8: Nina, are you there?

The Merchant Hotel was built in 1880. It stood on top of the Shanghai Tunnels, which were used by the criminal underground of Portland. There were opium dens, secret gambling rings, and prostitution in the buildings above.

Most notoriously, the tunnels were used for human trafficking. Traffickers would hang out in the bars and look out for patrons that were especially drunk. Once they’d chosen their victims, they’d spike their drinks and drag the unconscious drunk through the tunnels to the port, to work on the ships. The victims would often wake up on boats headed that were already sailing away.