Editing Gresham, Oregon (section)

==History==
[[File:Gresham 1918.png|thumb|left|Downtown Gresham in 1918]]
The area now known as Gresham was first settled in 1851 by brothers Jackson and James Powell, who laid claim to land under the [[Donation Land Claim Act]] of 1850 and named the settlement Powell's Valley.<ref name="history">{{cite web |title=Gresham |url=http://www.pdxhistory.com/html/gresham.html |access-date=April 18, 2016 |work=PDX History}}</ref>  In 1884, a local merchant petitioned for a post office from the [[United States Post Office Department]] to be established in his store, proposing to name it after Postmaster General Walter Q. Gresham if his request was granted. Concurrently, other community members secured a post office named "Campground," which referred to the area's religious camp meeting site and its convenience as a stop for travelers heading to Portland. Once the Post Office Department recognized its error, it revoked the Campground post office designation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gresham|url=http://www.ohwy.com/or/g/gresham.htm|website=Online Highways Home|access-date=November 5, 2015}}</ref><ref>Chilton, W.R. (1993). ''Gresham: Stories of Our Past: Campground to City.''</ref>

Gresham was incorporated in 1905, the year of the [[Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition]]; its population at the time was 365. Lewis Shattuck, a member of a pioneer family, served as the first [[mayor]].{{Sfn|Hoff|1910|p=156}} The local economy was primarily driven by agriculture, particularly the cultivation of berries, grapes, and vegetables. During that period, trains operated between Gresham and Portland on an hourly schedule. Gresham's early settlers would go on to form the outlying communities of [[Boring, Oregon|Boring]], [[Sandy, Oregon|Sandy]], [[Fairview, Oregon|Fairview]], and [[Estacada, Oregon|Estacada]].<ref name="history"/>

Gresham's city library, which began as a small book collection in the town's general store, was officially established as the [[Gresham Carnegie Library|Gresham Branch Public Library]] in 1913 with a grant from the [[Carnegie library|Andrew Carnegie library fund]].<ref name=outlook>{{cite news|last=Endicott|first=Anne|title=Telling the story of where we call home|url=http://portlandtribune.com/go/42-news/111861-telling-the-story-of-where-we-call-home|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428060852/http://portlandtribune.com/go/42-news/111861-telling-the-story-of-where-we-call-home|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 28, 2016|access-date=December 3, 2012|newspaper=Gresham Outlook|date=July 6, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2012/04/gresham_focus_tour_of_building.html|work=Oregon Live|title=Gresham Focus: Tour of buildings becomes a living history lesson|author=Hottle, Molly|date=April 12, 2012|access-date=April 18, 2016}}</ref>

Gresham General Hospital opened in 1959 in downtown Gresham. In 1984, the hospital moved to Stark Street and became [[Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center|Mount Hood Medical Center]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Reed|first1=Watford|title=Contract awarded for Gresham hospital project|work=The Oregonian|date=April 3, 1983|page=B1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Jeffries|first1=Pat|title=Move is quite an operation|work=The Oregonian|date=October 26, 1984|page=D17}}</ref>