Shanghai Tunnels...

Okay, so I have this "thing" that I do when the opportunity presents itself. It's kinda' weird, I suppose. But it's cool, I think, in its own little way.
 

I'm a big fan of the television show "Ghost Adventures" on Travel Channel. So, whenever I get the chance, I like to visit sites that they've investigated on their show. I know, I told you. It's weird.
 

In the past, I've visited Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, New York. I've walked the terrepleins of the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida. I've also visited the Hotel Cosmopolitan in Old Town, San Diego many times.
 

So, I decided that, before I left Portland, I would visit yet another of what I refer to as a "GAS", or "Ghost Adventures Site".
 

Yeah, I know. It doesn't get any less weird.
 

I decided to grab the 5D and, after work, head down to what's known as the "Shanghai Tunnels", also known as the Portland Underground.
 

The term "to Shanghai" refers to the practice of conscripting men as sailors by coercive techniques. This often included simply grabbing drunk men and taking them into the tunnels below the city. The tunnels were originally used to move goods from one place to another, within the city, in such a way as to avoid streetcars and trains.
 

In the underground, these kidnapped, or "Shanghaied", men would sober up and be held until a ship in need of more crew was ready to get underway. They would then be transferred to the ships, again while underground, to those ships, and forced to go to sea. This practice was actually quite common on US merchant ships until as late as 1915.
 

So, why call it "Shanghai"? Well, the most commonly accepted theory is that China, particularly the port of Shanghai, was the destination for many of the ships manned with, let's say, "less than willing" crew members.

 

 

So, on Friday night, a small group of us met with a member of the Cascade Geographic Society, who would be conducting the tour. The Cascade Geographic Society is the only group permitted to give regular tours of the Portland Underground. We met at Hobo's Restaurant on NW 3rd Avenue and, after a brief, yet informative talk about what to expect, we were on our way.

Nita, who was our tour guide, gave a brief, yet informative, presentation about the tunnels before the tour got underway...

 

The tunnels weren't quite what I expected but, to be fair, this is an active excavation, and it's not like there are armies of people lining up to do the work. The tour area covers a relatively small area. It's no bigger than the block of building above, and is bordered by NW 3rd and NW 2nd Avenues, and NW Davis and NW Couch Streets to the north and south.

 

 

We walked from the courtyard, through a small breezeway, and out onto NW Davis Street. We made a left onto NW 3rd Avenue and stopped in front of Hobo's. A very non-descript set of doors, set into the concrete, led us into the tunnels:

The breezeway leading from the courtyard...

The stairway leading into the Shanghai Tunnels...

The group makes its way underground...

Once we got into the tunnels, the flashlights came on. While there was some dim overhead lighting, it was all very ow wattage. Thankfully, flash photography was permissible. Otherwise, I may not have come away with anything.

Looking back towards the entrance to the tunnels...

Our first stop was at what used to be a holding cell. Right next to it was an honest to goodness opium den:

What used to be a holding cell. Much of the four walled structure is gone now...

The opium den...

We then passed through a crude opening in a brick wall, which led us into the main portion of the Shanghai Tunnels:

The locked door leading to the main part of the tunnels...

One of several crudely formed portals throughout the tunnels...

Those who would snatch unwitting would-be sailors, known as "crimps", had a bit of a problem with some of their captives escaping. The doors which held them were simple wood and tin and, once a man was sobered up, he could easily kick his was out of this holding cell. The crimps then began not only taking boots and shoes, but they would also strew broken glass around the floor:

Boots and shoes found during the excavation...

As we made our way deeper into the tunnels, we were told stories of visitors who'd had their camera batteries die, their hair pulled or their clothes tugged on while passing through the tunnels. Hey, I'm always down for a good ghost story. But I had no such luck on this visit. My clothes remained unaccosted, and my camera batteries didn't inexplicably drain.

It's a little hard to imagine what it must have been like to be out drinking and having a good time with your buddies one minute, and then be locked up in a holding cell, beneath the bar you were just in, the next.

One of the holding cells in the tunnels...

This cigar store Indian statue was once wrapped up in blankets and sold by 
Joseph "Bunko" Kelly to a ship's captain as an able-bodied crewman...

A stuffed dummy lies on a mattress, below a trap door from the bar above. This is how men were taken...

Joseph "Bunko" Kelly. By his own estimation, he Shanghaied some 2,000 men between 1879 and 1894...

 

For me, one of the most astonishing things was to learn that no one, no even ol' "Bunko" Kelly, ever went to prison, or was even arrested, for "crimping". The practice was actually legal at the time. "Bunko" got himself charged with murder, though, and ended up a guest of the State at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem.   As I mentioned, the Shanghai Tunnels in Portland's Old North End is an ongoing excavation, with work continuing on an ongoing basis. As they continue to dig, they continue to find artifacts, and they're all too willing to put these on display:   Artifacts found during the excavation of the Shanghai Tunnels...   If you go to Shanghai Tunnels with the expectation of encountering a ghost, well, you're probably going to be disappointed. There may be some there, and there may not. But what you will get is a glimpse into a past that Portland, once known as the "Shanghai Capital of The World", is not at all proud of.   It's a part of Portland's history, though, and that's reason enough to check it out...