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<blockquote data-quote="Hand of Evil" data-source="post: 169915" data-attributes="member: 371">Here is a little blip I found about Portland - San Fan I saw on the history channel, it was talking about clipper ships and such.&nbsp; This is a great plot for Freeport or Bluffside!The Story of the Shanghai Tunnels Source: &quot;Portland Underground&quot; by Miriam Zellnik - Anodyne Magazine June 1998 Once known as the &quot;worst port of call&quot; on the West Coast, 100 years ago Portland was a dangerous and corrupt city run by a small group of crime lords. The biggest organized crime of all was the illegal procuring of crewman for the many ships that docked in Portland. Used throughout the 1890's for the smuggling of human beings, the Shanghai Tunnels still exist 10 feet underground in and around Old Town and the waterfront. Some say they're called Shanghai Tunnels because the victims were often sold to ship captains bound for the Far East. Others say that it comes from the expression of being &quot;shanghied.&quot; The smugglers and crime lords who dealt in the illegal selling of men owned many of the boardinghouses along the waterfront. Whenever sailors were needed, these smugglers would move through the bars and sailor's haunts to round up drunk and passed out men. One bar even had a trap door that led directly to the tunnel below. The sailors would be held in tiny holding cells in the tunnels until they were needed. Throughout the 1890's, some 1500 men a year were kidnapped and sold to the ships in port. The ship's captains would buy up these men, no questions asked. The city of Portland has never promoted its true, sordid history. Most of the Shanghai Tunnels are closed up, but some can still be accessed through the basements of shops and businesses. Most of the accessible tunnels have been untouched for years and appear a lot like they did 100 years ago. The Shanghai Tunnel Restaurant and Bar is located inside a small section of one of these tunnels.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hand of Evil, post: 169915, member: 371"] Here is a little blip I found about Portland - San Fan I saw on the history channel, it was talking about clipper ships and such. This is a great plot for Freeport or Bluffside! The Story of the Shanghai Tunnels Source: "Portland Underground" by Miriam Zellnik - Anodyne Magazine June 1998 Once known as the "worst port of call" on the West Coast, 100 years ago Portland was a dangerous and corrupt city run by a small group of crime lords. The biggest organized crime of all was the illegal procuring of crewman for the many ships that docked in Portland. Used throughout the 1890's for the smuggling of human beings, the Shanghai Tunnels still exist 10 feet underground in and around Old Town and the waterfront. Some say they're called Shanghai Tunnels because the victims were often sold to ship captains bound for the Far East. Others say that it comes from the expression of being "shanghied." The smugglers and crime lords who dealt in the illegal selling of men owned many of the boardinghouses along the waterfront. Whenever sailors were needed, these smugglers would move through the bars and sailor's haunts to round up drunk and passed out men. One bar even had a trap door that led directly to the tunnel below. The sailors would be held in tiny holding cells in the tunnels until they were needed. Throughout the 1890's, some 1500 men a year were kidnapped and sold to the ships in port. The ship's captains would buy up these men, no questions asked. The city of Portland has never promoted its true, sordid history. Most of the Shanghai Tunnels are closed up, but some can still be accessed through the basements of shops and businesses. Most of the accessible tunnels have been untouched for years and appear a lot like they did 100 years ago. The Shanghai Tunnel Restaurant and Bar is located inside a small section of one of these tunnels. [/QUOTE]

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