During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. The WPA Guide to Oregon contains some quaint features, including a chapter entitled “Tall Tales and Legends” and a recipe for huckleberry cakes. The impact of the depression on the people of the Beaver State is discussed, and the beauty of the state is emphasized from the tips of the Cascadian Mountains to the agricultural region of Willamette Valley.

Follow a picturesque adventure tour along the Oregon Coast’s Interstate 101 that captures the majesty and quirkiness of the state. The 338-mile exploration begins at the California border in Brookings concluding with crossing the expansive Astoria-Megler Bridge into Washington. The background and commentary from each chapter is concise and insightful giving you an intimate glimpse of a West Coast region bountiful in aesthetics and generally absent of tourist herds. Ideal for the roadtrip warrior or day-tripper. En route, your itinerary will feature: Natural and Historic Attractions Humbug Mountain Battle Rock Bullards Beach Sand Dunes National Park Spinreel Campground Tahkenitch Creek Devil’s Churn Seal Rock Wayside Beaver Creek Yaquina Head Devil’s Punchbowl Neskowin Beach Sand Lake Recreation Area Storm Rock and Three Arch Rocks Octopus Tree Haystack Rock Architectural Wonders Isaac Paterson Bridge Bullards Bridge Conde McCullough Memorial Bridge Umpqua River Bridge Cape Creek Bridge Haceta Head Lighthouse Yaquina Bay Bridge Yaquina Head Lighthouse Cape Meares Lighthouse Astoria-Megler Bridge Tour Attractions, Artistic Works and Oddities Whale Bone Sculpture Moolack Beach Highway Collapse Lil Sambos Restaurant Tillamook Creamery The Fish Peddler Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad Seaside Carousel Haunted Astoria

Crossings ties together the history of the Oregon Coast Highway, the story of master bridge engineer Conde B. McCullough, the exciting path to federal funding, and the building of the coastal bridges, with special emphasis on the bridge that best represents McCullough's technical and aesthetic genius the Siuslaw River Bridge.

Ghosts and spirits abound in western Oregon. The imprints of pioneers, soldiers, prostitutes, and murder victims haunt the places they trod in life, searching for loved ones, reliving joyful times, protecting favorite haunts, and seeking revenge. This guide, history, and comprehensive how-to offers tantalizing information about the lives, deaths, and locales of the Portland area's lingering past. Areas include Central Portland, East Portland communities, Vancouver and North Portland, communities south of Portland, and Oregon's coastal communities. The infamous Shanghai Tunnels have long reverberated with the screams of kidnapped victims, doomed to a brief life of forced servitude. Lone Fir Cemetery is visited to this day by the spirits of the Chinese laborers, mental asylum inmates, and Civil War veterans who rest there. Thelma Taylor can sometimes be felt in Cathedral Park, under the St. John Bridge. Historical hotels still host the spirits of guests who died, sometimes by their own hand. Opera houses and ballrooms tell a happier story: the imprints left by decades of entertainment and energy can be felt even now. These sites, and many others, are vividly described, and entries include locations and contact information. Informative sections cover what a ghost is, how it can manifest, ideal ghost sighting conditions, and types of imprints. Techniques included are preliminary historical research, physical and mental preparation, and the two primary schools of ghost hunting: the technical and psychic methods. The technical method section covers equipment use and suggestions, and the psychic method section discusses using your intuition and sensitivity to sense phenomena. Helpful appendixes include a sighting report form; suggested readings, videos, and websites; a list of tours and events; and a collection of area museums and historical societies.

Handsome illustrations of more than two hundred bridges, including Columbia River Scenic Highway bridges, covered bridges, and magnificent coastal bridges.

The Rough Guides Snapshot USA: The Pacific Northwest is the ultimate travel guide to the scenic states of Washington and Oregon. It leads you through the region with reliable information and comprehensive coverage of all the sights and attractions, from Portland's food-truck scene and Seattle's lively Pike Place Market to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland and the peaks of Mount Rainier. Detailed maps and up-to-date listings pinpoint the best cafés, restaurants, hotels, shops, bars and nightlife, ensuring you make the most of your trip, whether passing through, or staying for the weekend or longer. The Rough Guides Snapshot USA: The Pacific Northwestcovers the states of Washington and Oregon. Also included is the Basics section from the Rough Guide to The USA, with all the practical information you need for travelling in and around The Pacific Northwest, including transport, accommodation, food and drink, festivals, sports and other essentials. Also published as part of the Rough Guide to The USA. The Rough Guides Snapshot USA: The Pacific Northwest is equivalent to 78 printed pages.

More than 650 landmarks are covered, ranging from ancient monuments such as Stonehenge, to contemporary engineering feats such as the World Trade Center in New York City. The concisely-written entries describe when the landmark was built, who built it, why it was built, its dimensions, how it was constructed, and any problems encountered during construction. Additional features include: numerous photographs; biographies of important builders and designers; glossary; chronology of dates in civil engineering from 3000 BC to the present; listings of tallest buildings, longest bridges, and highest dams, and a geographical index which locates the structures by country.

Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency and magnitude of coastal storms around the globe, and the anticipated rise of sea levels will have enormous impact on fragile and vulnerable coastal regions. In the U.S., more than 50% of the population inhabits coastal areas. In Planning for Coastal Resilience, Tim Beatley argues that, in the face of such threats, all future coastal planning and management must reflect a commitment to the concept of resilience. In this timely book, he writes that coastal resilience must become the primary design and planning principle to guide all future development and all future infrastructure decisions. Resilience, Beatley explains, is a profoundly new way of viewing coastal infrastructure—an approach that values smaller, decentralized kinds of energy, water, and transport more suited to the serious physical conditions coastal communities will likely face. Implicit in the notion is an emphasis on taking steps to build adaptive capacity, to be ready ahead of a crisis or disaster. It is anticipatory, conscious, and intentional in its outlook. After defining and explaining coastal resilience, Beatley focuses on what it means in practice. Resilience goes beyond reactive steps to prevent or handle a disaster. It takes a holistic approach to what makes a community resilient, including such factors as social capital and sense of place. Beatley provides case studies of five U.S. coastal communities, and “resilience profiles” of six North American communities, to suggest best practices and to propose guidelines for increasing resilience in threatened communities.