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The Tualatin Valley was the homeland of the Atfalati, a band of the Kalapuya people whose seasonal movements, plant knowledge and management of the valley's wetlands and grasslands shaped the landscape long before American settlement. The name Tualatin is associated with the river and the wider valley. Epidemics, displacement and pressure from incoming settlers severely reduced Indigenous communities during the nineteenth century. In 1855, Atfalati people were among those affected by treaties that led to removal to the Grand Ronde reservation, while their continuing cultural presence remains an essential part of the region's history.

After the Oregon Trail era, settlers claimed land across the fertile plains under the Donation Land Law and related settlement processes. Farms, mills, roads and small trading centres grew around the Tualatin River basin, often replacing or enclosing Indigenous-managed landscapes. Hillsboro, founded as Columbia in 1842 and later renamed, became an important county centre. Beaverton developed around transport routes and agricultural trade, while Forest Grove grew as an educational and religious settlement. Many present-day roads and town patterns follow this early agricultural geography.

Forest Grove became an important centre for education when Tualatin Academy was established in 1849; it later developed into Pacific University. The institution helped connect the small agricultural community with wider intellectual, religious and civic networks in the developing Oregon Territory. Its campus and associated historic buildings remain among the clearest reminders that the valley's history is not solely agricultural or commercial. Forest Grove's identity continues to be influenced by the university, even as the surrounding region has become increasingly integrated into the Portland metropolitan area.

Rail connections in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries strengthened Hillsboro, Beaverton, Forest Grove and neighbouring communities by making it easier to move farm produce, timber and passengers. The Oregon and California Railroad reached the area in the 1870s, while later electric railway development improved links with Portland and towns to the west. Roads and railways helped establish the valley as a productive agricultural hinterland, supporting dairying, orchards, berries, nurseries and grain production. The surviving town centres and transport corridors reflect this commercial transformation.

For much of the twentieth century, Tualatin Valley was known for farms, plant nurseries, orchards, dairies and market gardening. Post-war population growth gradually converted parts of the valley floor into housing, schools, retail centres and industrial districts, particularly around Beaverton, Tigard, Hillsboro and Tualatin. Agriculture did not disappear, however: nurseries, vineyards, specialty crops and protected open land remain significant. The modern landscape is therefore a negotiated boundary between metropolitan expansion and productive countryside.

From the second half of the twentieth century, technology and electronics manufacturing became major forces in Washington County. Intel established substantial operations in Hillsboro, helping attract suppliers, engineers and related businesses to the region. The wider cluster became known as Oregon's Silicon Forest, linking Tualatin Valley to the state's high-technology economy. This development changed employment patterns and accelerated population growth, while its campuses and research facilities added a new layer to a landscape previously identified mainly with farms and nurseries.

Beaverton became internationally associated with Nike after the company established its world headquarters there, while other businesses expanded along the region's highway and light-rail corridors. Retail centres, apartment districts and office campuses grew alongside established communities, bringing greater cultural and culinary diversity. Hillsboro became a major employment centre and administrative hub, while new development around Tualatin, Tigard and Sherwood reshaped the eastern and southern valley. Contemporary Tualatin Valley is consequently both an agricultural region and a highly connected part of the Portland metropolitan economy.