Portland in Three Centuries: The Place and the People

by Carl Abbott

Abbott (urban studies and planning, Portland State U.) has written extensively about Portland, Oregon and other cities in western North America. Here he replaces his brief 1985 history, long out of print, with one that draws on another generation of research and writing, and extends across a second centennial divide. His topics include Stumptown, growing up and settling down, the [1905 World] Fair and the city, the [Second World] War and after, and Portland looks forward. He includes old and new photographs and other illustrations, all in black and white. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Genres: History, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2011

Reviews

[Alex Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since moving to Portland I’ve read a few histories of the city and this one is the best, although I’m maybe realizing stumptown’s history is simply not that interesting.
Portland has mostly been run by corrupt, racist mountebanks looking to feather their own nests, like most cities, but none of them seemed to have the dramatic flair of, say, Peter Minuit, let alone a Marion Barry or a Budd Dwyer.

[Erik]

Solid chronology of Portland and its place in the Northwest, beginning in the 1800s onwards. I read the second addition who’s last chapter added new details on the climate of the 2010s and beginning of 2020s after the pandemic and social unrest, for example. If you want to know how this town developed, its unique aspects, positives and negatives with pretty objective coverage, this does a good job.

[Kaitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

We moved to Portland 3 weeks ago so I thought I would educate myself about where we now live. I thought this was a nice compact history, though as these often go it was so detailed for the 1800-1940s and then sped through the rest of the more recent decades. I did read an updated version that did have a little bit about the 2020s. However, 1 glaring omission: what about the Mount St. Helens eruption?!

[Lori Delman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An honor to hear Carl Abbott discuss his book. Historian and “urbanist”, Carl was a professor in PSU’s Urban Planning program. Portlanders should read this book to understand the history of Portland neighborhoods. It isn’t a dense read- a nice overview of how/ why Portland evolved into the city we know today.

[Karry · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're interested in urban history or Portland, Oregon this is the book for you. Abbott writes well and presents the city of Portland clearly and with a lot of interesting facts about not just the history but also the people who influenced the history of the city. This was a fine read. I would highly recommend it to my fellow readers.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently moved to Portland. Having been very attached to the history of my hometown of Buffalo, NY, I felt an obligation to familiarize myself with the history of my new city. This book gave me just the sort of concise overview I was looking for.

[Morgan Olsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I love history, and I love dry books about history. But this book was written in such a bizarre, rambling way that I couldn’t connect the dots from one paragraph to the next. And, for being about a very niche historic topic, it felt oddly surface level.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best general survey of Portland history currently available. Excellent essay at the end of th book on additional resources for researching Portland's history.

[Alex Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a solid survey of Portland history.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, easy-to-read overview of Portland’s history.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative book about my home town, always an interest of mine - especially the past, that equation that brings us to the present moment: the sum of all parts.

Carl Abbott provides a well-organized chronological look at the piece of earth we now call Portland, situated in the county of Multnomah (as in the territory in which the Multnomah native peoples lived prior to the take over by incoming mixed populations), in the state of Oregon.

It is fascinating to drive over land, through communities and compare writings, photographs, and changes over hundreds of years. The land hangs in, suffers us to stay (mostly) and in most cases simply carries on, its myriad citizens (human and animal) reshaping it with every wave of migration, settlement, abandonment and then recycle. We worry about our own times, and all the details of them, and yet the land underneath us is as ancient as ancient is. Blows my mind.

Robust endpapers referred me to Jewel Lansing's book on the same topic, so more to come.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like knowing more about the place I live. Succinct summary of major events and fun extra tidbits.

[Alan Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well paced history of a city I now call home.

[Janet]

I thoroughly enjoyed this history of Portland. He takes if from who was living on (what became) Sauvie Island before Europeans showed up to the present day in a slim book. It's a fast read, yet he still manages to work in a lot that I didn't know. There are Wobblies, the KKK, artists, longshoremen and immigrants. it's interesting seeing the city's character emerge. I knew bits and pieces about Portland's history, but this put it into context and added more detail. He's managed to work in the Lovejoy columns, and my favorite Oregonian, Marie Equi. Sadly, I guess there wasn't room for the story of her horsewhipping a man in The Dalles that refused the promised raise to her lover, the school marm.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done local history. It fills in a lot of gaps in what I've
seen since I moved to Oregon. I like knowing Sandy Blvd, outside my door,
was already on the map in 1852 in recognizable shape. I came too late to
see Tom McCall in action, but like his style as shown in comments about
the need to control the spread of the city for second homes for the two-home
families--or, as he called them, "grasping wastrels of the land." He apparently
had a way with words, or a good speech-writer, or both.

[Georgene]

Learned a great deal about my home town.