October 1, 2013

Memoria Gráfica de Honduras (Memories of Honduras)

La Ceiba beach front after the 1932 hurricane
I can't remember if I ever told my readers about the Memoria Gráfica de Honduras blog. I first discovered it in 2009 during the 'bad' time and sent the link to some of my Honduran friends but may not have posted it here during that hectic time. Oh, well, even if I have already written about it, it is worth repeating.

If you are Honduran, and even if you are not, you will love this blog. I promise. It includes a lot of history on various topics as well as the old photos, antique postal cards, money, stamps, and documents.

Honduras' postal service, 1897
The articles are in Spanish, but even if you don't read Spanish, you'll enjoy the photos. Click the first photo in each article to view a slide show of enlarged photos for a much better experience.



Article topics include the exacavation and restoration of Copán Ruinas from the 1890s, historical photos of the national railroadearly aviation in Honduras (did you know that Charles Lindberg landed here in 1928?), post cards from the early 1900s, historical maps of Honduras going back to the 1700s, and much, much more. One of my favorites are the original pencil drawings of a Honduran artist from Williams Vincent Wells' 1857 book "Explorations and Adventures in Honduras, which I have read and thoroughly enjoyed (with caveats). Oddly, the artist was not given credit in the book, being named only as "a Honduran". Hmmmph!

6th Avenue, San Pedro Sula

Memoria Gráfica includes old photos from towns such as La Ceiba, Puerto Cortés, Trujillo, Utila, Comayagua, San Pedro Sula and the largest collection, Tegucigalpa, with 160 photos.

Tegucigalpa from La Leona, year unknown,
but some time before 1948
This photo of Tegucigalpa intrigued me so I scoured the internet looking for a current day shot of this approximate area. I think I found some! That is some change, isn't it?

Current day Tegucigalpa, Cerro Juan A. Lainez
Image: Skyscraper City
By the way, the Skyscraper City Honduras forums are worth a visit, too. I would have posted this article hours earlier but I was lost in time looking at all the current day photos.

Tegus, a more panoramic view (Wikipedia)
And the other side of the same hill
If you love Honduras, you are going to want to bookmark this blog and keep going back until you've seen the whole thing. If you or your family have antique photos of Honduras or other documents, the author invites you to send digitized copies for inclusion in the blog. I noticed in one of his comments that he speaks English, too, so don't let that stop you if you have any old items to send him.

Most importantly, please leave a comment to thank the blogger, Marti Corrales, for his efforts in displaying this wonderful collection! Congratulations, Marti, for your wonderful blog. It is a real tribute to Honduras.