McMinnville, Oregon  McMinnville is the county seat of and largest city in Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. According to "Oregon Geographic Names", it was named by its founder, William T. Newby (1820–1884), an early immigrant on the Oregon Trail, for his hometown of McMinnville, Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 32,187. McMinnville is at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Yamhill River in the Willamette Valley. The city is home to Cascade Steel (a Schnitzer Steel Industries company), Oregon Mutual Insurance Company, Linfield University, Organic Valley creamery, Joe Dancer Park, and Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, the home of Howard Hughes' famed "Spruce Goose" flying boat. Town founder William T. Newby joined the Great Migration of 1843, later claiming land in 1844 on the present site of McMinnville in what was known as the Oregon Country. He built a grist mill in 1853 at what would become the west end of Third Street. On May 5, 1856 Newby platted a town and named it after his hometown of McMinnville, Tennessee. Newby would later make a substantial donation of land for the founding of an institution of higher learning in the town, originally called McMinnville College but known today as Linfield University. McMinnville was incorporated as a town in 1876 and became a city in 1882. County residents voted to move the county seat of Yamhill County from Lafayette to McMinnville in 1886. McMinnville is from Lincoln City on the Pacific Ocean, from Portland, and from Salem, the state capital. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , all of it land. In 2019 the Oregon International Air Show switched to the McMinnville Municipal Airport. The airshow promotes Aviation while honoring Military and Veterans. In addition to the economic surge provided by the Air Show, the Oregon International Air Show involves the community and provides grants for McMinnville. Since 1988 more than $3 million has donated back throughout McMinnville (Yamhill County), Hillsboro (Washington County), and throughout Oregon. Express Employment Professionals, Stoller Family Estates, and Xenium are the lead sponsors for the upcoming 2020 Air Show. In the early 60's, Kelton Peery, Chuck Colvin and Willard Cushing felt it was time for the city to have a private golf course and began to search for property.