Note XXVII-59 — Chapter XXVII · CENTRAL AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. 1886.

Just prior to the influx of the foreign element, upon the discovery of the gold placers in California, the town had a gloomy and ruinous aspect. There was nothing to be seen all around but ruin and poverty; whole blocks and streets of old, dilapidated buildings, propped-up houses with people living in them, and luxuriant vegetation in the plazas, walls, etc. With the coming of foreigners a great change took place within the short space of three or four years. Nearly all the old dwellings underwent repairs, and new ones were built. In lieu of the old sad appearance and silence, all was now bustle and movement. Maldonado, Asuntos Polít. Pan., MS., 7.