HISTORY

Colonial Times

A little over 200 years ago, San Jose (San Pedro) was no more than a few muddy streets around which clustered an assembly of rickety buildings. In 1737 this little village first gained status, when a thatched habitation was built to draw residents scattered throughout the valley. Without drawing too much attention, the first wholesale influx was comprised of Spanish and Creole smugglers, whom of which spoke Biesanz et al., "having rebelled against the royal monopoly of commerce by resorting to contraband, were punished by being 'exiled' from Cartago," the colonial capitol city formed by Juan Vasquez de Coronado in 1564. The newly founded settlement was christened Villa Nueva de la Boca del Monte del Valle de Abra. Later changed to San Jose, the name of a local patron saint.

Thanks to the merchants' bold ways, San Jose (San Pedro) flourished and quickly grew to the size of Cartago. By the 1820's, San Jose (San Pedro) and Cartago both had just over 5,000 inhabitants, Heredia half the amount, and Alajuela a bit over 1,800. Soon San Jose developed into a lucrative monopoly in the tobacco trade. Tobacco funds provided a civic building; near the end of the 18th century, San Jose was crowned with a Cathedral facing a beautiful park, a currency mint, military quarters and a town council building.

Independence

In October 1821 news was passed from Spain to Maceta central; The surprising announcement was that Costa Rica was an independent country. Soon the counsels of the four cities sat down to determine their fate, and a constitution-Pacto de Concordia-inspired from the 1812 Spanish constitution. Alas, exclaimed historian Carlos Monge Alfaro, early Costa Rica was not a unified province, rather a "group of villages separated by narrow regionalisms." Now the four cities felt and performed as had the city-states of Ancient Greece. The aristocratic and restrained traditional leaders of Cartago and Heredia, with their colonial links, favored annexation to a Central American federation led by Mexico; the progressively more republican force of San Jose and Alajuela, convinced by the revolutionary ideas predominant in Europe, argued for independence. A bloody struggle for regional control soon took place.

On April 5, 1823, the two sides ensued a battle in the Ochomogo Hills. The republican forces commanded by a former merchant seaman named Gregorio Jose Ramirez, won victory and then stormed through Cartago. In a landmark act that set a precedent to be followed in later years, the civilian hero Ramirez relinquished power and retired to his farm, then returned to foil a brilliantly executed army stratagem.

Thus San Jose became the nations capitol city. It's growing popularity, however, soon engendered resentment and discontent. In a conciliatory act in March of 1835, San Jose's leaders offered to rotate the national capitol among the four cities every four years. Discontently, the other cities-including Alajuela-had a thorn in their collective side. In September 1837 they formed a league, chose a president, and on September 26, attacked San Jose in an effort to overthrow the Bauilio Carillo government. The Josefinos won what came to be called La Guerra de la Liga ("The war of the League"). And so San Jose has remained the nation's capitol ever since.

By the mid 1800's the coffee industry was bringing a boom in prosperity, culture, and refinement to the once-humble village. San Jose developed a moderate middle class hungry to invest its new found wealth for the social good. The mud roads became brick highways illuminated by kerosene lamps. Tramways appeared as well. San Jose was the third in the world to install electric lighting for the public. Well ahead of other cities throughout Europe and North America san Jose installed public telephones. By the turn of the century, plazas and splendid buildings, lined with trees catered to the flourishing movement-libraries, museums, the Teatro Nacional, and gran neoclassical mansions and middle-class homes-honored the city. Aided by the coffee income and influenced by he Paris and Crystal Palace Expositions architects were erecting great monuments and schools built of imported prefabricated metals.

Of course, the city wasn't without slum like suburbs formed of puertas ventanas, tiny workers' houses occupied by several families. Industrial zones rose on the perimeter of the urban center. And there were isolated sections populated by blacks who had defied segregationist laws and settled in the Meseta Central.

Modern Times

As recently as the 1940's San Jose still had only 70,000 residents, a mere tenth of the nations population. After WW II, the capitol city began to mushroom, growing without constraint, invading neighboring villages such as Guadalupe and Tibas. Unfortunately, many many of the city's finest buildings were destroyed by the demolition crane in post war years. Only to be replaced by monstrous examples of modern architecture. This haphazard growth continues as the city continues to grow farther afield until the suburban districts have begun to meld into the larger complex. Surrounding hills twinkle at night with the lights of suburban villages that are slowly becoming part of the city's fold.

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Courtesy of Christopher P. Baker and Avalon Travel Publishing.
© 2004 Christopher P. Baker. All Rights Reserved.

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