A Look at the Pacific Northwest Through the Lens of the 1970s Documerica Project

In the early 1970s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency created a photo project called Documerica. Photographers were sent across the country to document environmental issues and the daily lives of Americans. In the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, they captured a region undergoing significant change.

A major event affecting the area was the 1973 energy crisis. The Documerica photographers recorded its direct impact on residents and businesses. Gas stations frequently ran out of fuel, leading to long lines of cars waiting for a chance to fill up. Hand-written signs announcing “No Gas” became a common sight at service stations in cities like Portland and Seattle. The crisis altered daily routines and created a sense of frustration throughout the region.

In Washington, the city of Spokane was preparing for a global event. It was building the site for Expo ’74, a World’s Fair with an environmental theme. Photographers documented the massive construction project. They captured images of industrial areas and railroad yards being cleared to make way for the fairgrounds. These photographs show the urban landscape in the middle of a large-scale transformation, as the city prepared to present itself on the world stage.

#1 Larrabee State Park, near Bellingham, Washington, 1973.

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#2 Looking east along Alaska’s Glen Highway, toward Mount Drum at the intersection of the highway and the under-construction Trans-Alaska Pipeline, 1974.

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#3 Alki Beach on Puget Sound, a favorite resort for residents of Seattle, 1973.

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#4 The city of Seattle and Interstate Highway 5, with Elliott Bay at right, 1973.

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#5 At the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, 1973.

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#6 Threshing at Pearson Field, Vancouver, Washington, with the Goodyear Blimp in the background, 1973.

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#7 Downtown Spokane, Washington, construction on the future site of Expo ’74, on the Spokane River, 1973.

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#8 Left: Demolition and clearing in downtown Spokane, Washington, one year before opening day of Expo ’74; Right: The Lake Washington Ship Canal system, Seattle, Washington, at sunset, 1973.

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#9 Port of Seattle freight handling equipment and city skyline, with an industrial waste barge under tow to landfill on the Snohomish River estuary.

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#10 Looking down Southwest Broadway in Portland, Oregon, limited lighting during the energy crisis, 1973.

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#11 The gas shortage in the Pacific Northwest during 1973 had even suited businessmen hitch-hiking in places like Beaverton, Oregon.

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#12 A Portland father and son made a sign warning thieves of the possible consequences of stealing gas, 1974.

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#13 “Oregon’s Rain Forest” park, Coos Bay, Oregon, 1972.

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#14 Mount Rainer and Tacoma’s industrial waterfront, Washington State, 1973.

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#15 The town of Cathlamet, Washington, on the Columbia River, 1973.

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#16 A 22-pound silver salmon, caught by a Columbia River sports fisherman, is brought ashore, 1973.

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#17 Weyerhauser paper mills and Reynolds Metal Plant are both located in Longview, Washington, on the Columbia River, 1973.

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#18 Fishing craft crowd the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington, and the Dalles, Oregon, 1973.

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#19 Gas station attendants peer over their “Out of Gas” sign in Portland, one day before the state’s requested Saturday closure of gasoline stations, 1973.

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#20 School children were forced to use their bicycles on field trips during the fuel crisis, 1974.

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#21 “Turn Off the Damn Lights” sticker in a Portland business office, 1973.

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#22 Horses in a pasture in front of the home of Jerri Fisher near Poulsbo, in an area which will be affected by population growth when the Navy’s proposed Trident submarine base is built nearby, 1974.

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#23 Children play in the yard of a Ruston, Washington home, while a Tacoma Smelter stack showers the area with arsenic and lead residue, 1972.

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#24 The Thunderbird Motel, one of many new businesses that have sprung up along the banks of the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon, 1973.

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#25 A caribou crosses a gravel roadway near Mile 0, northern Alaska, 1973.

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#26 Five Mile Camp, a pipeline construction camp named for its location five miles north of the Yukon River, Alaska, 1974.

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#27 The Alaska Ferry M/V Bartlett, heading west across Prince William Sound, Alaska, 1974.

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#28 A view west toward Worthington Glacier and Thompson Pass near Valdez, Alaska, where the pipeline will parallel the Richardson Highway, 1974.

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#29 A sea level view floating in Valdez Arm, looking southeast toward the terminal site of the Alaska Pipeline Route, 1974.

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#30 Photographer Dennis Cowals prepares to take pictures of Dall Sheep as they come down toward the West Lick in the Atigun Gorge, Alaska, 1973.

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