The young girl peers at the camera lens. She appears to be in her early to mid-teens.
Even though the photograph is in black and white, it’s easy to see a bright sparkle in her eyes.
She, like hundreds of others, helped form Sweet Home and author/historian Martha Steinbacher has preserved the young girl’s place in local history.
In conjunction with Arcadia Publishing of Chicago, Ill., Steinbacher spent six months gathering more than 200 photographs for a book called “Sweet Home, Oregon…A New Life, A New Land.”
The first copies of the book have been released and Steinbacher said sales are doing well.
“The publishing company contacted me before Christmas and asked if I was interested in taking this on,” said Steinbacher, who has already published two books about local history. “They said they hadn’t done any books about the Pacific Northwest. Would I be interested? I thought about it for a while and said yes.”
Steinbacher spent several hours each day for months pouring through the thousands of old photos housed at the East Linn Museum.
The book is divided into seven chapters including: mining and logging, roads and transportation, schools and churches, parades, games and parks, families and people, harvesting and businesses, saloons, hotels and houses.
Steinbacher said the trick was finding names of those in the photos and then putting those names into context as to who they were and if their relatives remain in the area.
Mysteries and roadblocks popped up as well, such as where Highway 54 was located and what type of road it was. Steinbacher put several persons to work researching that tidbit.
“The publishing company was very exacting in what they wanted from us,” Steinbacher said. “They sent us numerous pamphlets and information about how everything was to be done including size and quality of photos.”
The book, Steinbacher said, is an exciting opportunity to promote the community.
“It actually was printed in England,” Steinbacher said. “Copies are to be printed in several languages and distributed in Europe. There is a large number of people there who want to visit the Pacific Northwest.”
In spite of the hard work it required, Steinbacher said she is pleased with the book.
“It was a great experience,” she said. “I had so much help from Gail Gregory and Glenda Hopkins on this.”
Steinbacher said reaction from the public has been positive.
Copies are available for $19.99 at the East Linn Museum and Hometown Drugs in Sweet Home. They are also on sale at the Linn County Historical Museum in Brownsville, the book Bin in Albany and Corvallis, the Odyssey Book Shop in Lebanon, Books Plus in Foster and all Waldenbooks, Borders and Barnes and Noble Stores.
Arcadia recently published its 1,700th book. Publisher’s Weekly named it one of the top 10 fastest growing small publishers in the country. It specializes in local/regional history with books on towns and cities.
Steinbacher’s other books include “In the Beginning” and “Yesterday’s Memories.” She served as director of the East Linn Museum for 20 years and was treasurer of the Oregon Catholic Historical Society for 12 years.
She has already begun research on another book that will focus on area pioneer women.
Persons with photos or other information on the subject can contact Mrs. Steinbacher at 367-4907.ll