Portland Shanghai Tunnels

Portland has been referred to as the Forbidden City of the West due to the practice of shanghaiing, the capture and illegal sale of able-bodied men to sea captains in need of crew members. Some men were sold for as little as $50 a head. Shanghaiing was reference to the ships’ travel to Asia. According to both legend and data men were captured in Portland from 1850-1941. It happened other places on the West too in places such as San Fransisco, supposedly the worst during Prohibition as many illegal and illicit practices escalated in the production and consumption of alcohol. 

 

Portland Underground, also known as the Shanghai Tunnels links Portland’s Old Town (or Chinatown) with the central area in Portland. Many basements of bars and hotels had tunnels linking them to the Willamette River so that they could move shipments from sea to shore quickly and directly. These tunnels still exist today. 

 

And since the 1850s stories of shanghaiing have prevailed in the city, men and women were warned to be careful not to be drugged or kidnapped and sold off. Men were sold for labor on ships and women were used as prostitutes.  Theories stipulate that individuals were drugged and kidnapped while intoxicated then dropped or dragged into tunnels through trapdoors called deadfalls. Once in the ships they were help in cells until they were shipped off as laborers.  Estimates are as high as 1,500 people a year. 

 

While historians are positive shanghaiing happened in Portland, many are critical of the idea the Portland underground was involved. No historical documents exist to prove to the practice, but then why would someone have documented something like that?

 

Rumors of hauntings and ghostly activity in the tunnels are common. You can visit the Shanghai Tunnels with a tour group.