Situated along the banks of the rivers Pasig and San Juan, quite removed from the busy and traffic-laden streets of Manila’s Santa Mesa district is a community (more like a subdistrict or a sitio of sorts) known as Bacood. Bacood’s name comes from the Tagalog word “bakood” which would mean either an elevated area or a cane plantation. It has been said that the area back then served as a plantation for various crops. But in the early days, Bacood was known as Cordeleria, a Spanish term for a shop that sells ropes. This was because the place back then was the center of rope-making and selling activity in Manila…
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a history of rock and revolution: J&T Building
Right at the end of the service road of Ramon Magsaysay Blvd. (where most vehicles bound for Santol area pass through) stands one of the few skyscrapers that dominate the landscape of Santa Mesa district. Nowadays, this plain-looking building is home to some shipping and recruitment agencies and the preschool unit of STI Colleges. But who would have thought that this building has a colorful history of its own?
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Roaming in Old Sta. Mesa St.
Straddling between Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard and V. Mapa Street is a street with an interesting name: Old Sta. Mesa. Before the wisecrack questions are raised, yes it is old as it says it is. In fact, the area of Old Sta. Mesa is one of the oldest places in Manila’s geographic district of Santa Mesa, having served as the “poblacion” or town center of this suburb by the turn of the 20th century.
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Where horses used to tread: Hippodromo St., Sta. Mesa, Manila
As Manila grew in the 19th century, the lands of Santa Mesa and the nearby areas have become home to prominent families of the era. One of them was the Tuasons, the forebears of the First Gentleman himself, Mike Arroyo. These properties eventually were donated or placed on rent as Manila was continuously expanding outwards and more people coming in to live in the city. At the same time, the sport of horse racing began to take hold of Manila’s sporting and recreational scene. From its humble beginnings in 1867, it became so popular that it began to outgrow its original venue at what is now known as R. Hidalgo Street. Coinciding…