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Limon History, Costa Rica

In the early 16th century, Christopher Columbus and the crewmates were the first known people to ever see the Costa Rica Mountains. The port of Limon at that time was a commercial venue that was discovered by Columbus on one of his many travels to the Americas in 1502.

From the Pacific Ocean’s side of the country of Costa Rica started the Spanish settlement, a colonization that would last for three centuries. Costa Rica’s thick forests and mountainous ranges made it difficult for the Spanish settlement to spread across the country.

The northern Pacific portions and the Central Valley of Costa Rica were successfully dominated by Spanish settlers, while the Atlantic Ocean’s side wilderness was an unconquered territory for the Spaniards.

Chocolate and cocoa were the major producers at that time, wherein beans were actually used as currency or as a tool used in bartering of goods. Cocoa was planted as seeds and grown in farms that were tented by the original inhabitants of Costa Rica. Eventually, acquiring of slaves became a part of the farming system which posed a lot of legal issues. This agricultural situation stretched for almost 150 years. This type of system though, created no significant progress to the country's economic state at that time.

It was in 1821 when Costa Rica achieved independence from Spain. But the opening of the eastern frontier did not happen until the last half of the nineteenth century. The site for a Caribbean port was chosen where a lemon tree was growing, and was called the Port of Limon. The port was easily accessible from the middle of the country after the government decided to build a railway that lead from the capital city to the Province of Limon.

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