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Look at photos and hear tales from an urban explorer capturing a few of the many ghost towns in Oregon.

According to some historians, Oregon has the most ghost towns of any state at about 200 sites. Since some of those former communities are described as "remnants," I think it would be pretty difficult if not impossible to visit them all. But as an urban explorer, I am certainly trying. About 50% of the hobby is photography, so in this program, I will be sharing some of my favorite shots as well as a little info about the locations, without actually giving the locations. That's because the other 50% of the hobby is gatekeeping. Not with the express goal of keeping people from exploring all together, but just to keep the numbers down to people who actually want to put in the literal footwork of finding these "bandos". Too many people = "No Trespassing" signs, and we're not fans of those. So if you don't want to drive aimlessly for hours in the hopes of spotting something you read about in a private group on Facebook but would still like to peek into an abandoned homestead from the 1860's, join me.

Ash Knotts started her career in B&E (breaking and entering) at the tender age of 16, when her dad helped her break into a cemetery at midnight in the pursuit of a local secret society. From there, she pursued abandoned farmsteads in her native Ohio and, eventually, entire ghost towns when she relocated to Oregon. Ash was asked by Fonthill Media to write a novella/photography book about her experiences exploring ghost towns in 2019. With an excuse to travel and a lot of creative license, she penned Abandoned Oregon: Ghost Towns of the Painted Hills and Beyond. She currently lives in Portland, Or, where she divides her time between restoring vintage furniture and clothes, building terrariums, writing scripts for horror movies with friends, and exploring the wild west with her elderly dog, Sooki.

Abandoned Oregon at DPL https://dpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S94C1850800

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