Crossed histories of the Honduran Caribbean: Republican urbanism and the banana Company town in Tela, 1876-1977

Abstract

This article addresses the urban dichotomy that arose in Tela, a port in Honduras, after the arrival of the United Fruit Company in 1913. This process was characterized by the segregation of the original town, called Tela Viejo, from Tela Nuevo, headquarters of the banana company. This urban juxtaposition revealed two different conceptions of territorial occupation. On the one hand, that of the State of Honduras, through the founding of this new city in 1876, with its primary urban functions, within the so-called pre-progressive urbanism. Morphologically, Tela had a compact urban model of Hispanic style, but with republican elements, as well as features of the British colonial architecture common in the Caribbean. On the other hand, the United Fruit Company promoted industrial and zoning urbanism, introducing modernities in communications and capitalist dynamics. Important migrations are triggered, which contribute to the local culture. This urban reality also materialized other social, national and ethnic differences, with the American members of Tela Nuevo prevailing, encountering an amalgamation of native, mestizos, migrants, black and mulatto settlers established in Tela Viejo. Although they were built separately, the interaction of their inhabitants gave rise to a new and distinctive Caribbean cultural syncretism.