Portland Shanghai Tunnels

There are few prospects more terrifying than that of being kidnapped, never to see one’s family and home again. This heinous crime has been practiced for thousands of years, and, unfortunately, is still practiced all over the world today. There may be many reasons why kidnappers do what they do, and profit is at the top of that list. 

Stories are in circulation that Portland, Oregon, USA, was at one time a major hub for kidnapping unaware individuals for duty on the high seas, also known as shanghaiing. Shanghaiing is kidnapping coupled with forced servitude aboard a ship. It was practiced in eras when unskilled sailors were needed for furling and unfurling a ship’s sails. Port cities like London, England, Charleston, South Carolina, San Francisco, California, and Portland, Oregon were among the well-known centers for shanghaiing. With the advent of steamships, however, the need for large quantities of unskilled sailors decreased, thus ending the general practice of shanghaiing. 

Beneath the streets of Portland, there are dark, mysterious tunnels that were built in the 1800s to provide accessways for businesses to transport their goods to and from ships docked at the Willamette River. The tunnels were vast and complex. Generally, historians believe the tunnels were solely used for the purpose of transporting goods.

In the 1960s, though, articles appeared in local newspapers claiming that the tunnels had been used in the 1800s for other purposes. Smuggling, prostitution, mob business, intrigue, and shanghaiing were amongst the more nefarious activities that were allegedly conducted in the dark passages.

It was said—and is still reported to this day by Portland tour guides—that unsuspecting, drunken tavern patrons were whisked away into the tunnels through secret access points. Once inside the passageways, they were taken through the labyrinth to the docks where they were put aboard a waiting vessel for a forced stint aboard a ship.

Historians doubt the veracity of these claims, basing their doubt on the lack of physical evidence. Portland tour guides love to peddle these stories, though, and it is easy for tourists to imagine sinister things happening in the darkness. Since Portland was known to be a shanghaiing city, it is quite possible that the activity did happen with the aid of the subterranean halls. 

Regardless, though, the tunnel’s existence, combined with anecdotal stories of shanghaiing, adds a palpable mystery to Portland’s tunnels. And everyone loves a good mystery.