Happy Valley Park

Happy Valley was first settled in 1852 by Christian and Matilda Deardorff, who built the valley's first home on 640 acres received through the Donation Land Claim Act.

The region went by Deardorff Valley and Christilla Valley for decades before "Happy Valley" appeared in real estate advertisements in 1909, likely a marketer's coinage, though a more colorful local story credits hard cider and loud singing at Sunnyside church services.

The city incorporated in 1965 and remained small until the late 1990s, when it became one of Oregon's fastest-growing cities, reaching nearly 24,000 residents by 2020.

Happy Valley Park anchors the city's recreational life, serving as the main community green for a place that grew from a farming valley into a suburb in a single generation.