(Industrial) Central Eastside

photos by Hugh S Donkin & words by Emile Ballarin

My first night in Portland was under Morrison bridge. This was back in the 1990s, when I was driving a Dodge minivan around the United States. It was late when I arrived, after midnight, and I was lost in the warehouse streets so I decided to park curbside and sleep overnight. I was preparing my bed in the back of the minivan when three train hoppers walked by carrying wooden pallets over their heads. “Evenin’, friend,” said the first one.

“Howya going?” I replied.

The other two nodded and kept walking towards the river but the first paused. “Goin’ real good,” he said. “We got plenty of wood for our burn barrel, enough for tonight, and chateau cardboard, too. You’re welcome to join us. We’re just down the block near the tracks. My name is Dander.” I told him I appreciated his kind invite, and he restarted his steps, following his companions.

I wasn’t going to join them. But when I saw the fire lapping above the rim of the barrel, the glow of faces around it, the box wine comradery and knee-slapping laughter, all set within the fog and mist, I realized I was driving around the country precisely for things just like this moment. It wasn’t something I would normally do.

So, I joined them, their fire, and wine.

I’ve never seen a burn barrel in action since, at least not in a public setting. But Portland’s Central Eastside — which is mostly within the Buckmxn neighborhood — is still there. Like everywhere else in Portland, though, it is changing fast. The panel beaters, ball baring makers, secondhand office furniture wholesalers, and the likes are making way for the tech start-ups and PR companies who seek the edge and grime of the industrial vibe.

Photographer Hugh Donkin was asked to wander the Central Eastside and shoot some film. Importantly, I appreciate the last photo in this collection, of a houseless person’s camp under Morrison bridge. It reminds me that my sentimental memories are mostly romanticism, far from the complete picture.