Portland's Forgotten Tunnels & Trapdoors (Shanghai Tunnels Explained)

The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/itshistory07221
The Portland Underground, commonly called the “Shanghai Tunnels,” was a series of bar and hotel basements linked to each other and the Willamette River docks by an intricate system of tunnels under the city streets. “Shanghaiing” refers to the capture and sale of able-bodied men to ship captains needing extra crew. Victims were drugged with opiates, kidnapped while intoxicated, or knocked unconscious. Oral tradition has kept the history of the Portland Underground alive. Today, 150 years after Shanghaiing began you can still view the secrets of the past by visiting the tunnels.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro to The Portland Underground
01:27 A word from Skillshare, the online learning community
03:19 Portland’s original population
04:33 How The gold rush stimulated population growth in Portland
05:38 The discovery of gold in Jackson Creek
06:08 Chinese and Japanese immigrants of the west
07:46 Portland’s secret Shanghai Tunnels
10:55 Portland’s Mobsters, Gangsters and Prohibition
13:17 The haunted Shanghai tunnels
14:28 The end of human trafficking in Portlands tunnels
14:44 Tunnel Renovation and walking tours
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IT’S HISTORY - Weekly tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.
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» CREDIT
Sponsor - Skillshare
Scriptwriter - Camrin Dekis,
Editor - Sebastian Ripoll,
Host - Ryan Socash
» SOURCES
/ itshistory
» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

[@ITSHISTORY]

The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/itshistory07221

[@TheBrowncoat2112]

Oregonians everywhere are cringing every time you pronounce the name of our state “or-gone”.

[@darthmaul216]

And Washingtonians

[@Gwynplaine4]

I swear no one from the east coast knows how to say Oregon

[@cheese-qw9vd]

@@Gwynplaine4 or anyone outside Oregon

[@The-Honeycomb-Hideout]

Or pronouncing it Orygone😜

[@rabidbunnyinc.3084]

Ori-gun

[@rachelkapelkin4488]

Several years ago, my friend and I knew someone who owned a bar in Downtown Portland and they gave us a tour of the basement. We were drunk and exploring and accidentally got locked down there for a few hours. We tried to find our way out and ended up going a few city blocks under the city. We came up inside the WTC and decided to go back because we didn’t want to get in trouble for trespassing. By the time we got back to the bar the door was unlocked but everyone in the bar was gone so we slept on some couches. The morning crew was pretty surprised to see us. The creepiest things we saw: doors that lead to dark open spaces with dirt floors and brick walls, and random piles of clothes and old shoes. No ghosts as far as I remember.

[@classactkirk]

Awesome

[@delusionnnnn]

No ghosts because ghosts don't exist.

[@joshuagoff7878]

@@delusionnnnn hey i know a friend that knows a guy that saw one there real ...

[@delusionnnnn]

@@joshuagoff7878 Fortunately for your friend's friend's friend's friend, there are countless poorly-sourced books he can buy where people re-write the same "historical" ghost stories without researching the original claims, and he can buy them and believe he's "done the research".

[@bettyschneider5268]

@@delusionnnnn Really! Lol 😂 👻👻👻👻👻🏚🏙🏘🏗🗿🦉🦇

[@AceFurley]

I used to drive an elderly friend in her 90's (she was born a little after the turn of the century) all around oldtown/downtown, and she'd tell me stories of her youthful adventures: drinking and gambling during prohibition in chinese gambling dens/etc. The police would call a 1/2 hour in advance to warn about a raid, everyone would hide in the basement caves (3rd SW Burnside approx.), the police would arrive, collect their payout, then everyone goes back upstairs to resume the debauchery! (I think she even smoked opium occasionally- she had an old opium pipe- but she never brought the subject up)

[@saya5882]

The wheel of history is moving forward, maybe it is not what we imagined.🙂

[@MillennialOutlawStudios]

I believe there is much of our history that is publicly forgotten due to the fact that we no longer pass it down through word of mouth. We rely on "authority" to educate and inform us. How much has been omitted from public memory.

[@glennlbs9931]

Born and raised in portland. I've explored many of the tunnels and basements of portland in my early years. I've never feared going into any "haunted" areas and for most part walked the tunnels with a smile but there was once I had ever fear hit me like I was in quicksand and ran out the tunnel as fast as I could. Felt like I was drunk and was in a dream where you can't run away. My friend and I where first and last to see that tunnel before tore the building down.

[@willattwood8303]

Me too it was creepy but I never saw anything strange as I also group in Portland spent a lot of time downtown and managed to car wash on 2nd and Oak and in those days I stayed awake a lot and I've tripped around down there in the tunnels used to be you could access the tunnels from the tunnel going under front Avenue there was a gate going north you could squeeze between it even though it was locked can the tunnels went clear up to Broadway as far as I know because the purple tiles that you see on the ground occasionally Uptown are skylights to lights tunnels it has a purple glow to it it's really creepy

[@mickbenton8196]

I've been down the Shanghai tunnels in Portland several times. Very eerie experience. They would take the boots off their victims and spread broken glass all over the floor. If the victim did escape they wouldn't make it very far because of the painful shards of glass and trail of blood. I was lucky to do the tour with a private group, we all knew each other, friends out on a Saturday night. There was the usual goofing around at first but it definitely changed. I did feel what felt like someone running their finger gently down my arm, the closet person to me couldn't have done it. Grim place but super fascinating all the same.

[@deejaye2647]

I went to the ones in SF. very eerie

[@dealtrees]

So fake

[@saya5882]

This kind of suspenseful sharing is actually very attractive, isn't it?

[@joehays5903]

O man Savannah Georgia also has tunnels like these, I got lunch at a place the Pirate House, it’s the oldest standing building in Georgia it’s a seaman’s inn established in 1753. Inside the Pirates House is one of the entrances to these tunnels. Unfortunately the stories are probably true these tunnels were also known for kidnapping and slavery.

[@saya5882]

Right, so what we find interesting today might be hell for people back then.

[@Idahoguy10157]

The Portland waterfront was torn down and replaced with a seawall. It’s long gone. What remains of it are basements near the seawall by the river.

[@yogidemis8513]

I'm more scared to know what goes on on topside of Portland then down under. Especially these days.

[@saya5882]

Maybe it's the gap between heaven and hell.

[@giselematthews7949]

This is fascinating! I have heard OF these tunnels, but not a whole exposa

[@salgoudnedrac5489]

As kids (30+ years ago)We used to get into them via pioneer courthouse square & a couple other buildings in that area of downtown Portland . It's pretty cool down there, we found shoes, personal affects, furniture ect ect.

[@saya5882]

Maybe even find history?

[@Enzo-xm6dz]

how did you get in back then? that’s super interesting to me

[@saya5882]

@@Enzo-xm6dz Haha, were you there at the time?

[@hansgraichen8051]

Back during the early 2000’s I was a volunteer for the Portland Shanghai tunnels. Hauled out dirt, looked for artifacts, rebuilt the opium den that was in the tour back then (I have no idea how much the tours have changed since then). Our access was dependent on business allowing us to enter their basements.

[@saya5882]

So just limited access to places and spaces, right?

[@hansgraichen8051]

@@saya5882 it was just those that weren’t walled off.

[@saya5882]

@@hansgraichen8051 Yes, I can imagine. In the blink of an eye, it has been 22 years since you were there. Where are you now? Maybe if you go back and see it again, you will have a different feeling.

[@theresa_lili]

Nice video. Thank you for sharing. Tunnels are pretty cool aren't they? Happy day.

[@ITSHISTORY]

Thank you!

[@EverythingNetwork1]

very well done

[@michaelmoline7058]

Under Salem there's a lot of creepy tunnels too, if you see clear tiles on the ground near the capital building it's because they let in light for the tunnels below, they weren't used for shanghaiing though to my knowledge.

[@PollyHistor]

Every town I have ever lived in has had an underground tunnel system. It's always explained away as "probibition," but I think they are older than that.

[@classactkirk]

Great video

[@vassa1972]

Good stuff

[@thomasdearment3214]

anyone who has gone to the bathroom and looked up to see those little glass squares on the sidewalk above has been in or close to the Portland Tunnels

[@scrapiron1952]

We've come a long way, now days the crime is in the streets in Portland!🤔😂🤣. 😠😡💪🇺🇸

[@nojam75]

I give you credit for saying "Willamette" correctly, but the repeated "Ore-GONE"s made my ears bleed.

[@ivanoffw]

In his other videos, he does not seem to have a problem with pronouncing the states of Illinois, Kansas, or Arkansas.

[@30smsuperstrat]

I couldnt believe he pronouned it OR GUN once, then one sentence later OR GONE🤨😳

[@MillennialOutlawStudios]

😂 I feel the same way. Could we make it more obvious we're OR-É-GUN? Over all he did a wonderful job.

[@joseluisperez4015]

LIKE YOUR CHANNEL IT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING VERY VERY WELL YOU GUYS ARE TRULY PROFESSIONAL ❤DON'T CHANGE THE FORMULA BECAUSE IT WORKS MY RESPECTS TO YOU GUYS BE WELL AMERICA COMMENT FROM CHICAGO...

[@saya5882]

Upvote from San Jose.

[@bettyschneider5268]

Some scary 😨 history back then! 🏚🏚🏚🏚👻👻👻👻👻👻🏗🏘🏙🏙🏙🌃🏡🏠🏫🕺💃🏻👯🚶🏃🏻

[@MickeyMishra]

There was one at the old city night club if I remember correctly.

[@johnelliott7375]

I bet that if you were going to go through them properly, you can find exactly how, what, where, and if they are not flooded out and caved in by the tides you could have a historical register for the state and could have a infinity of possibilities for them. Thanks again for sharing this with everyone Ryan.

[@DeanstuD]

Freight elevator access to the street from basements I used to wonder what would happen if one opened as I walked on it. There were a lot more cobble stone streets and I remember seeing the thick glass windows in the sidewalks.

[@marypatten9655]

see. San Francisco did have compition but not as widely published. thank you. learned something new. God bless

[@elizabethfrance3237]

Thanks!

[@ITSHISTORY]

Wow, thank you!

[@darthmaul216]

7:16 liked the dr. Seuss comic. I have heard that this was drawn to mock people who thought this but idk. His piano man comic might confirm that

[@swen6797]

Seattle has underground tunnels because the street level needed to be raised with fire refuse piled in the streets. Ladders were used to get from sidewalk and store entrances to street level before the sidewalks got a roof of a new sidewalk and store entrances were remodeled into the first floor.

[@mayflowerpdx5706]

Born and raised in Portland, never had any desire to go into the tunnels 😳👻

[@BlizzAz]

That's our Portland; the OG Mos Eisley.

[@huntermccornack5162]

Small towns in oregon has the same things

[@ffwast]

Surprised there isn't a modern reputation of these things,I don't believe human trafficking turned "unprofitable" or that these places wouldn't get homeless people in them.

[@Lurker1979]

I someways very much like the Seattle Unground.

[@sheliumorg5189]

JON LEVI and MICHELLE GIBSON provide entirely different aspect to all this, and more.

[@mackpines]

Thanks for doing a video on my home town. I enjoyed it a lot.

[@d.bcooper7819]

Why would you be so skeptical about people being Shanghai’d but not at all about ghost stories?

[@danielross1033]

I have never gone inside Portland but the story of the tunnels has traveled far and wide across Oregon interestingly enough Corvallis and Astoria and Salem also have similar tunnels oh and good job saying willamette right but couldn’t get past ore gone I’m not upset about it it just is a little painful on the inside hearing the place I had been born and family had been living in before their was a usa generations my family had been here it’s just a Oregon native thing

[@FATWONTON]

Don’t forget Pendleton underground

[@saya5882]

I passed by Portland, but unfortunately I didn't hear about it and couldn't go to see it for myself.

[@PollyHistor]

Every town I have ever lived in has had an underground tunnel system. That's not just an Oregonian phenomenon.

[@johnalicehhacct550]

Great job pronouncing Willamette correctly Ryan, but you slaughtered Oregon. It’s “Ory-gun” not Or-A-Gone. And to the naysayers, the tunnels are real - I’ve been in what remains of them. Seattle has them too with organized tours.

[@pierceskidmore9806]

Go make your own documentary then if it bothers you so much

[@qmcguire]

I always go with "Ore-again" when I have to explain it to anybody.

[@AshLilburne]

You gotta calm down a bit with the ghost stuff Ryan 😆

[@giselematthews7949]

Well, you know-some people still believe in ghosts.

[@vapour_xs9235]

I always thought those tunnels were used for unique speakeasy access... Edit: Okay I was partly right.

[@str82lumbridge36]

My great great uncle was Shanghaied and our famly never knew what happened to him untell years later our family received a death certificate from the orient that said he died of feaver my family has been in oregon sice 1880

[@TZA_]

ik an entrance in Oklahoma, my friends basement behind a horse painting 😂

[@macekreislahomes1690]

Just speculation, could have built an even lower down copy of the original tunnels.

[@parcanator]

Wait hold on aint this the ratway under riften??

[@EQOAnostalgia]

Yup... only the rats are real.

[@spitfirepam]

I've been down there, and while in the area of several women's cells, someone petted my hair (I have hair down to my rear end), but there was nobody standing there. Nobody behind me at all, at least, not that I could see anyway. It was creepy and weird and kind of cool. Also-those 3 tier wooden bunks you show are opium dens. The lower the bunk, the higher the price to use it (so you had less distance to fall when you rolled out of the bunk).

[@JimmyJamesJ]

New tunnels are under construction? For what purpose? No one want's to tour a newly constructed tunnel.

[@pierredecine1936]

General Store is NOT an occupation !

[@DramaMustRemainOnTheStage]

Wow. Like H. H. Holmes

[@jeepliberty1388]

Hell yea we need more tunnels in ever city it would b so easy to get shit done kind nap people send them off make $$$

[@curiodyssey3867]

'OR-A-GONE'

[@lebowskiduderino89]

i was trippin on some thai stik and fell into a hole and man i saw a g g g ghost!!! also ryan was the g g g ghost!!!! DONT BELIEVE ME? HUH? WHAT? HUH? UH OK

[@1_Fish.2_Fish.Red_Fish.]

I’ve never actually sharted myself in a tunnel so that’s nice.

[@oikkis7249]

I appreciate that you decreased the volume of the intro

[@nickabel8279]

Yup. 2 gangs faced off. But the uniforms weren't stolen..

[@C0MMANDERsander]

OR-GUN, NOT ORYGONE

[@NostalgicNell]

Or-e-gin :) Portland is still the most dangerous.. lol

[@campkohler9131]

07;32 “...oriented...” should probably be “...originated...”

[@vassa1972]

Wonder if they have anything like that here in Hamilton Ontario Canada?

[@sanitarium017]

Dude. It's or-eh-gun

[@kevinjbonn]

A lot of this history is dubious, and the man not knowing how to say the name of the State makes it worse.

[@curiodyssey3867]

Lmaoooo

[@pierceskidmore9806]

Why don’t you go make a better documentary then

[@nicholasbekken8370]

Please consider re-recording pronouncing the name of the State properly…..Ory-gun. Otherwise great video

[@jkutyna]

The world simply pronounces it as "the state of Anti-Americanism".

[@thomasdearment3214]

In most cases they were probably holding them since if someone saw a cart load of bodies being moved, cops or civilians no one would pay attention. it would be business as usual.

[@grahamgraves286]

First, if you do a documentary, learn how to pronounce the name of the location. Second, the Heathman hotel was notorious for having a basement brothel and third, Seattle has the same underground system to ferry unsuspecting sailors to their fate and still has tours of such tunnels.

[@Johnc0094]

I was super excited about this video because it was about my home city. I'm dieing inside because you can't say the state name correctly. it is Oregon not or-gone.

[@bobbysenterprises3220]

Or it could be mice, rats, bats, and carbon monoxide

[@miyahlynn2517]

Abandoned? Not so sure. I have heard women screaming down there as i passed by at night. Maybe it was the spirits… you decide

[@PollyHistor]

People live in the tunnels.

[@maxwellhurlock6285]

They never covered this in Portlandia! I call BS

[@Pantheragem]

I need sensual comfort.

[@lexington476]

Did shanghaied sailors get paid?

[@darthmaul216]

If they were then they wouldn’t be slaves

[@PollyHistor]

Human Trafficking seldom works that way.

[@BitchinSpectre]

Has anyone seen these tunnels? Why does Portland pretend to be Sacramento. Any story where someone ate another fella is probably bs.

[@rypdx]

Fr Portland is ugly and dry nothing up here . Tunnels for at least 30ft . Not much to see anymore maybe overhyped

[@PollyHistor]

Yes. I have. They're all throughout downtown. Some even connect into the waterways and have access points in the streets and openings beneath the bridges. A lot of homeless folks live in them around Burnside.

[@PopeMcGrope]

clean it up and get to the main set piece faster, wasted to much time setting up the history lost interest when we finally got to the tunnels.

[@curiodyssey3867]

Says 'Japanese town' Shows a picture of a Hispanic man holding a carrot.

[@saya5882]

😯How did you tell that you were Hispanic?

[@jean-louistour4136]

Wann wollt ihr denn euren deutschen kanal weiterführen und wann habt ihr vor eure gelöschten viedios wieder frei geben

[@willk.illyouii5583]

Where did you get this information? I call bullshit on most of the things you claim,,and you proved nothing about evidence of any tunnels, just showed some old photos about nothing and pictures that have nothing to prove anything

[@JPdrumz84]

European immigrants not MEXICAN Immigrants… so the first to take American jobs where EUROPEAN it’s amazing how history it’s repeating again but with Hispanics

[@jdencook]

How about learning how to pronounce Oregon before talking about it.

[@josemercado1607]

The way he keeps saying Oregon throughout the video. Cringe couldn’t even pay attention to what he was saying

[@AvrilAlvarez]

First

[@neoarmour]

ahh meth city tunnels

[@omnipitous4648]

@###This is nonsense

[@bentley4446]

Sheesh. More ghost BS👻

[@user-yw2sn5hg6h]

weird mispronunciation of our state name makes this awfully unwatcbable. Embarrassing

[@dougtheviking6503]

Liberal Paradise Today .

[@PollyHistor]

Not everything is political. Trying to bring up politics in a video that doesn't have anything to do with politics is cringeworthy. If you can't comprehend more than one topic of discussion, perhaps you need to study and travel more.

[@aimeewank7859]

1:08 that’s an Opium Den, not a cell. The bunks got cheaper the higher up you went. Aka: you pay the most to nod off and fall off the closest to the ground. 🤤🫠😈

[@PollyHistor]

OHR-EH-GUN. ORR-REH-GUNN. ORRRR-EHHH-GUUN. Or just call it "the state with all the trees, volcanoes, and waterfalls in the Pacific Northwest." 🌲🌲💚🌲🌲