The tunnels in Portland run underneath some of the oldest bars and businesses in the old part of town. You can look up and see trap doors that dropped down into the tunnels - and when above-ground in the bars, see the trap doors in the floor that would drop down into the tunnels. There is a pile of shoes and broken glass - the means of keeping the kidnapping victims down under until a ship was leaving port and needed a few extra hands.

I understand that Seattle's tunnels ran under Pioneer Square, but the fire and rebuild left them unaccessible -- the Underground Tour shows the first floors of the old buildings, and the tunnels would be underneath them.

i was waiting for the snarky, "it's even been rumored that seattle has some sort of 'underground,'--some say there was a 'fire' in the late 19th century that may have resulted in the regrading of the early pioneer square neighborhood, leaving the fabled 'original' streets and storefronts below ground. as if..."

And, WHY doesn't Tacoma have a Chinatown? What's the real story?

I'm expecting it to be sordid and full of bigotry and lynchings.

What came to be known as "Tacoma method" was used in November 1885 to expel several thousand Chinese peaceably living in the city. As described by the account prepared by the Chinese Reconciliation Project, on the morning of November 3, 1885, "several hundred men, led by the mayor and other city officials, evicted the Chinese from their homes, corralled them at 7th Street and Pacific Avenue, marched them to the railway station at Lakeview and forced them aboard the morning train to Portland, Oregon. The next day two Chinese settlements were burned to the ground."

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma#19th_century

http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/