The True History of Cozumel - now available

[Brules]

Do you know Roberto... I can't remember his last name, but he had a black coral shop downstairs from the original Prima? He moved to the mainland a few years ago, but for many years my parents bought pieces from him to sell in their pharmacy/gift shop in the US.

My wife has an earing and necklace set from him. He was a true artist.....always enjoyed his shop and seeing his creations.

 

[ggunn]

The photograph below was taken on Cozumel in 1877.

Can anybody guess the location?

View attachment 215456

Chen Rio. I can see Coconuts Hill in the background.

 

[DandyDon]

The photograph below was taken on Cozumel in 1877.

Can anybody guess the location?

Is that a photo or a drawing? Graveyard...??

 

[El Graduado]

It is a copy of a photograph that was printed from a photo-engraved plate.

It is not Chen Rio.

 

[ggunn]

It is a copy of a photograph that was printed from a photo-engraved plate.

It is not Chen Rio.

Are you sure? The bay in the background looks kind of like the one at Playa Bonita, formerly the Naked Turtle, but the hill back there is pretty distinctive and there aren't many high places like that on the island. Nothing on the west side, anyway.

 

[El Graduado]

I am absolutely sure that it is not Chen Rio. I know where it was taken and by whom. The "hill" you are seeing in the background is a lot closer to the foreground than you think and it is only a clump of low scrub trees, maybe seagrapes.

 

[ggunn]

I am absolutely sure that it is not Chen Rio. I know where it was taken and by whom. The "hill" you are seeing in the background is a lot closer to the foreground than you think and it is only a clump of low scrub trees, maybe seagrapes.

I see. Are any features in the picture still there? I don't think there are any palm trees that tall on the island any more.

 

[El Graduado]

I see. Are any features in the picture still there? I don't think there are any palm trees that tall on the island any more.

The big hurricane of 1903 took them out.

 

[ggunn]

The big hurricane of 1903 took them out.

So, if nothing in the picture is there any more, what's the point of guessing where the photo was taken?

---------- Post added August 27th, 2015 at 05:24 PM ----------

My wife has an earing and necklace set from him. He was a true artist.....always enjoyed his shop and seeing his creations.

My family must have over 100 pieces that he made and that we bought from him over the years. The most impressive piece we have is a life sized long stem rose that my dad commissioned from Roberto and bought for my mom a few months before he passed. It is gorgeous.

 

[El Graduado]

(So, if nothing in the picture is there any more, what's the point of guessing where the photo was taken?)

The trees, the wooden fence, and some of the brick structure were blown away by the hurricane.

I think it is interesting that such an early photograph of Cozumel still exists.

I recently ran across another photo that is pretty neat. It is one taken of the plaza before the clock tower was built in 1910, and it shows the second church to be built in San Miguel, which was burned down in 1915. It is the only image I know of that shows that church. I am including that one in the Spanish edition of Verdadera Historia de Cozumel.