and Tualatin Historical Society. 

Mosaic artist, Jennifer Kuhns says her designs for the Museum “will be interpreting history and origins through the installation of basalt rock seating along the trail, featuring mosaic inlays that invoke the essential elements that supported the Tualatin Valley’s first inhabitants, and created a foundation for future communities that slowly grew and developed into what is now the City of Tigard.”

Portland-based sculpturist, Christine Clark created three unique sculptures entitled "Live, Settle, Advance”. Roughly 9' tall, each steel work features emblems including a mortar and pestle, log and ax, and a railroad tie. The sculptures progress down the linear museum, visually chronicling the evolution of tools used at each phase of industrial advancement from hunter-gatherer to the arrival of the railroad.