Cook Park in Tigard Oregon

Cook Park in Tigard

Tigard Oregon is a lovely community just outside of the Portland Oregon metro area.  The lovely suburban area is home to the beautiful Cook Park.

The park rests on the banks of the Tualatin River in the suburban town of Tigard, OR. The riverside park sits on 79 acres and boasted the largest park in town.  The park is a favorite destination for all kinds of family-orientated fun like sports and picnics.

Cook Park has a boat ramp for easy access to the Tualatin River and also has ample picnic areas that feature five picnic shelters.  The large picnic shelter can accommodate up to 250 people which can be retained for private functions.  The kids will totally enjoy the super, well-equipped playground too.

There are wooded areas and open grassy spaces as well as a butterfly garden. The wetlands of Cook Park in Tigard are home to wildlife such as river otters and great blue herons.

The park is named after John E. Cook who was a member of Tigard’s Park Advisory Committee and he served there for ten years. He was asked to find open space in Tigard for a public park and he discovered the 36 acres along the Tualatin River. Fortunately, he discovered by speaking to the caretaker that the owner of the property had already deeded the beautiful riverside property to Washington County.

In 1962, Julia Tigard, the wife of the City of Tigard’s founder, Curtis Tigard, served on the park committee for Washington County. She was very aware that there were no funds in the County budget to develop the property into a park.  She suggested to John Cook that he take over the project and convinced the County Court that the town of Tigard had the funds, and the deed should be shifted over to the city for the development of the recreational area.

At that time, the property was mostly wooded. However, in October of 1962, a major Columbus Day storm hit Tigard and uprooted trees. After that, Mr. Cook sent out a plea to the community to start a clean-up project and clear away trees and brush debris.  All of the organizations of Tigard, including Lion’s Club, Jaycees, and Chamber of Commerce turned out with all of their members to offer help with the project.

When the debris was removed, an old well was discovered. The well was revitalized and was very helpful in the ability to create a functioning park. John Cook remained an advocate and fundraiser for the park. The new park was funded by barbeque chicken roasts and the community came out to support the efforts so the new park could succeed.

John Cook’s efforts were so successful with the original 36-acre property that the Tigard City Council decided to rename the park Cook Park in honor of the man who made it all happen.

As the years went on, the City of Tigard worked on acquiring adjacent property to the original 36 acres in an effort to expand the park. The park now boasts 79 acres of park to be enjoyed by all citizens.