I am not sure if this water
color image is prior to the previous 1912 photo, but I believe it is
after. I have seen this same image in black and white in a
book.
The book says, "That there is a cobbler's bench and a booth
for curios. The owner is utilizing such portions of the ruin as
are still stable as part of a tenement house he is building. When
reproached for thus obliterating a historic relic he blandly offered to
leave it in its former state, provided he were paid a rental equal to
that the tenement would bring in. There being no society for the
preservation of historic places in Panama his offer went unheeded, and
the church is fast being built into the walls of a flat house." Panama
and The Canal by Willis J. Abbot This
is very disturbing to hear how no one cared in those times for the
preservation of such a historical old ruin. This is why all the
grand old walls you see in the first two photos of this presentation are
gone today. |