April 24, 2004
(Updated) Architecture As An Entrance To City History
Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.
As happens from time to time, a reader recently sent us some of the books about Portland that we have on our Amazon wishlist, including An Architectural Guidebook to Portland, by Bart King.
Although, at the time this and the other two books sent to us arrived, we were about halfway through E. Kimbark MacColl's The Shaping of a City, we set that one aside to start into the King book -- since every time we're at one Powell's or another, we pick it up and then decide we can't yet drop the cash on it.
While we're at no loss for books to recommend that are more directly about Portland's history (any MacColl book, Early Portland: Stump-Town Triumphant by Eugene E. Snyder, or the more recent Portland: People, Politics, and Power, 1851-2001 by Jewel Lansing), An Architectural Guidebook would serve nicely not only as an informal introduction to historical trivia, but as a strong inspiration for those who might need a little motivation towards a deeper understanding of Portland.
It's not that one learns any sense of the greater flow of Portland history. Rather, it's that the tidbits King drops along the way combine with the fact that the architectual descriptions help to transform the way one walks about the City. And when one finds themselves compelled to look at one's surroundings differently -- even in so simple a way as to glance upward more often, and actually look for a moment at the buildings one passes every day -- one likely would be further compelled to learn still more about the City.
So any readers that are looking for a sideways entrance into their own study of Portland's history might want to start with the seemingly-unlikely An Architectural Guidebook to Portland. And, of course, if you buy it through the link up above, we will (at some point) get a commission from Powell's.
Update
Silly us. We neglected to mention that King also offers a website about this book, which includes material that didn't make it into the book itself.