503 Area Code 🌍☎️

Portland is the most populous city in Oregon and the 28th-most populous in the United States, with a 2020 population of 652,503, located in the Pacific Northwest at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. Named after Portland, Maine following an 1840s coin toss, the city was inhabited by Chinookan peoples before European American settlers arrived in the 1840s and transformed it into a major 19th-century port and lumber center. The Portland metropolitan area encompasses over 2.54 million residents across the nation's 26th-largest metro area, with almost half of Oregon's population residing within it. Today, Portland's economy is driven by technology, athletic and outdoor brands, shipping, and craft industries, while the city is known as the "City of Roses," celebrated for its vibrant music and arts scene, extensive parks including Forest Park, professional sports teams like the Trail Blazers and Timbers, and commitment to urban planning and sustainability. The city operates under a mayor-council government system with a mayor and 12 city councilors, and is served by Metro, the only directly elected metropolitan planning organization in the United States. Beaverton is a city in Washington County in Oregon's Tualatin Valley region, bordering Portland and serving as the second-most populous city in the county with 97,494 residents at the 2020 census. Named after the beaver dams that characterized the area originally inhabited by the Atfalati Native American tribe, Beaverton was founded by settlers including Lawrence Hall, who purchased 640 acres in 1847 and built the first grist mill, followed by Thomas Denney in 1848 who constructed the first sawmill. The city was officially incorporated in 1893 with a population of 400 and Alonzo Cady as its first mayor; early landmarks included a Ford Motor Company dealership established in 1915, Premium Picture Productions film studio in the early 1920s, and the first library which opened in 1925. As a major economic center for Washington County alongside Hillsboro and part of the Portland metropolitan area, Beaverton was projected in 2004 to potentially become Oregon's second-largest city after Portland. Today it ranks as the seventh-most populous city in Oregon. Salem is the capital and second-largest city in Oregon, with a 2020 census population of 175,535 located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River in Marion County. Founded in 1842 as a Methodist mission, Salem became the territorial capital in 1851 and the state capital upon Oregon's statehood in 1859, with the city incorporated in 1857. The Salem metropolitan area covers Marion and Polk counties with a combined 2020 population of 433,353 and is home to Willamette University, Corban University, and Chemeketa Community College. The State of Oregon serves as the city's largest public employer while Salem Health is the largest private employer, with transportation provided by Cherriots transit, Amtrak service, and McNary Field alongside major highway access via Interstate 5, Oregon Route 99E, and Oregon Route 22. The city's name likely derives from the Biblical Hebrew word "Shalom" meaning peace, replacing earlier names including Chemeketa from the Kalapuya Native Americans who originally inhabited the central Willamette Valley.