Page 22 - Southern Oregon Magazine Fall 2021
P. 22
buzz | tidbits
BOOK PICKS
B O O K P I CK S
s fall leans toward winter, we offer several book options covering topics from post-WWII
AEngland (fiction), to the Rogue Valley’s smoke-filled summers (fiction), to Jackson County’s
lost towns (non-fiction), to Highway 99 seen through postcards (non-fiction). Pour a glass or a cup,
then sit back and enjoy!
ABANDONED JACKSON A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF
COUNTY-TOWNS LOST TO HIGHWAY 99: THE SCENIC
TIME ROUTE—
BY MARGARET LAPLANTE REDDING, CALIFORNIA TO
PORTLAND, OREGON
ackson County BY CAROLE MACROBERT STEELE
Jsprang to life when
gold was discovered in
the early 1850s, and
seemingly overnight, panning from the early 1900s through the
towns began to appear. S1960s, this nostalgic ride through Northern
But when the last of California and Oregon is one of the most highly
the gold disappeared, visual histories written on U.S. Highway 99.
some towns were Vintage postcard images depict how the crudely
LOCAL GOLFER abandoned. Long gone constructed Pacific Highway transitioned into
the modern and paved U.S. Highway 99, only to
are the stagecoaches,
SECURES HIS PGA post offices, shops, saloons, quaint churches, be mostly abandoned when the new interstate
and one-room schoolhouses. Today, all that
opened. Traversing myriad landscapes, Highway
AWARDS DYLAN WU is an abandoned cemetery, long overgrown cities, past towering pines and snow-capped
TOUR CARD
remains of some of these once bustling towns
99 meanders through quaint towns and big
with weeds. For others there is just a sign, yet
mountains as mighty rivers gush through steep
rugged canyons toward the fertile valleys of
for others, there’s nothing left to show that
families once lived and worked there. Four
Oregon. Adding to the grandeur of this scenic
n July 25, 25-year-
are under lakes. One of the lost towns was
route are iconic landmarks such as Mt. Shasta,
Oold Medford native,
Dylan Wu secured his first
during World War II. Others changed their
doned stretches of the old highway reveal the
hauntingly sad remains of deserted motels, gas
names, sometimes more than once.
Korn Ferry Tour title at taken over by the United States government Mt. McLoughlin, and Mt. Hood. Mostly aban-
the Price Cutter Charity stations, and tourist spots, their images lovingly
Championship presented by Take a step back in time and enjoy the stories preserved. You will learn about travelers turn-
Dr Pepper. With the win, and photographs of towns such as Antelope, ing from tent camping to cozy motels, and why
Wu moved up to No. 14 on the Antioch, Uniontown, Steamboat, Log Town, Mom & Pop roadside businesses became a big
Korn Ferry Tour Points List and Copper, Laurelhurst, McLeod, Kanaka Flats, part of the landscape. The book contains more
secured his first PGA TOUR card Brownsboro, Missouri Flat, Sterlingville, than 600 rare images.
for 2021-22. Buncom, Table Rock City, Gasburg,
Dardanelles, Beagle, Woodville, Watkins, Fond childhood memories of road trips from
The win came a month after Tolo, and Rock Point. The book includes 140 California to Oregon motivated Steele to write
switching caddies to his younger historic photographs, many from a private this history. The images are from her vast per-
brother, Jeremy Wu. Since the collection, many never seen before. sonal collection, from forty years of collecting
change, Dylan has finished top- and selling antique scenic postcards. She has also
25 in three out of four events, Abandoned Jackson County-Towns Lost to Time is written Pictorial History of Mono Hot Springs,
including this victory. Earlier available at America Through Time, Amazon, California and Phoebe's House: A Hearst Legacy.
in the year, Wu competed in his and local bookstores.
first major, the 2021 U.S. Open, Available at local booksellers and online sites.
where he finished T31. Grizzly1000@gmail.com
20 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | fall 2021
