The Portland underground is known as the Shanghai Tunnels. Many of these tunnels have collapsed and are in disrepair. But in the late 19th century, Portland was referred to as the Forbidden City of the West. Tales and legends of able-bodied men being drugged, kidnapped, sold to sea captains, and forced to work on ships bound to Shanghai, came alive here. From 1850 to 1941 the fear of being “shanghaied” or crimped screamed the loudest.

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