ABOUT
Gresham is a city located in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States, immediately east of Portland.The population was 105,594 at the 2010 census, making Gresham the fourth largest city in Oregon.
History
Gresham was not established as a city until the mid-1800s after the settlement of Portland twelve miles west. The city required a post office and postal code. A local storeowner offered to use his store as a post office and offered to name the city after Postmaster GeneralWalter Q. Gresham if a post office was granted. Until that time, the city had simply been known as "Campground" because this forested site was where pioneers often stopped to spend the night and compose themselves before moving on to Portland and theWillamette Valley.The first post office was established in Gresham on July 12, 1871; it was later closed, and a new post office opened on June 9, 1884.Gresham was incorporated in 1905, the year of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition.Its population at the time was 365.Lewis Shattuck, son of a pioneer family, was the firstmayor.The town's economy was fueled largely by farming, including berries, grapes, and vegetables.At the time, trains ran between Gresham and Portland on an hourly basis.Gresham's early settlers would go on to form the outlying communities of Boring, Sandy, Fairview, and Estacada.