Pendleton, Oregon: Underground Tour
Chinese-built tunnels were conduits for illicit activities, gambling and prostitution. Actors perform a once-a-year reenactment of tunnel life.
- Address:
- 37 SW Emigrant Ave., Pendleton, OR
- Directions:
- Tour entry is downtown, on the corner of SW 1st St. and Emigrant Ave., which is one block south of US 30/Dorion Ave.
- Phone:
- 541-276-0730
- RA Rates:
- Worth a Detour
Results 1 to 2 of 2...
Visitor Tips and News About Underground Tour
Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters. Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip.
This tour gives you your money's worth (as of yesterday) -- very fun and informative.
[Ian Armijo, 06/06/2022]
I visited this attraction in 1993. Downtown Pendleton Oregon used to have a "city underground" that housed its Chinese population at night, in the interconnected basements of several buildings. Supposedly, there was an ordinance that Chinese were not allowed to show their faces above ground after dark, so they were housed in the city's basements. The local historical society researched the underground city, and persuaded several of the downtown building owners to allow the excavation of their basements. The Pendleton Underground attraction is the result.
You tour one room in which you see the traces of the bunks the Chinese slept in. There's also a (cheesy) speakeasy, a Chinese laundry (of course), and a former brothel in one of the buildings upstairs (which I couldn't visit because my underaged daughter was with me).
[Pat O'Connell, 01/17/2000]Nearby Offbeat Places
Star Spangled Banner Machine, Pendleton, OR - < 1 mi.
Frankentank, Pendleton, OR - < 1 mi.
Cattle Drive, Pendleton, OR - 1 mi.Latest Tips Across Roadside America
Catch up on the latest discoveries from the road.
Explore Thousands of Oddball Tourist Attractions!
Unique destinations in the U.S. and Canada are our special obsession. Use our attraction recommendation and maps to plan your next road trip.
June 2011: Photo added.