Travel to Limon - Costa Rica - History

Limón - History

Christopher Columbus and his crew were the first Europeans to lay eyes on the shores and forest-covered mountains of Costa Rica. On the great Admiral's fourth and final voyage to the Americas, in 1502, he anchored near what is now the port city and provincial capital of Limón. His brief dealings with the native people he met on the mainland were apparently good-natured, yet this benevolent interaction was not to be the norm during the centuries to come.

Columbus landed , 1503 in what is now Puerto Limón, Costa Rica, on his fourth voyage to the New World. He named the area Costa Rica (Rich Coast). Some say because of the beauty he found there. Some say because he'd heard rumours of gold. Be that as is may, he was right in the first instance and wrong in the second. It was quickly discovered that there was comparatively little gold, but the natural beauty of Costa Rica has been attracting settlers ever since the initial colonization. The annals of Costa Rica´s proud history are dotted with English, French, German and Italian surnames. Costa Rica continues to attract foreigners. At the present time, approximately 500 Jewish families, and over 20,000 U.S. citizens make their homes in Costa Rica.

Limón was settled by those relatively few Spanish immigrants who valued natural beauty and independence more than riches. Since the rugged mountainous land was not suitable for large plantations, Costa Rica developed into a country of independent family farmers. Even now they are the backbone of the country. This, more than anything else, explains the fact that from independence (1821) on, Costa Rica has been the most stable democratic country in Latin America.

The real opening of Costa Rica's eastern frontier did not come until the second half of the 19th century. In 1867, the site for a Caribbean port was chosen, and it is said that growing on the spot was an old lemon tree, or Limón.

To make the port of Limón accessible from the interior of the country, the government decided to construct a railroad and contracted the services of the North American entrepreneur, Minor Keith, in exchange for 300,000 hectares of land in the Caribbean lowlands, plus other benefits.

In April, 1991, a major earthquake, magnitude 7.4, struck Limón, Costa Rica. The epicenter was near Limón on the Caribbean coast. The earthquake struck the whole of Limon Province, killing 53 people, injuring 198, and causing widespread damage to constructed works (EERI, 1991). In particular, the transportation system in Limon Province was devastated. Both rail and highway traffic was immediately obstructed due to widespread disruption of pavements and roadway grades and the collapse of several bridges. Later, after heavy rains, tree falls from the quake were washed into rivers and eventually created dams which soon broke and caused further destruction of bridges. Today, geologic evidence of the quake consists of a general 1.5 meter uplift of the land along the CR southeast coast. Fringing reef is now emergent even at high tide. The bio-erosive notch is noted now over a meter above sea level. The upper notch was once the former sea level location before the quake.

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