Shanghai Tunnel - Portland, Oregon
Located on a dark street corner in Old Town, Shanghai Tunnel grips your soul from the second you walk in. You can’t help but wonder what the hell has gone on inside these four walls over the past century and a half. From ghosts to glowing drinks, the creep factor is always high…but that’s okay…you can seek comfort and soul refuge within the baddest underground bar in the North West.
Long before Shanghai Tunnel was a bar and eatery, the illegal act of kidnapping or Shangaiing was a regular occurrence. Ship captains paid bartenders to drug single intoxicated men that hung out in the Portland waterfront area in order to lure them into the dark tunnels.
Ither bars in the area also had this practice, using trap doors or “deadfalls”
to drop the victim into the Portland Underground
- the series of tunnels linked to the basement of various buildings. These tunnels contained cells that the unfortunate victims were locked in until such a time came that they were sold to a ship captain, The term “Shanghai” was commonly used as most of the ships involved in this act were destined for the Orient.
Shanghai Tunnel
211 SW Ankeny St.
Portland, OR 97204
(503)220-4001
