Carole MacRobert Steele was born in Portland, Oregon in 1948, but lived the majority of her life in California until moving to southern Oregon in 2003 when her husband retired.
In 1976 Carole began collecting and selling vintage postcards. She subscribed to the hobby’s monthly periodical Barr’s Postcard News. Pursuing her love of writing, she wrote thirty-six articles for that publication on subjects ranging from political figures to roadside attractions; all with regard to images on postcards. She owned the postcards to back up every article! For the past twenty-five years she has been selling vintage postcards, books, and collectibles on Ebay.
Because Carole had amassed hundreds of postcards for over forty years, she knew she had enough material to write local pictorial history books using her postcard images. In 2003 she self-published her first book Pictorial History of Mono Hot Springs, California.
Documenting her favorite places seemed to follow a pattern with the release of her second book: Phoebe’s House~A Hearst Legacy~A Pictorial History of Hacienda Del Poza De Verona, Castlewood Country Club, Old Hearst Ranch ~ Pleasanton, California. (Luminare Press 2016).
Carole’s current pictorial history book is her largest writing endeavor: A Pictorial History of Highway 99~The Scenic Route…Redding, California to Portland, Oregon (Luminare Press 2021).
Carole enjoys genealogy, gardening, antiquing, reading non-fiction, and visiting her three grandchildren. She hopes to get back to oil painting someday. Through her proven bloodlines, she qualified for membership in the Mayflower Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Jamestown Society. I guess you could say “History Is In Her Blood” !! She is also a member of several historical societies.
Spanning from the early 1900s through the 1960’s, this nostalgic ride through Northern California and Oregon is one of the most highly visual histories ever written on U. S. Highway 99.
Vintage postcard images depict how the crudely constructed Pacific Highway transitioned into the modern and paved U. S. Highway 99, only to be mostly abandoned when the new interstate opened.
Traversing a myriad of landscapes, Highway 99 meanders through quaint towns and big cities, past towering pines and snow-capped mountains as mighty rivers gush through steep rugged canyons toward the fertile valleys of Oregon.
Adding to the grandeur of this scenic route are iconic landmarks such as Mt. Shasta, Mt. McLoughlin, and Mt. Hood.
Mostly abandoned stretches of the old highway reveal the hauntingly sad remains of deserted motels, gas stations, and tourist spots, their images lovingly preserved.
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