First Addition

First Addition is Lake Oswego's oldest platted neighborhood, subdivided in 1888 and 1925 to house workers of the Oregon Iron and Steel Company, whose furnace complex transformed what was then called Oswego from a riverfront landing into an industrial town. The company's iron works — the first iron smelting operation in the Pacific Northwest — ultimately failed by the 1890s, but the residential grid it created endured, filled in over the following decades with Gothic Revival, Prairie Tudor, Craftsman, bungalow, and ranch homes that now give the neighborhood its eclectic, unpretentious character.

The American Planning Association named First Addition to its list of "10 Great Neighborhoods in America" in 2007, recognizing the neighborhood's exceptional mix of housing styles, walkability, proximity to the lake, and community cohesion. With 3,378 residents on a compact street grid of tree-lined blocks, it achieves a density unusual for the Lake Oswego suburban fabric — most homes sit on smaller lots than the city average, encouraging sidewalk culture and neighbor interaction.

First Addition borders downtown Lake Oswego's Old Town to the north and the lakefront to the west, giving residents walkable access to First Street restaurants, the Lake Oswego Farmers' Market, and the lake itself. The neighborhood's iron-heritage is commemorated in historical markers and the Iron Works Trail, and the former furnace site — now a public park — anchors the western edge near the Willamette River.