Shanghai tunnels

{{Short description|Tunnel system in Portland, US}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} thumb|right|Part of the tunnels

The '''Old Portland Underground''', better known locally as the '''Shanghai tunnels''', is a group of passages in Portland, Oregon, United States, mainly underneath the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood and connecting to the main business section. The tunnels connected the basements of many hotels and taverns to the waterfront of the Willamette River. They were built to move goods from the ships docked on the Willamette to the basement storage areas, allowing businesses to avoid streetcar and train traffic on the streets when delivering their goods.

The newspapers of the 19th century document tunnels and secret passages underground. Organized crime was the center of many of these stories.<ref>Portland historian Barney Blalock, 2014 book, ''The Oregon Shanghaiers''</ref><ref>Portland historian Barney Blalock's [http://portlandwaterfront.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-last-word-on-shanghai-tunnels.html blog post on the subject]</ref> However, many of the more colorful stories claimed for the underground are highly dubious.<ref name=controversy /> Historians have stated that although the tunnels exist and shanghaiing was often practiced in Portland, as elsewhere, there is no evidence that the tunnels were used for this.<ref name=controversy>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071012113433/http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews%2F1191466510318550.xml&coll=7 "Portland's buried truth"] ''The Oregonian'' Helen Jung, 2007, Last accessed November 7, 2008</ref>

In his book ''The Oregon Shanghaiers'', Portland historian Barney Blalock traces the notion that the tunnels were used to shanghai sailors to a series of apocryphal stories that appeared in the newspaper ''The Oregonian'' in 1962, and the subsequent popularity of "Shanghai tunnel" tours that began in the 1970s. He says the tours were popular but misled visitors.<ref>''The Oregon Shanghaiers: Columbia River Crimping from Astoria to Portland'' by Barney Blalock {{ISBN|1626194300}}</ref>

In 1990, local businessman Bill Naito was quoted in ''The Oregonian'' as saying that the tunnels are underneath "Northwest Couch, Davis and Everett streets".<ref>Pickett, Nelson. "Free Tours of Oldtown Set to Start." ''The Oregonian'' December 1, 1990, 4 ed., sec. C: 07. America's Newspapers. NewsBank. Multnomah County Library, Portland. 30 Apr. 2008. Keyword: Shanghai tunnels.</ref>

The "Shanghai tunnels" are referenced many times in ''Grimm''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Turnquist |first1=Kristi |title='Grimm' brings back a long-absent character -- and is Wu getting wolfy? |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/tv/2016/04/grimm_brings_back_a_long-absen.html |website=Oregon Live |date=16 April 2016 |publisher=The Oregonian |access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Oregon}} * Vault lights, tunnel illumination * Seattle Underground

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite web |last1=Engeman |first1=Richard |title=Shanghaiing in Portland and the Shanghai Tunnels Myth |url=https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/shanghai_tunnels_myth/ |website=Oregon Encyclopedia |publisher=Oregon Historical Society |date=n.d.}} * {{cite news |last1=Rogoway |first1=Mike |title=The truth about Portland's 'Shanghai tunnels' |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2017/01/the_truth_about_portlands_shan.html |work=The Oregonian |date=11 January 2017}}

==External links== *[http://www.shanghaitunnels.org/ Cascade Geographic Society], offers tours of the basements near the tunnels.

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Category:Geography of Portland, Oregon Category:History of Portland, Oregon Category:Northwest Portland, Oregon Category:Old Town Chinatown Category:Underground cities Category:Tourist attractions in Portland, Oregon