The History of Cuba, vol. 5

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

Between the Plaza and Camp Columbia are located the golf links of Havana, which owing to the natural beauty of the grounds, and the charm of the surrounding country, with its view of the ocean and distant palm covered hills, render golfing a pleasure for at least three hundred and thirty days a year. These natural advantages have made the links of the Country Club of Havana celebrated in all places where golfing news reaches those who are devoted to the game.

In the various public buildings in Havana occupied by the Government of Cuba may be traced many styles of architecture that have followed each other from the beginning of the 16th century to well into the 20th. The old Fort of La Fuerza, that dates from 1538, is now occupied by the Secretary of War and Navy, and from it orders are issued directing the management of the two arms of the service, which in Cuba are combined under one directorate. Aside from modern windows, shutters and up-to-date office furniture, no changes have been made in the general outline or contour of this antiquated old fortress, whose entrance and drawbridge face the Templete close by on the spot where the residents of Cuba held their early Town Councils and listened to the singing of their first mass, four centuries ago.

Next in line of antiquity would come the old San Franciscan Convent, that in 1916 was converted into a spacious and artistic post-office, where the Director General of Posts and Telegraphs looks after that important branch of the Government Service.

Next in point of age comes the home of the Department of Public Works in the Maestranza, along the northeastern front of which runs a remnant of the old sea wall, extending along the west shore of the harbor from the Cathedral to the head of Cuba Street. This thick walled building, of only two stories, began as an iron and brass foundry, in which cannon were made several centuries ago and during later years of Spanish Colonial occupancy was used as a warehouse for rifles, sabres, pistols and small arms in general. Here were outfitted officers and men of the Spanish Volunteers, or loyalists of the Island, during Cuba’s century of revolutions. With the occupation of American troops in 1900, this building, covering over a block of ground, was converted into offices of the Sanitary Department and allied branches, who vouched for the city’s health and cleanliness during that period. It was here that Major Gorgas, now Major General, held sway and directed the campaign that exterminated the stegomyia mosquito, and thus put an end to the dreaded scourge of yellow fever in Cuba. It is at present occupied by the various branches of Public Works under the direction of Col. José R. Villalon, who has earned the reputation of being one of the most tireless and persistent workers in the Government. The National Library, whose entrance faces on Chacon Street at present, shares the accommodations of the Maestranza.

The Department of Sanitation, with all of its vast ramifications, whose jurisdiction covers the entire Island, is located in an old colonial building fronting on Belascoain near the corner of Carlos Tercero Street, and with its ample patio covers an entire block of ground. This Department is located more nearly at the center of modern Havana than any of the other Government offices.

One of the oldest public buildings, and the largest used for purposes of Government, known as La Hacienda, is located on the water front between Obrapia Street and the Plaza de Armas. During the many years of Spanish rule, not only the Custom House, but nearly all the more important branches of Government, were located within its walls. With the inauguration of the Republic, the National Treasury was installed in the southwest corner of the building, under the direction of Fernando Figuerdo, who has retained this position of trust during all changes of administration. The remainder of the ground floor is occupied by the National Lottery and offices connected with that Institution, which extend into the entresuelo, or half-story, just above. The second floor is occupied by the Hacienda, or Treasury Department, whose offices surround the central patio on all four sides. The third and fourth floors are devoted to the central offices of the Department of Agriculture, including the headquarters of its Secretary, General Sanchez Agramonte. The upper floor, or azotea, is used by the Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture. The Hacienda is rather an imposing building from the Bay, on which it faces, and plays a very important part in the Government work of the Island.

To the outside world the best known building is probably the old Governor-General’s palace, fronting on the Plaza de Armas and occupying the square of ground between Tacon and Mercaderes Streets and between Obispo and O’Reilly Streets. The palace is two stories in height and belongs to what may be termed the modern colonial style of Cuban architecture, with very high ceilings, enormous doors and tall iron-barred windows that descend to the floor. The interior of the Palace is occupied by a very pretty palm court with a statue of Christopher Columbus posing in the center, facing the wide deep entrance that opens from the Plaza. This building was erected in 1834, as a residence and headquarters for the Governors General sent out from Spain, many of whom have occupied the Palace between that date and the year 1899, when the last Governor General took his departure. It was here that General Martinez Campos, in the winter of 1896, penned his cablegram to the Spanish sovereign, stating that Generals Maximo Gomez and Antonio Maceo, with their insurgent forces, had crossed the Trocha into Pinar del Rio, for which reason he tendered his resignation, acknowledging his failure to arrest the tide of Cuba’s War of Independence. Within this same palace General Weyler planned his scheme of reconcentration, or herding of the pacificos, non-combatants, old men, women and children, into barbed wire stockades, where a quarter of a million of them died of exposure, disease and hunger. It is said that when informed of their condition and the fearful death rate, he remarked, “Excellent! Let these renegade mothers die. We will replace them with women who will bear children loyal to Spain.” It was here also that his more humane and civilized successor, General Blanco, who in the last days of 1897 had tried hard to save Spain’s one remaining colony in America, felt the shock of the explosion that sank the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor in February, 1898, and exclaimed as he looked across the bay toward the wreck: “This will mark the saddest day of Spain’s history.” Within the same room too, Cuba’s first President, the beloved and revered Tomas Estrada Palma, with tears of humiliation in his eyes, handed his resignation as President to the American Secretary of War, William H. Taft, and left for his almost forgotten farm in the forests back of Manzanillo, where he passed his last days as a martyr to the greed and cruelty of his own people.

Diagonally across from the old Presidential Palace, on the northwest corner of the Plaza de Armas, stands the Senate Chamber, a two-story building of the same attractive architecture found in the old Palace. It is in a way a companion to this building, having been designed and directed as the home and office of the various Lieutenant-Generals of the Island, in which capacity it served until the termination of Spanish rule in Cuba. During the two years of American Intervention, various military departments made their headquarters within this structure, but with the installation of the Republic in 1902 it was formally dedicated to the use of the Senate, and officers connected with that branch of the Legislative government. The lofty salon fronting the Plaza de Armas served as the Senate Chamber. The 24 members of the upper house held sessions there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays of each week. As with the Presidential Palace, the somewhat lavish use of marble in patios, floors, stairways, balconies, etc., is much in evidence in this building.

Just north of the Senate Chamber, and covering the east side of the long block on Tacon Street, between the Palace and the Bay, are located the Bureau of Secret Service, the Department of Government, and those of State of Justice, all installed at the present time in the same building.

This building during Colonial days was occupied by the Department of Engineers, and with the beginning of American intervention was turned over to Brigadier General William A. Ludlow, to whose energy is due the credit of rapidly and effectively cleaning up the city of Havana after its sanitary abandonment of three centuries duration. General Ludlow shared the building with General Enoch Crowder. The Palace of State and Justice has been remodeled and renovated from foundation to azotes. All of its floors and most of its walls are now finished and decorated in a manner appropriate to the uses to which it is dedicated.