Santo Domingo: A Country with a Future

by Otto Schoenrich

The other town of the province is Salcedo, formerly called Juana
Núñez, 7 miles east of Moca in a rich cacao district.

PROVINCE OF SANTIAGO

Santiago de los Caballeros, Santiago of the Gentlemen, 115 miles northwest of Santo Domingo, was founded as a military station on a bluff of the Yaque River about 1497 by order of Bartholomew Columbus, and settled in 1504 by thirty knights, from which circumstance it derives its name. It received many settlers from the old town of Isabela, was given a coat of arms in 1508, reached a flourishing state, and was destroyed in 1564 by the same earthquake which overthrew La Vega. Its inhabitants then removed to the present site, about six miles east of the location of the old city, the ruins of which are still to be seen. The city was burned three times by the French buccaneers during their struggles with the Spanish colonial authorities and later by the Haitian general Christophe on the occasion of the retreat of the emperor Dessalines in 1805. It had again attained importance when it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1842. Once more it was reduced to ashes in 1863 at the outbreak of the War of the Restoration. To-day Santiago is one of the richest and most flourishing cities of the island and has aspirations to become the capital of the Republic, so that an intense rivalry exists with Santo Domingo. The streets are regular and clean and a general repair has been commenced. There are important business houses and well-stocked bazaars and the market place is one of the busiest in the country.

The plaza in the center of the city has a handsome garden established by popular subscription, and gay with flowers and palms. Two churches are on the plaza, the larger of which has a beautiful altar. The remains of President Heureaux are buried here, his resting place being marked by a marble slab with the Dominican coat of arms. The government palace fronting on the plaza is a substantial affair with walls dating from Haitian times, and the city hall, also fronting on the plaza, is a fine structure. In the cemetery there is a street of beautiful mausoleums, the architecture of several being Egyptian in style and others bearing medallions or recumbent figures of the deceased. The volunteer fire corps of Santiago has a special lot and a pretty monument. San José de las Matas, 24 miles southwest of Santiago, is situated on a high plain in the midst of the mountains and is surrounded by great pine forests. Its salubrious climate and picturesque environments make it a favorite summer resort for wealthy families of Santiago, Puerto Plata and Moca, and a health resort for persons afflicted with stomach or lung trouble. Nearby are hot and cold sulphur springs, the beautiful Inoa waterfall, the picturesque confluence of the Amina and Inoa rivers and the high Rubio Peak, which commands one of the finest panoramas in the island.

Other towns are Valverde, formerly Mao, 30 miles northwest of Santiago; Jânico, 14 miles southwest of Santiago, Esperanza, 27 miles northwest of Santiago; and Canton Peña, also called Tamboril, 7 miles east of Santiago and having such close social relations with that city as to be regarded as a suburb of the same.

PROVINCE OF PUERTO PLATA

Puerto Plata, 150 miles northwest of Santo Domingo, is the most important port of the north of the Republic. Columbus is said to have made the plans for the streets of the town; as early as 1499 there were settlers here; and in 1502 the city was formally founded by order of Ovando. It enjoyed prosperity during the first years of the colony, but in 1543 was attacked by pirates and thereafter rapidly went to decay. The stringent laws which restricted the commerce of the island to certain ports of the mother country encouraged contraband trade and the place became the headquarters for smugglers. The government endeavored to stop smuggling in 1606 by the brilliant expedient of destroying the town and moving all the inhabitants to Monte Plata, far in the interior of Santo Domingo province. In 1750 Puerto Plata was populated anew and shared with Monte Cristi the advantage of the law permitting free trade for ten years. It rapidly grew in population until it became the most important commercial point of the Republic, and the port of the entire Cibao region, part of which now finds an outlet at Sanchez. It was in a flourishing state and had fine houses when it was totally destroyed by fire in 1863, during the War of Restoration, whether by the Spaniards or the Dominicans remains in doubt. Prosperity again followed, many foreigners were attracted by its commercial possibilities and to-day it is again one of the most thriving towns of Santo Domingo.

The first thing to attract the traveler's notice is the excellent condition of the city streets. Though the macadamized streets and the sidewalks are narrow, they are clean, well kept and well lighted at night. In streets, schools and public squares the city is in advance of most of the other cities of the Republic. This is attributed to a great extent to the presence of many cultured foreigners as well as to the progressive natives. The inhabitants of Puerto Plata boast that what Puerto Plata does the rest of the Republic does. They point as an example to their plaza. Formerly the plaza of Dominican cities was a bare, shadeless tract of ground in the center of the city. Puerto Plata was the first to plant trees, lay out a garden and provide its plaza with a music stand. This plaza in the center of the town is the oldest and prettiest of the city's three public squares and is now shaded by large, leafy trees and embellished with beautiful flowers and varicolored bushes. On Sunday nights on this plaza and on Thursday nights on one of the others, band concerts attract crowds of people, young and old, who promenade to the strains of the music. The belles of the city are very handsome and owing to the intermarriage of natives with foreigners from all parts of the world widely different types of beauty are to be observed at such concerts.

On one side of the principal plaza is the church, on another stand side by side the theater, the government building, where the provincial offices are located, and the city hall, on the first floor of which is a well-attended school. The three principal clubs of the city are also located in commodious quarters fronting on this plaza. One of these clubs counts among its members most of the merchants and staid and elderly people, another is the club of the young men and a third is the ladies' club. The ladies' club is open only in the afternoon and evening, but in the clubs frequented by gentlemen games of billiards may be seen going on at almost any hour of the day.

The buildings of the city are all of modern date. Only a few foundation walls near the ocean shore, and the old fort, remain from former days. The old fort is situated on the point of land partly enclosing Puerto Plata harbor and is surrounded on three sides by buildings of the present fort. It is a large round whitewashed structure having the appearance of a huge cheesebox; its walls are of enormous thickness and it is now used as a jail. In former days the inhabitants had much difficulty in obtaining drinking water, but Puerto Plata was the first city to be provided with a general system of water works, having been followed only recently by Santiago. The water is brought from a stream a little over a mile away. The ride there is a beautiful one but it goes to prove that the movement for good thoroughfares has not yet extended to the roads. From all parts of Puerto Plata Mt. Isabel de Torres is seen towering behind the city. The view obtained from the slopes of the mountain, over miles of shoreline and a broad expanse of ocean, is of indescribable grandeur.