La Casa del Portazgo, ie the place where he claimed the right of way, traffic, these roads, or what is equal or turnpike tolls, stood a few feet from where now stands the ice maker in the band west of the Causeway to Bejucal, and a few steps farther north was the site of transhipped boxes of sugar from ox carts to the mule carts were the only ones allowed to enter City [1].
This measure, established by the Board of Public Works, was intended to raise funds for road improvements, as necessary for the trafficking of boxes of sugar to the port of Havana. [2]
Knowing that for every bullock cart was needed four mule wagons, we can imagine the immense traffic of Cattle, Carry On, Chargers, animals, etc., occurring at that position. This vortex of men and animals also demanded stables and fodder for the care and feeding of animals, inns and shops for food and rest of the people, to spend the night or where cool with a glass of wine and eating a mouthful; blacksmith for repairs of wagons and carts, and hardware of animals, and with it a multitude of people to the attention of all these services to the diverse needs of carriers and passengers .
Even in those years the road to Batabano was used as the shortest and safest route between the southern coast of Cuba and Havana, although dangerous pirates had disappeared, the risks of sailing around the Cabo de San Antonio continued to exist. One who wanted to travel to and from Santiago de Cuba, Trinidad, etc.., Moved to and from there continued Batabano in coaster to those destinations. The same applied to different goods. [3]
All this huge and continuous traffic of Arroyo Apolo was a town full of movement, lively, dedicated to serve pedestrians. Its strength is manifest that if by 1841 had 119 inhabitants in 1867 reached 775, of whom 322 were slaves, most likely used as porters and other heavy tasks related to the movement of goods. Its annual growth rate was 7.5% for those years, the highest in the south of Havana. [4]
Arroyo Apolo growth influenced other locations and Managua, Calvary and Arroyo Naranjo and also in other small towns that appear in the first half of the nineteenth century.
For example the village of San Juan that emerges from a few huts built by the quarry workers of Osma, in 1841 had about 32 people, 7 households, a winery and a small inn establishment where selling alcoholic beverages and coffee.
There were other ways, Serventi, alleys and paths, often these were opened by individuals to get their products. The most important was that Ramon Osma built for the extraction of its production quarry and we have already mentioned, today we know as Calzada de San Agustín. The neighborhood south of the current boom Párraga know that quarry that produced an excellent stone for the paving of sidewalks, porches, garages, etc.
Osma was the owner of the quarry, which decisively influenced the settlement and development of this area, as part of their free laborers created a small town in the hill of San Juan, which we have already mentioned, a short distance from the quarry.
The wealth accumulated by the employer allowed him to build a beautiful mansion in the hills south of the present Parraga, which are still some walls, currently exploited by several homes [5] and also keeps the mouth of the well carved in a stone and a engraving, 1851. This well is still used by local residents.
Although wage workers allegedly used the bulk of the workforce was a slave, coming to build a crematorium for the bodies of these unfortunates. Near this place there is a stream where they had created the conditions for washing of slaves today, vegetation, debris, waste, and trash accumulated, can not easily discover the site.
I doubt that Ramon was Osma a very peculiar character, witty, and possibly an explosive nature, the construction of the crematorium and the suitability of the site for toilet slaves indicate their interest in maintaining sanitary conditions, in addition to road construction, several teams suitable for tillage and removal of stones from the quarry and some architectural details that can still be seen in what remains of residence allows us to suppose that intelligence was alive.
Moreover, the tone of his legal fight against the government because of its refusal to pay the toll at the crossing of his way to the Calzada de Managua tells us a lot of character. Several bundles at the National Archives [ANC], set out their demands but could find none in the one that you will give final resolution to their requests. I believe that much of Osma was right because he used only a few meters from the Calzada de Managua before crossing the turnpike and yet be paid as if the road had been used in all or most of its length, second most of the route from the quarry to the toll was on a road he had built.
Arroyo Apolo development and population of Havana, we have seen was based initially on the movement of goods twentieth century was still a point of reference the crossroads at Bejucal and Managua and until the late 60's was a center who were small shops, eateries, cafes, and dozens of establishments offering various services, So we just have the memory.
Image: Road in Arroyo Apolo [c1900] taken Cuban Heritage Collection.
[*] Taken from my unpublished book 'Incidents, confidences and divergences of a historian '
[1] mule carts were used until the mid twentieth century, the movement of goods to or from the port, with them the Mack Truck chain were the main transportation in the port, but now it seems incredible.
[2] The toll was around 1796:
| Every beast | real ½ |
| Volanta | 4 reales |
| Carreta | 2 reales |
| Livestock and pedestrians | not pay |
We could not find these data for the years 40-50 of the nineteenth century. The toll was expensive since the same date could buy 12 ounces of meat a real cow, so the toll of a cart, not to mention the wheel, was the equivalent of a pound and a half of meat. Not by protesting little Ramón Osma, as discussed below, to establish its case for not paying the toll. Rogues do not doubt that the time to seek various resources to avoid having to pay.
[3] The bulk of sugar production was no longer moving through the area since it came from the region southeast of Havana and therefore used the Causeway Guines, who had his House Portazgo around what is now known as Bridge Alcoy Pastrana on the river, near what is known as 'Virgen del Camino' But even for these years was a considerable amount of boxes of sugar that moved through Arroyo Apolo, plus all the movement of goods and passengers between the south of Cuba and Havana.
[4] After this the growth rate the highest in the region was that of A. Naranjo with a 5.95%. The huge number of slaves in A. Apollo representing 41.5% of the population in 1867 is relatively and absolutely greater in the area, and explains precisely why activities developed around Portazgo.
[5] housing Call you what I found there in my field research, is an understatement. That was a hideous amalgam of huts where malvivían about 7 or 8 families from the eastern region, in the most deplorable sanitary conditions. This immigration, forced by economic and social situation, the people called them by that time [90's], with some jocularity and a bit of acidity, "Palestinians."
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