Philippine History: Chapter 13 - Where can we find today the old streets created in 1906?

Chapter 13. Where can we find today the old streets created in 1906?

Remember those street names that were created in 1906 (Chapter 11) when the officials decided to move the town across the Magnanud River?

(This is a typical dirt street in the 1900s where houses were made of nipa thatchings and bamboos while bananas, coconuts, and fruit-bearing trees were either at the back or by the side of the huts)

(Photo credit: George W. Griffith & Griffith) 

They were Embarcadero, Calle Real, Buen Retiro, Yap Quiña (Sr. Yap-Quiña already had a street to his name in 1906 but looking at the map below, 'his' street was way off from the Embarcadero area), Catinal, Comercio, Aurora, and Progreso.

I tried to locate the new names of those old streets and using a screenshot of Google Maps, here's what I found:

         (Old street names written in red. 

The present-day Casañares St. was Calle de Embarcadero, named so because 
it was the closest street to the wharf. 
Up to this day, that area is still called Embarcadero, the Spanish word for 'wharf'.)

Upon locating those old street names in the present-day map, one thing was obvious: the earliest streets were close to the river, which just shows that in the early days when land transport was limited to riding carabaos, horses, or carts pulled by these animals, having a house next to a river gave one another convenient, accessible transport - boats. 

In those times, going to the province's capital, Bacolod, it was more convenient and faster by taking a boat instead of riding a horse as the paths were still unpaved and full of obstructions such as big trees and swamps, and challenges presented by rivers with weak bridges, wandering wild animals, and the absence of shelters and settlements along the way in case of downpours or medical emergencies.

Even in ancient times, great civilizations were founded next to a river, although we would have hoped that the Magnanud River was the Nile and that we'd also have pharaohs and pyramids in Victorias.

Instead, we ended up having fake pharaohs and fake pyramids.😀

I blame the river.😂

Chapter 14. Victorias Milling Company and the migration of Ilonggos to Victorias (1919)

Complete history blog: "Ang Kasaysayan sang                                                       Victorias"

Philippine History: Chapter 12 - The Malihao River Flood (1907) and Magnanud River Flood (1922)

Chapter 12. The Malihao River flood (1907) and Magnanud River flood (1922)

On January 9, 1907, dark skies covered the land and rains continued for days. But on January 11, at around 2 in the morning, Daan Banwa was awakened by flash floods from Malihao River that overflowed, causing the townspeople to panic with screams of "Ta-bang!" heard every where. 

People had to climb to the roof with waters as high as their necks near the site of the school and flowing in strong currents. When the waters subsided before noon, homes and businesses suffered losses from sacks of mascuvádo sugar, rice grains and other merchandise, to livestock like chicken, pigs, and even carabaos, cows and horses. Six people were reported to have been swept away along with a few houses.

A few days after the huge flood, on January 14,  news reached Daan Banwa about an old woman who was swept all the way to Estancia in Ilolo and miraculously survived by just clinging on a wooden table. She was from Saravia and their small house sat by the bank of Malogo River. 

But in 1922, when Sr. Vicente Ardoza was the town mayor, Magnanud River overflowed its banks and caused more than just losses to properties, goods, and livestock. 

(Traveling on a carabao cart 1900s with women in dresses seated while men guided the carabao)

Photo credit: Brochure of 1904 Philippine Exposition from the Johnathan Best and John Silva Collection)

When I read about the 1922 flood, I remember the most recent one. I was told that, in November 1995, Magnanud River flooded the areas of Embarcadero area and even spilled to as far as the Bat-us area of Barangay 3. Families were evacuated, the murky waters reached the roof of small homes, the coffins of the funeral parlor nearby were swept away floating like a horror-movie apparition, and everything you left behind got wet. 

If that huge flood happened in 1995, this type of deluge must have happened in that area before and that flood in 1922 must have been the same type or even worse. 

And we should all remember, if this happened before, it can happen again. Mother Nature does not exactly broadcast her intentions before striking.😱

So, the question now is: Did the flood of 1922 cause the town officials to think of moving the casa-municipal by the Magnanud River to a new site, one that has a higher elevation?😕

Chapter 13. Where can we find today the old streets created in 1906?

Complete history blog: "Ang Kasaysayan sang                                                   Victorias"