Located between Forest Grove to the north and Yamhill to the south, the city straddles Oregon Route 47 and borders the Tualatin River.

In 1851, due to population pressures from white settlers, surviving members of the tribe negotiated a treaty with the Oregon Territory ceding their ancestral lands throughout the Tualatin Valley to guarantee a small reservation on the banks of nearby Wapato Lake.

The community of Gaston developed from a railroad stop in 1872 to a commercial center, hosting a school, post office, hotel, and blacksmith shop.

[8][9] Due to legal disputes, Joseph Gaston left his position at the railroad and moved to the region in 1880.

[10] The nearby community of Cherry Grove was founded in 1911 as a logging hub and briefly eclipsed Gaston.

The next morning Oregon governor Charles Martin ordered the state police and National Guard to protect the strikebreakers.

Armed with gas grenades and machine guns, the military and police forces demanded the strikers leave or be shot.

[citation needed] The growing popularity of Portland and the Pacific Northwest in general has led to population growth throughout the region.

Thus far, the town has not been able to effectively capitalize on the local wine industry's growing national and international recognition.

In 2006, the mayoral candidate advocated obtaining state or federal funding to revitalize the commercial strip on Main Street which, in theory, could help the city capture some of the wine tourism dollars.

Fish and Wildlife Service began purchasing land in the Wapato Lake bed to reestablish the historic wetland.

[15] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.28 square miles (0.73 km2), all land.