Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on
bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Portland in Three Centuries: The Place and the People
by Carl Abbott
Abbott's history of Portland spans from the first European contact to contemporary times, highlighting the well-known Portland leaders as well as Portland's everyday movers and shakers. It makes an excellent primer on Portland's history and character.
Portland Hill Walks: Twenty Explorations in Parks and Neighborhoods
by Laura O. Foster
Insiders' Guide to Portland, Oregon
by Rachel Dresbeck
In Search of Ancient Oregon: A Geological and Natural History
by Ellen Morris Bishop
The Portland Bridge Book
by Sharon Wood Wortman
This detailed guide to the bridges of Portland and Vancouver blends engineering, poetry, history, and more to provide a complete picture of these striking landmarks.
Willamette Landings: Ghost Towns of the River
by Howard McKinley Cornin
Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country
by Jarold Ramsey, Editor
An Architectural Guidebook to Portland
by Bart King
Oregon's Promise: An Interpretive History
by David Peterson Del Mar
This detailed look into the history of Oregon offers jarring perspectives that clash with traditional stereotypes of the state and its residents. The author focuses on those that have been left out of the prosperous society that the pioneers originally looked to create and gives fresh insight into some historical assumptions that, upon further review, may not have been so true.
Oregon Trail Stories: True Accounts of Life in a Covered Wagon
by David Klausmeyer
Read through the exhilarating narratives from real letters, diaries and more. These first-hand tales of death, love, adversity and exploration offer insight into the lives of the early Western Pioneers.
Up the Capitol Steps: A Woman's March to the Governorship
by Barbara Roberts
A personal and political memoir by one of the few women governors in the history of the United States, Up the Capitol Steps details the successes and the frustrations of a woman's life in politics. Roberts embroils herself in controversial policies and challenging elections on the road to Oregon governorship.
Classic Houses of Portland, Oregon, 1850-1950 (The Classic Houses Series)
by William J. Hawkins, William F. Willingham
Portland: A Food Biography
by Heather Arndt Anderson
A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest
by Robert Ruby and John Brown
Along the Trail with Lewis and Clark
by Barbara Fifer and Vicky Soderberg