Colón, Panama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Colón is a sea port city on the Caribbean Sea coast of Panama. In 2000 it had a population of about 204,000 people.
It is near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. The city is the capital of Panama's Colón Province.
[edit] History
The city was founded in 1850 as one end of the Panama Railroad then under construction. For a number of years early in its history, the sizable United States emigré community called the town Aspinwall while the Hispanic community called it "Colón". The name "Colón" is in honor of Christopher Columbus.
Much of the city was burned during a Colombian civil war in 1885, and again in an accidental fire in 1915.
In 1900 the population was some 3,000 people. It grew significantly with the building of the Panama Canal, and was 31,203 in 1920.
In 1948 Colón was made a Free Trade Zone.
Since the late 1960's, Colón has been in economic decline. Nowadays, the unemployment rate is around 40% and the poverty rate is even larger than that.
[edit] External link
- Colon City Panama extensive site on geocities.com
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It was home to some of the most respectable, educated and well-heeled Panamanians families of West-Indian heritage, including the Moodys, the Beebys, the Archibolds, the Edwards, the Crowns, the Hoys, the Mckintoshs, and many more. From these familes sprang the teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, engineers, business men, and politicians that goverened the City. Most of whom relocated to the USA or back to th UK, in later years. However, their influence can still be seen by the descendants that remain in the provinces.
Notable Colonenses are Rod Carew, baseball player in the USA, Fernando A. Edwards, II., scholar and attorney in the USA, Victor Mckintosh, prominent engineer in the USA, and George Westerman, publisher and editor.
