Skidmore Fountain and Shanghai Tunnels lore

Skidmore Fountain, dedicated in 1888 in Old Town, sits above an area where a network of cellarways and basements has long been associated with the so-called 'Shanghai Tunnels' and stories of men being kidnapped for forced labor. The physical existence of underground passages beneath parts of Old Town is documented and subject to guided 'Portland Underground' tours, but historians debate the scale and frequency of the alleged shanghaiing incidents and some archival research questions many sensational claims. The intersection of tangible underground structures and disputed historical claims is a persistent element of Portland local lore.