Colón is a city in Central Panama. The town is in poor condition and notorious for its high crime rate, but it is worth driving around to look at the culture, people and architecture.

History

The city was founded by Americans in 1850 as the Atlantic terminal of the Panama Railroad, then under construction to meet the gold rush demand for a fast route to California. For a number of years early in its history, the sizable United States émigré community called the town Aspinwall after Panama Railroad promoter William Henry Aspinwall, while the city's Hispanic community called it Colón in honor of Christopher Columbus. The city was founded on the western end of a treacherously marshy islet known as Manzanillo Island. As part of the construction of the Panama Railroad, the island was connected to the Panamanian mainland by a causeway and part of the island was drained to allow the erection of permanent buildings.

Much of the city was destroyed in the Burning of Colón during the Colombian Civil War of 1885, and again during a massive fire in 1915. The Great Colon Fire of April 13–14, 1940 destroyed one-third of the city.

Fort De Lesseps
Fort De Lesseps was a small U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps fort located at the northern tip of the city. It was named after the canal developer Ferdinand de Lesseps.

From 1948 to 1989

In 1948, the southeastern corner of Manzanillo Island was designated as the Colón Free Trade Zone. The Free Trade Zone has since been expanded through land reclamation on the Folks River and annexation of parts of France Field (now Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport) and Coco Solo.

During its heyday, Colón was home to dozens of nightclubs, cabarets, and movie theaters. It was known for its citizens' civic pride, orderly appearance, and outstanding native sons and daughters. Politically instigated riots in the 1960s destroyed the city's municipal palace and signaled the start of the city's decline, which was further accelerated by the military dictatorships of Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega from 1968 to 1987.

Since late 2014
A massive restoration and reconstruction project, involving parks, avenues, and historic buildings and monuments, began in late 2014 and uses the hashtags #RenovaciónColón, #CiudadDeColón, #RenovationColon (Renovation of Colón) and #CityOfColon. The First Baptist Church of Colón, Panama, is one of the buildings whose renovation has been completed.