Ray Bottenberg's Books

Bridges of Portland

By: Ray Bottenberg

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Portland is an inland port city that rose to importance in the mid-19th century as a major shipping point for the Pacific Northwest's wheat, lumber, and other commodities. The Columbia and Willamette Rivers enabled seagoing vessels to reach the port, but they also presented obstacles to local travel and commerce. Willamette River ferry service was available by 1853, but Portlanders had to wait until 1887 for a bridge. The first was the Morrison Bridge, followed by the Steel Bridge in 1888, the Madison Bridge was in 1891, and the Burnside Bridge in 1894. These bridges helped Portland grow from 17,600 residents in 1880 to 90,000 in 1900. Many more bridges were added as Portland grew during the 20th century, and well-known bridge engineers Ralph Modjeski, J.A.L. Waddell, Gustav Lindenthal, David Steinman, and Joseph Strauss each contributed to Portland's world-class collection of bridges.

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Page Count

134

Publisher

Arcadia Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

0738548766

ISBN 13

9780738548760

Bridges of the Oregon Coast

By: Ray Bottenberg

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Bridges of the Oregon Coast

By: Ray Bottenberg

In the 1920s and 1930s, Oregon's legendary bridge engineer Conde B. McCullough designed a first-rate collection of aesthetic bridges on the Oregon Coast Highway to enhance an already dramatic and beautiful landscape. The six largest of these, at Gold Beach, Newport, Waldport, Florence, Reedsport, and Coos Bay, eliminated the last ferries on the Oregon Coast Highway between the Columbia River and California. McCullough planned to build one bridge each year after completion of the Rogue River Bridge at Gold Beach in 1932, but the tightening grip of the Depression threatened his plans. In 1933, McCullough and his staff worked day and night to finish plans for the remaining five bridges, and in early 1934, the Public Works Administration funded simultaneous construction of them. The combined projects provided approximately 630 jobs, but at least six workers perished during construction. After the bridges were complete, Oregon coast tourism increased by a dramatic 72 percent in the first year.

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132

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Arcadia Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

073854860X

ISBN 13

9780738548609

Grand Coulee Dam

By: Ray Bottenberg

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Grand Coulee Dam

By: Ray Bottenberg

Washington's Grand Coulee is an ice-age channel that carried the Columbia River when ice dammed its main course. Grand Coulee was long recognized as an ideal place to store Columbia River water to irrigate the arid but fertile Columbia Basin. A dam was proposed as early as 1903, but opposition by Spokane private power interests and the cost of the dam delayed design and construction until the administration of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt, a public power advocate, used the Grand Coulee Dam project to help put the unemployed to work. The result was the world's largest man-made structure, and also the world's largest power plant, costing more than $163 million and the lives of at least 72 workers. The dam powered production of aluminum, atomic weapons, shipbuilding, and much more, contributing mightily to America's victory in World War II. Postwar developments provided irrigation for 700,000 acres of farmland.

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132

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Arcadia Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

0738556122

ISBN 13

9780738556123

Vanishing Portland

By: Ray Bottenberg,Jeanna Bottenberg

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Vanishing Portland

By: Ray Bottenberg,Jeanna Bottenberg

Portland at the end of World War II was an international port and a powerhouse of the timber and shipbuilding industries. Oregon's largest city grew and changed in the decades that followed, adding new industries and population. It also endured reductions in shipbuilding capacity, a devastating flood, a declining timber industry, urban renewal, freeway construction, and social change. By the 1990s, a wave of globalization and big-box retail marketing swelled shipping at the city's port and swept away a surprising number of Portland's businesses, which remain in the fond memories of Portlanders. A few of these memorable icons include the stores Meier and Frank, J. K. Gill, Payless Drug, and Sprouse-Reitz; the restaurants Henry Theile, Jolly Joan, Tik Tok, Yaw's Top Notch, and Waddle's; the Jantzen Beach Amusement Park; the Portland Hotel; the Broadway, Fox, and Orpheum theaters; Henry Weinhard's brewery; the Ramblin' Rod television show; and Portland Wrestling.

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