Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
On the city's edge, the Zona Libre (Free Zone) was created in 1948. Today, this
sprawling 482-hectare complex is the largest free-trade zone in the Americas. With more
than 1600 companies and dozens of banks, it links overseas producers with the Latin
American market. From close up, it's an island of materialism floating in a sea of unem-
ployment and poverty. Very little of the US$10 billion in annual commerce seems to be-
nefit locals.
Recent improvements in city safety are attributed to tighter gang control and an arms-
for-food program that got many guns off the streets. The improved Ruta 3 between
Panama City and Colón is now a four-lane highway, resulting in much quicker travel
times.
History
In 1850 the city of Colón (originally called Aspinwall for a Panama railroad founder)
was established as the Caribbean terminus of the Panama Railroad. It became a boom
town attracting east-coast Americans who favored this 'shortcut' to California at the
height of gold-rush fever. Even with boating the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and crossing
the isthmus, it was considered a faster and less dangerous journey than crossing the US
heartland and facing hostile indigenous groups.
Following the completion of the US transcontinental railroad in 1869, Colón faded in-
to obscurity less than 20 years after its founding.
At the peak of Colón's economic depression in 1881 the French arrived to build an
inter-oceanic canal, but the city was burnt to the ground four years later by a Colombian
hoping to spark a revolution. In the years to follow, the city blossomed, entirely rebuilt in
French colonial architectural style. Rivaling Panama City in beauty and wealth, life in
the Canal Zone was pleasurable and highly profitable.
The French abandoned their efforts eight years later after huge monetary losses and the
death of 22,000 workers from yellow fever and malaria. The US seized the opportunity,
reinventing the vibrant provincial capital as workers from around the world arrived by
the shipload.
After the completion of the canal in 1914, unemployment caused Colón's economy to
disintegrate and the city spiraled into the depths of depravity. Today, most of the colonial
city is still intact, though the buildings are on the verge of collapse.
Sights
