How Panama Became A Tourist Destination in 1855

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The real heroes of the Panama Railroad construction became the West Indian workers. Those strong and patient Natives from the Eastern Caribbean Islands became renowned for being able to work in the tropical heat and not fall ill from the multiple diseases that had killed so many. They were relaxed and at ease enough to calmly carry the dangerous dynamite needed to open access for building the railroad tracks. They learned English from the Americans, lived among them, and many of their descendants still live in Colon today.

On January 28, 1855 a train ran from the Atlantic Ocean all the way across the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean for the first time. The Panama Railroad was added to the official list of the then seven wonders of the world for that era, and many well-heeled travelers planned excursions including a trip on the inter-ocean railroad. Those traveler’s tales bred curiosity in others and a trip on the Panama Railroad became a world renowned tourist destination.

Astonishingly, the building of the Panama Railroad led to the construction of the Panama Canal. Without the demonstrated construction techniques of the train crews, and international interest, there would have been no Canal. The Panama Railroad made people aware that there was a quicker and more economic route to travel between the oceans and that it had potential.