Gresham

9780738582061

$24.99

The history of Gresham, Oregon, is rooted in the pioneers who trekked along the Oregon Trail in the 1800s. Traveling down the Columbia River or over the precipitous route by scenic Mount Hood, they arrived in what was then called Powell Valley, so named by the first settlers. They found trees that were unparalleled, tall, and straight, which they used to build their first communities. The rich, fertile land was cleared to grow an array of crops that would eventually make the area well known for its agriculture.

Canby

9781467117043

$24.99

The town of Canby is located in the North Willamette Valley, in Clackamas County, Oregon. By 1838, James Baker, one of the earliest European settlers in Oregon, came to Canby with a cattle drive from California. Soon, he and other settlers were farming on the rich soil. Joseph Knight and four sons moved to the area in 1868. They were active in early Canby development, starting many local businesses and setting the framework for a future town. Maj. Gen. Edward R.S. Canby, hero of the Civil and Indian Wars, had arrived in Oregon in February 1893 to take up command of the US Army's Department of the Columbia. The new town was given this brave man's name by his good friend Ben Holladay, chief of the Oregon & California Railroad. Canby was incorporated on February 15, 1893, making it the second-oldest city in Clackamas County.

Portland

9780738548746

$24.99

The year was 1901, and Portland, Oregon, was celebrating its 50th birthday, having grown from a community of 821 people to become the largest city in the Pacific Northwest. A small change in postal regulations that year opened the door to the production of the picture postcard, and collecting these cards quickly became a popular hobby. Many of these cards survive today and provide a glimpse of life in days gone by. Collected here are many rare images of Portland: grand hotels and magnificent buildings, the natural beauty of the surrounding area, the great bridges, and splendid sailing ships. The world's fair honoring the centennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition and the annual Rose Festival inspired enough cards to fill their own books.

USCG Air Station and Group Astoria

9780738589206

$24.99

US Coast Guard Air Station and Group Astoria was established on August 14, 1964, at Tongue Point in Astoria. It is currently located at the Warrenton-Astoria Regional Airport in Warrenton, Oregon. The group includes Air Station Astoria, the Aids to Navigation Team, Station Grays Harbor at Westport, Washington, Station Cape Disappointment in Ilwaco, Washington, and Station Tillamook Bay at Garibaldi, Oregon. They also supply support for the USCG cutter Alert (WMEC-630), USCG cutter Steadfast (WMEC-623), USCG cutter Fir (WLB-213), the National Motor Lifeboat School, the Electronic Support Detachment at Astoria, the Advanced Rescue Swimmer School, the Marine Safety Detachment, and the Advanced Helicopter Rescue School. In August 2011, the unit became USCG Sector Columbia River.

Lost Oregon Streetcars

9781467136853

$21.99

The streetcars that plied Oregon's small-town streets were every bit as diverse as those in Portland and their history even more fascinating. Learn of the devastating 1922 fire that scorched Astoria's plank road railways and put a halt to its once-thriving streetcar network. Muse over the tale of a beloved white horse named Old Charlie that proved more efficient at powering Albany's streetcars than the alternative steam locomotive. Laugh at the spectacle of university students being carted back to their dormitories on the Eleventh Street Line's special midnight "drunk express" trains. Take pride in the tiny town of Cherry Grove, which became the first in the West to embrace new battery technology. Local historian Richard Thompson celebrates the lost trolley lines that transported Oregon's people across the state for decades.

Silverton

9780738575339

$24.99

Incorporated in 1854, Silverton sits at the eastern edge of the Willamette Valley and gives way to the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. It was built along Silver Creek, a location used for countless years by native people. As the town grew, it became a shipping center for the timber and agricultural industries of the area. During the early part of the 20th century, Silverton's mills helped supply the nation with lumber. Like many small towns, Silverton has changed with the times, but it has retained its small-town feel as a vibrant community with a diverse population. The community has nurtured many talents over the years, including political cartoonist Homer Davenport and astronaut Donald Pettit.

Grants Pass

9780738595788

$24.99

Grants Pass was one of the last towns established in Josephine County. Initially named Perkinsville, the city was a precinct of Jackson County before becoming the county seat for Josephine County in 1885. Nestled alongside the Rogue River, it was built on mining and timber and now thrives on tourism. It is equidistant from Crater Lake, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Oregon Caves, and the Pacific Ocean and offers many activities for outdoor enthusiasts, such as hiking, rafting, boating, and fishing. Old Town Historic District, the center of Grants Pass, is home to many original buildings more than 100 years old that are now occupied by a variety of shops selling souvenirs, clothing, wine, and paintings by local artists.

Grant County

9781467125680

$24.99

The large number of immigrants traveling along the Oregon Trail bypassed Grant County because of its location. Most wagon trains used the northern route to the Columbia River. A few used the southern route toward southern Oregon. Grant County was left in between. When gold was discovered in the Canyon Creek area in 1862, the population swelled from scarcely 200 to more than 5,000, many of them Chinese. Today, Grant County's population is approximately 7,500, with John Day, the largest city, at slightly less than 2,000. From the 1860s to near 1900, gold and the mining industry reigned, as upward of $26 million worth of gold was mined. As the supply of gold diminished, so did the population, and timber became the number one industry. Settlers from the East saw potential in the large stands of tall, straight ponderosa pine, and many sawmills came into existence. The sawmills have since greatly declined, but other settlers discovered that the acres of bunchgrass provided excellent cattle feed. Today, cattle is king. In the spring, the cattle herds are moved off their winter grounds to higher elevations; in the fall, they are herded back into the valley. In the past, these movements often took them through the heart of many cities.

Portland's Hawthorne Boulevard

9781467105620

$24.99

From a farm path in 1850 to a tourist destination in the 21st century, Hawthorne Boulevard on the east side of Portland has become a bustling city thoroughfare and a persistently eclectic neighborhood. The street that runs from the Willamette River to Mount Tabor has been called a hippie haven and a shopper's paradise. It takes its name from Dr. J.C. Hawthorne, who opened Oregon's first asylum there in 1861. Streetcars brought population growth, grocery stores, and saloons. In 1912, the delegates to the Elks' national convention paraded on Hawthorne Boulevard, and the 1948 Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade was there. In the 1950s, the Hawthorne Boosters kept the bustle in the boulevard, but the 1970s brought vacant storefronts. Cheap rent created opportunities for hip entrepreneurs, and organized revitalization in the 1980s was sensitive to the communities' unique character. Today, Hawthorne Boulevard draws visitors from across the city and around the world.

Lighthouses and Lifesaving on the Oregon Coast

9780738548876

$24.99

The Oregon Coast has been the site of shipwrecks even before Lewis and Clark's arrival in 1805. Even as the population grew, the federal government let the Oregon Coast go unguarded by lighthouses and lifesavers for decades. Economic and political pressures finally forced the government to build the first Oregon lighthouse in 1857 at the Umpqua River. The LifeSaving Service followed in 1878 with a station at the mouth of Coos Bay. Eventually, most of the harbor entrances and headlands were protected by both the Lighthouse Service and the LifeSaving Service, the precursor to today's Coast Guard. Lighthouses and Lifesaving on the Oregon Coast commemorates the true heroes who served to warn, protect, and rescue those who went to sea.

Lighthouses and Lifesaving on the Oregon Coast

Deschutes National Forest

9781467124669

$24.99

From the crest of the High Cascades eastward to the High Desert, the Deschutes National Forest is one of America's great national treasures. Timber, water, and forage were plentiful in Central Oregon and provided the building blocks for the region. Today, the national forest's scenery and year-round outdoor recreational resources play major roles in sustaining a vibrant and diverse modern economy and a unique way of life. Since 1905, these resources have been administered by the US Forest Service, fulfilling its mission to pursue "the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run," as decreed by forester Gifford Pinchot when he led the fledgling agency.

African Americans of Portland

9780738596198

$24.99

The prolific journey of African Americans in Portland is rooted in the courageous determination of black pioneers to begin anew in an unfamiliar and often hostile territory. Amazingly, a small population of African Americans settled in Portland against a backdrop of exclusion laws that banned free blacks from settling in Oregon. At the end of the 19th century, new employment opportunities in Portland and growing antiblack sentiments elsewhere spurred the growth of Portland's African American community. Approximately 75 African American men were hired at the Portland Hotel, and the completion of transcontinental rail lines brought African American railroad workers to Portland. By 1890, the majority of Oregon's black population resided in Multnomah County, and Portland became the center of a thriving black middle-class community. Fifty years later, the recruitment of defense workers increased the population of African Americans nearly tenfold. The war boom, coupled with the tragic Vanport flood, forever changed Portland's urban landscape and reshaped the socioeconomic realities of Portland's African American community.

Gold Beach and South Curry County

9780738596150

$24.99

Curry County is made up of small communities, ranging from the county line between Langlois and Bandon to the state line. From the inception of Gold Beach, pioneers have survived in small communities scattered throughout Southern Curry County. Despite a lack of roads, these small towns and hamlets, from Humbug Mountain on down, have sprung up over the years, enduring with the help of neighbors and through the gift of self-sufficiency. Some of the former names of this area before Gold Beach included Elizabeth Town, Sebastopol, Hog Town or Logtown, and Whalesburg. Today, the small communities include Arizona Beach, Euchre Creek, Ophir, Cedar Valley, Nesika Beach, Wedderburn, Jerry's Flat, Hunter's Creek, Pistol River, Carpenterville, Whaleshead, Brookings, and Harbor. Though a small area, the people of the county are happy to say that they live where everyone knows his or her neighbors.

Murder & Mayhem in the Willamette Valley

9781467151740

$23.99

Beneath the bucolic scenery of Oregon's Willamette Valley lies a dark and sinister past. Beneath the bucolic scenery of Oregon's Willamette Valley lies a dark and sinister past.
The 150-mile swath of vineyards, farmland and idyllic towns has hosted its fair share of murderers, bootleggers, and even a serial killer. Moonshiners like the Sutherland family used the wooded hills to hide their operations, skirting the law until it cost one cop his life. A chain of restaurants served as the public face of The Children of the Valley of Life, a cult with members who hid in hand-dug caves to escape the authorities. The Molalla Forest Killer, who committed multiple gruesome murders, stalked the byways.
Join author Jennifer Byers Chambers as she uncovers the grim and deadly secrets of the Willamette Valley.

Murder & Mayhem in the Willamette Valley

Around Florence

9781467131520

$24.99

Florence, located midway on the Oregon coast, has North America's largest stretch of dunes to the south and the most photographed headlands on the Pacific coast to the north. Although Florence is on the coast, it is a river town located on a bend of the Siuslaw River. Before the railroad arrived in 1916, the town was cut off and dependent upon ocean-going ships. The Siuslaw did not make it easy because of a notoriously shifting river mouth before the north jetty was built in 1893. Even after the jetty, crossing the bar continued to be treacherous due to shallow depths and fickle winds. Even so, entrepreneurs William Kyle and O.W. Hurd, in trying to outdo each other, developed a thriving town. For decades, fishing and logging were the mainstays. Now, they are tourists, retirees, and the arts. Old Town, where it all began, is a happening place once again.

Camp Abbot

9781467128612

$24.99

Today, Sunriver is an idyllic community in Central Oregon, but during World War II, it was the site of Camp Abbot, the westernmost engineer replacement training center of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Under the leadership of Col. Frank Besson, the US Army trained 90,000 men at the camp from 1943 through 1944. Mimicking the European landscape, the surrounding terrain and the swift-flowing Deschutes River were deemed perfect for training young soldiers how to build and demolish bridges. Located about 15 miles south of Bend, the quickly built installation included administration buildings, a hospital, over 50 barracks, mess halls, training grounds, recreation facilities, and a chapel. There, among pine trees and sagebrush, soldiers endured subfreezing winters and 100-degree summers.

Central Oregon Aviation

9781467106870

$23.99

This book will take readers back in time to the pioneering days of Central Oregon, when birdmen and barnstormers crisscrossed the skies in their Wright Flyers, Curtiss Jennys, and Ford Trimotors. In the early days, the dusty high desert airfields were home to flimsy airplanes. As air travel evolved from utilizing seat-of-the-pants construction to becoming a new mode of mass transportation, the Central Oregon region developed along with the technology. Over the next century, a dedicated group of visionaries--aviators and city officials--built a thriving economy around Redmond Municipal Airport. Today, this transportation hub, also known as Roberts Field, sees an average of 1 million passengers each year. It is complemented by smaller general aviation airports that are home to private and corporate pilots, as well as a flourishing aviation industry.

McMinnville

9780738593159

$24.99

William Newby had a vision to create a place of commerce and residence for settlers to the Willamette Valley. Newby named the town after his hometown of McMinnville, Tennessee, and saw plenty of local opportunities on his land, straddling an old Native American trail along what is now Baker Street. Newby had a millstone shipped from Oregon City so grain could be ground at his mill. Soon, a blacksmith shop and a general store attracted people to an expanding village. In 1866, the area's first newspaper began publication and would later become the McMinnville News-Register. Newby donated land for a college, built churches, warehouses, mills, and stores. The city was incorporated in 1882, shortly after the arrival of the railroad. Since then, McMinnville has become the center of population and government for Yamhill County. It sports many modern industries and retains the charm of the historic city along Third Street.

Oregon Wine

9781467140539

$21.99

The history of winemaking in Oregon is steeped in legends so well known they've become gospel, but reality is even more fascinating. Discover the truth about who opened the state's first commercial winery and the real origin of Willamette Valley's famed Pinot Noir. Learn about Portland's daring Italian Americans, who kept home wineries during Prohibition, and the flourishing agriculture that contributed to the popularity of fruit wine. From the nineteenth-century winemakers through the modern industry that now includes more than seven hundred wineries, places like HillCrest and The Eyrie have been serving Oregonians for a half century. Uncover the forgotten roots of Oregon wine with author Scott Stursa and raise a glass to its prosperous future.

Hillsboro

9780738571829

$24.99

Hillsboro began as a crossroads for the Native American Atfalati, retired trappers, missionaries, and land-hungry settlers whose collection of farms became East Tualatin Plains. These earliest residents were drawn to the rich valley land between the forested creeks. As the missionary influence waned and the railroads arrived in the 1870s, the town, by then called Hillsborough, was dubbed "Sin City." Farmers and merchants quenched their thirst and gambled in saloons and placed bets on horse races down Main Street. Throughout the early 20th century, Hillsboro became predominantly a conservative, family town. Residents enjoyed their town bands, theaters, and Carnegie Library. Then and now on the Fourth of July, proud farmers drive their state-of-the-art farm equipment in the downtown parade, and fireworks light up the sky at the County Fairgrounds. Today the crossroads is one of agriculture and high technology, as people from around the world become new residents of Hillsboro, drawn to the Tualatin River plain as were their predecessors.

Coquille

9781467129497

$24.99

In the early 19th century, Coquille was quiet and inhabited by Upper Coquille Native Americans. This changed when Evan Cunningham, the first European settler, arrived in the 1860s. Soon thereafter, others arrived. In the 1880s, homes, businesses, and a sawmill appeared. Riverboat transportation became established. The first wagon road was completed to Marshfield. In the 1890s, a railroad was constructed from Marshfield to Coquille and on to Myrtle Point, setting the stage for a dramatic expansion of the timber industry, dairy farming, and coal mining. By the 1920s, electric power, telephones, automobiles, and paved roads were the norm. Technology supported growth in the timber industry and stimulated population growth. As a result, many new and larger buildings were erected, giving Coquille a vibrant downtown with a bit of an urban feel.

Portland's Lost Waterfront

9781609495954

$21.99

Today, Portland, Oregon, is a city of majestic bridges crisscrossing the deep swath of the Willamette River. A century ago, riverboat pilots would have witnessed a flurry of stevedores and longshoremen hurrying along the wharves. Situated as the terminus of sea lanes and railroads, with easy access to the wheat fields, sawmills and dairies of the Willamette Valley, Portland quickly became a rich and powerful seaport. As the city changed, so too did the role of the sailor--once bartered by shanghai masters, later elevated to well-paid and respected mariner. Drawing on primary source material, previously unpublished photographs and thirty-three years of waterfront work, local author Barney Blalock recalls the city's vanished waterfront in these tales of sea dogs, salty days and the river's tides.

Hidden History of Civil War Oregon

9781609494247

$21.99

Many Oregonians think of the Civil War as a faraway event or something that happens when the Ducks and the Beavers tangle. Few know that the state raised two Union regiments or that more than ten thousand Union and Confederate veterans made their way to Oregon after the war. In fact, the Beaver State has impressive Civil War ties, including the battle death of Senator Edward Baker, the Long Tom Rebellion in Eugene and famous figures like U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp. Join Civil War enthusiast Randol B. Fletcher as he explores the tales behind the monuments and graves that dot today's landscape and unearths the Hidden History of Civil War Oregon.

Wicked Portland

9781609495787

$21.99

Tucked away in the northwestern frontier, Portland offered all the best vices: opium dreams, gambling, cheap prostitutes, and drunken brawling. In its early days, Portland was a combination rough-and-ready logging camp and gritty, hard-punching deep-water port town, and as a young city (established in the late 1840s) it developed an international reputation for lawlessness and violence. In the early 1900s, the British and French governments filed formal complaints about Portland to the US state department, and Congressional testimony from the time cites Portland as the worst place in the world for crimping. Today, tours of the alleged Shanghai Tunnels offer Portland visitors a taste of that seedy past.

Lake Oswego

9780738570853

$24.99

Fifteen thousand years ago, the Missoula floods roared out of the Columbia River Gorge and sculpted a lakebed out of an old river channel. In 1847, Albert Durham built a home and mill at the lake's outlet, calling the area Oswego. In the 1860s, iron ore mined from the surrounding hills gave rise to the hope that Oswego would become the "Pittsburgh of the West." Two decades after its hillsides had been logged and the iron industry failed, the city reinvented itself as an elegant streetcar suburb of Portland, a place where people could live where they played. Oswego Lake's shores were soon lined with picturesque homes, and pleasure boats and water-skiers roamed its waters. Arcadia's Images of America: Lake Oswego chronicles the town's bucolic beginnings, industrial heyday, and successful repurposing from a community based on resource extraction to one of Oregon's most beautiful towns, renamed Lake Oswego after a 1960 merger with nearby Lake Grove.

Haunted Independence, Oregon

9781609498726

$21.99

Meet the spirits of Independence, Oregon, who whisper to passersby and tickle the spines of the curious: A young woman who threw herself from a window upon learning of her lover's death. Patients who underwent crude surgeries a century past and whose quiet moans linger on. A mysterious skeleton uncovered by a local business owner in the shadowy recesses of an attic. A doll that inexplicably relocates to different parts of the local museum at night. Mischievous or downright chilling, the ghosts of Independence offer a doorway to the city's colorful past. Tour historic downtown Independence with Marilyn Morton, founder and chair of the annual Ghost Walk, as she reveals the haunted heritage of the one-time hop capital of the world.

Keizer

9781467132619

$24.99

The community of Keizer was shaped by the banks of the Willamette River. It was first inhabited by the Kalapuya tribe, and then came fur trappers and early missionaries farther north along the river. Homesteaders arrived in the 1840s. The rich river-bottom farmland remained quiet until the boom of automobiles after World War II. Keizer boasts neither fancy buildings nor brick edifices but proudly carries its spirit of volunteerism and perseverance. Pioneer Thomas Dove Keizur and Oregon senator Charles McNary are noted citizens. The iconic 1916 Keizer schoolhouse, now Keizer Heritage Center, is a cherished landmark. The story of Keizer comprises an account of the settlement of the state of Oregon--from wagon train to a thriving city. Keizer officially became an incorporated city in 1982.

Pioneering Oregon Architect W.D. Pugh

9781467148863

$21.99

A life in buildings

The son of Oregon pioneers, Walter D. Pugh spent his career as an architect building landmarks throughout his home state. From designing the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill and supervising the installation of the State Capitol dome in Salem to drawing the plans for the Crook County Courthouse in Prineville, Pugh had a hand in a wide variety of buildings. In less than twenty-five years, he worked on more than a hundred projects before fading into obscurity. Many of these structures are still standing, a testament to his skill even after his contributions have been all but forgotten.

Join author and historian Terence Emmons as he explores the life and legacy of one of Oregon's foremost architects.

Ashland

9780738571027

$24.99

What is known as Ashland today was historically less of a destination than a crossroads. Native Americans had passed through the valley for centuries, often establishing small villages. Farmers in search of new lands followed the Applegate Trail, bringing their wagons through the area on their way north to the fertile Willamette Valley. Gold seekers, coming and going to California, or on their way to the nearby tent town called Table Rock City (Jacksonville), came through as well. A handful of men, though, some fresh from the California goldfields, sought a more stable way of making a living and decided that outfitting those afflicted with gold fever might prove more profitable. Over time, mills, a Chautauqua, a lithia water experiment, a railroad terminal, a college, and finally an award-winning Shakespeare festival with an eight-and-a-half-month season, coupled with numerous "best places to retire" articles, have culminated in Ashland becoming a destination in itself.

Oregon State University Baseball:

9781609498047

$21.99

In the postseasons of 2005, 2006 and 2007, the Oregon State Beavers baseball team achieved a seemingly impossible dream and forever changed the culture of Northwest sports. After nearly a century of dismissal as a wet-weather team, unable to compete with the southern baseball belt on the national stage, a run of three College World Series appearances and back-to-back titles earned the Beavers national respect. Inspired by his own coverage of the dramatic seasons, Corvallis Gazette-Times" sportswriter Cliff Kirkpatrick recounts the program's rise to prominence and lasting legacy. Filled with firsthand insights from players and coaches and photos of pivotal moments and stands filled with orange and black, this retrospective captures the magic of Oregon State's three-season run."