The term “shanghaiing” refers to the kidnapping and illegal sale of men and women. From approximately 1850 to 1941, corrupt middlemen captured men to sell them off to captains in need of crewmen, and kidnapped women to sell them into sex trade. The Portland Underground was intentionally purposed for moving goods easily and swiftly to and from boats on the Willamette River–but as Portland myths tell us–it eventually it became the main outlet of awful shanghai practices. If you have ever heard Portland be called “The Forbidden City of The West,” now you know why. Although the use of these tunnels under Portland were atrocious and creepy, they are an amazing part of the city’s history.
The Shanghai Tunnels are comprised of dark passages linking the central downtown area of Portland to Portland’s Old Town (Chinatown).
Flickr/Corey Templeton
Victims were either drugged or knocked out to be drug through the trapdoors (a.k.a. deadfalls) to be locked up and held captive until they were eventually sold into slavery.
Yelp/Maneet K.
Pictured here is an opium den, where people would go when they were strung out.
Flickr/Erin
During the Prohibition, bars would open their business up underground to make it easier for victims of the Shanghai Tunnels to be kidnapped.
Flickr/Keary O.
It is said that about 3,000 people a year were moved through these tunnels.
Flickr/Amber J.
It’s horrible to think that these theories about the tunnels under Portland could have been true so long ago. The fact that someone designed tunnels like this for sufficient movement of goods is pretty amazing, but outrageous that they could have been used for something so awful.
Flickr/Corey Templeton
Yelp/Maneet K.
Flickr/Erin
Flickr/Keary O.
Flickr/Amber J.
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