Cardenas, Panama
Encyclopedia
Cardenas was a township in the old Panama Canal Zone
. It was original founded to house FAA personnel. Later, additional housing was constructed for staff members of the Middle America Research Unit (MARU), a medical research laboratory of the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Its only access from the main road system (specifically, Gaillard Highway) was on a road which started from Corozal.
The main cemetery
for the Panama Canal Zone was located along this road. Past the cemetery was the LDS Church meetinghouse. The road continued to climb as it went past these until cresting a hill, with Cardenas located on the back slope of the hill. The Jungle on three of its sides were part of various military bases, mostly Fort Clayton
.
There were no stores or other services located in Cardenas, just homes. There was one "community center", which was basically a small one-room building available for use by clubs and Troop 14, Canal Zone Council, Boy Scouts of America.
As the Canal Zone was gradually handed over to Panamanian control, Cardenas was one of the last Zonian
holdouts. Its isolated nature helped preserve this (most of the other townships had homes handed over to Panamanian control as they became vacated). In time this too ended, and nowadays it is basically a residential neighborhood in the Canal area.
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
. It was original founded to house FAA personnel. Later, additional housing was constructed for staff members of the Middle America Research Unit (MARU), a medical research laboratory of the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Its only access from the main road system (specifically, Gaillard Highway) was on a road which started from Corozal.
The main cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
for the Panama Canal Zone was located along this road. Past the cemetery was the LDS Church meetinghouse. The road continued to climb as it went past these until cresting a hill, with Cardenas located on the back slope of the hill. The Jungle on three of its sides were part of various military bases, mostly Fort Clayton
Fort Clayton
Fort Clayton was a United States Army base in the former Panama Canal Zone, later part of the Republic of Panama. Fort Clayton was located northwest of Balboa, Panama, with the Panama Canal located nearby. It closed in 1999 pursuant to the Torrijos-Carter Treaties...
.
There were no stores or other services located in Cardenas, just homes. There was one "community center", which was basically a small one-room building available for use by clubs and Troop 14, Canal Zone Council, Boy Scouts of America.
As the Canal Zone was gradually handed over to Panamanian control, Cardenas was one of the last Zonian
Zonian
A Zonian is a person associated with the Panama Canal Zone, a political entity which existed between 1903 and the absorption of the Canal Zone into the Republic of Panama between 1980 and 2000....
holdouts. Its isolated nature helped preserve this (most of the other townships had homes handed over to Panamanian control as they became vacated). In time this too ended, and nowadays it is basically a residential neighborhood in the Canal area.