42,000 words plus at this point. Still doing a few interviews of people I have spoken with earlier. Got to get my facts right. I've tweaked the organization at bit. The story now has five main parts:
BOOK I--NW THIRTEENTH AVENUE; BOOK II--SHIFTING POLITICS AND LEADERSHIP; BOOK III--NEIGHBORHOOD BUILDING; BOOK IV--A CULTURED PEARL; and BOOK V--NOW
The opening words continue to shift...here the beginning at this point:
The Pioneers
HE USED TO STROLL ALONG NW 13th AVENUE between Kearney and Davis Streets, but with intent. What he saw sparked his imagination. Back in the late 1970s and early 80s his eyes were drawn to the historic stock of old warehouses that lined that street. Most of the old manufacturing uses were long gone. A few businesses remained. But many of the structures were vacant except for maybe a single floor or two.
Back then NW 13th was a rutted gravel street. A railroad spur track defined the center of the road. During the day and even at night trains rumbled through the district bringing grain and other materials to the Blitz Brewery. Later boxcars filled with kegs and cases of beer rolled out of the plant in route to out-of-state distributors. If you lived in Portland you can visit the tasting room. Here and there box trucks and a few cars butted up to surrounding warehouses walls and loading docks.