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Close encounters - Shanghai Tunnels

Years of inhumane acts provide opportunity for paranormal experiences

 

Nathan Edmunds

The Advocate

 

Buried beneath the streets of Northwest Portland lies a world where abduction, beatings, prostitution and rape happened on a nightly basis.

In the 1870s, a network known as the Shanghai Tunnels was built under the streets of Portland. They were connected to the world above by trapdoors and secret passageways, and were accessible through bars and other places where a man might partake in a variety of vices. Smoking in opium dens and finding comfort in a prostitute’s bed were never out of the question.

They were given the name Shanghai because this was a place where men and women alike would be taken after they had been abducted and bid on as slaves, forced to work on merchant ships. Some would be made into prostitutes in a country far from home, and others met their end there. One thing is for sure: When taken to the Shanghai Tunnels, the chance for escape was slim to none, and it was more likely than not that the victims would never be heard from again.

“This is the 10th most haunted place in North America, and the number one most haunted place in Portland,” said Michael P. Jones, the man considered the highest authority on the history of the Shanghai Tunnels. Jones now gives guided tours throughout the year, and “Ghost tours” in October. It is through these tours that Jones explains the history of the tunnels with a flair for the dramatic.

“There is activity happening throughout the tunnels on a daily basis,” said Jones. “This is not a haunted house full of cheap thrills and stage effects, just real history with a claim to real haunting.”

The Shanghai Tunnels spread out and interweave throughout the underground of Portland. They are built on a dirt floor and the smell of dust hangs heavy in the air. There are many twists and turns throughout the tour that leads individuals to many different rooms where past atrocities have been committed. Patrons can view everything, including holding cells where Shanghaied captives were kept, their shoes removed and glass smashed in front of their cells, discouraging escape.

The opium dens are another attraction, used by clients that wanted to partake in the drug away from scrutinizing eyes. There is a four-by-four room that contains a solitary chair where women were taken and locked into utter darkness — which was meant to break their spirits — before they were shipped off to another country. There are rooms where a prostitute would have been heard screaming her trade as she worked the night. Trap doors that would drop a drunken victim from the bar above down onto a mattress where the crimmper (someone who abducted people for profit) would drag him off.

These tunnels operated like this from the 1870s to the 1940s, when they were forced to shut down due to the outbreak of World War II.

Jones says people’s emotions throughout their experience in the tunnels have varied from feeling nothing more than being in a dusty, empty cellar to getting sick and feeling as if they had been chased out of the tunnels. Some have claimed to talk to victims of the past, while others have quit their job working for Jones and fled in terror, not wanting to take another step into the tunnels again.

If you are looking for a theme park setting with lots of things jumping out, loads of stage effects with guts and gore for a Halloween adventure, then this will not be worth your money or time. However, if you are looking for history mixed with paranormal activity, bring a camera and be prepared to feel your skin crawl because this will be right up your alley.

Just don’t go alone, because there may still be a crimmper from the past lurking around a corner, waiting for another victim.

—Shanghai Tunnels Halloween tours began Thursday and run through Nov. 2. Halloween tours are $17 per adult and $12 for kids under 12 years. To schedule a tour call 503-622-4798.Several tours are already filled, check out shanghaitunnel.info for tour times.