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The small size in territory and population that Costa Rica has had compared to other countries could lead us to believe that little more than nothing has happened. However, part of the magic that this country has, and in particular the south of the Nicoya Peninsula, is showing that a place and its people do not have to fit into the parameters of Western development or greatness to be home to true experiences, beauty and freedom, among others. Having said the above, Santa Teresa Hoy begins a series of articles that aim to shed light on the very particular historical path that has resulted in the place we see today.
Despite having signed its independence from Spain in 1821, Costa Rica was part of the Central American Federal Republic and it was not until 1848 that it was permanently established as a Republic and not a Free State. In December of that same year, decree 16 of the government of José María Castro Madriz established that Puntarenas was not part of the then five provinces, but rather “The port of Puntarenas will form a separate Region, and will be governed in a special way in its internal regime, until the increase in its population allows it to be erected into a Province.”
This population increase came relatively quickly. According to the municipal ordinances of 1868, Puntarenas was already a province. In documents from the end of the 19th century, it is common for the territory south of the Nicoya Peninsula to be simply named the “western district”, which included the current districts of Lepanto, Paquera and Cóbano. Already in October 1915, again by presidential decree, the districts of the central canton of the province were specified, among which is the fifth district, whose head was Paquera.
In said district, apart from the main town in Paquera, the only place with the rank of neighborhood was Tambor. It should be noted that the category of neighborhood implies the existence of a high concentration of population, in contrast to hamlets. Among the latter, the ones noted were Gigante, Río Grande, Cuchillo, Paquerita, Órganos, La Jeriaga, Curú, and, as the only hamlet in the current territory of Cóbano: Arío and “La Playa”. Information about the neighborhoods and hamlets of the current district of Cóbano between the decades of 1910 and 1960 is found mainly in letters and reports from the Ministry of Education, Institute of Land and Colonization, Ministry of the Interior, Costa Rican Social Security Fund, among others. In other installments we will delve into them.
The main and most recent milestone in terms of population increase and administrative reorganization occurred in 1971. In August of that year, the national government decreed the creation of the Cóbano district, number 12 of the central canton of Puntarenas, segregated from the Paquera district. Its limits were established as follows:
“Starting from the mouth of the Pánica River in Ballena Bay in the Gulf of Nicoya, it is taken upstream along the aforementioned river towards its sources. The “Sula” triangulation vertex is reached, 611 m. and then descends along the hill with a WNW orientation and for an approximate length of 2 km until reaching the waters of the Seco River. It continues downstream along this river until its confluence with the Arío River and always downstream along the latter until its confluence with the Bongo River and continues along it until its mouth into the Pacific Ocean.”
The following article establishes the internal division as follows:
“The head of the new district will be the town of Cóbano and will also be made up of the following towns: San Ramón Sur, Pavón, Santa Fé, Betel, Santa Clemencia, Pánica, San Pedro, Tambor, Abuela, Florida, Arío (Manzanillo), Respingue, Río Negro, Santiago, Montezuma, Delicias, San Isidro, Santa Teresa, Carmen, Malpaís and Cabuya.”
It is worth noting how no distinction is still made between Santa Teresa and Hermosa, and how the word Montezuma is formalized at the central government level, despite the fact that in the 1960s local educational authorities referred to the place as Moctezuma. This is, in fact, the name of the local school to this day.
Finally, it must be remembered that new populations imply more immigration, and with them more work, projects and living communities. Between 1848 and 1971, the current territory of Cóbano went from being a corner of a port that did not reach the rank of province, to being recognized as a territory with a sufficient population to be an administrative unit in itself. Having built this brief timeline, the challenge now is to trace the process by which these communities have been transformed into what we see today.
Access to information about this region is challenging in itself, but we work to share with you particular episodes and stories that allow us to value, ideally with gratitude and inspiration, the past experiences of those who have inhabited this area. With that intention, through the next two installments, we will share the impressions of a French military sailor who toured Tambor Bay in the 1890s, as well as the critical view of a teacher on the main social problems in Cóbano during the 1990's.
By Jose Pablo Arguedas. Costa Rican, Cóbano resident, historian and professor.
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