This week's photos are a good comparison of the Gold and Silver days during the construction of the Panama Canal.  The above photo is a long forgotten town called Camp Bierd which was a Silver housing area in Cristobal.  Little was seen in the Canal Zone days of this housing area except for the street by the name of Camp Bierd Road in a field between the Cristobal Yacht Club and the P.R.R. round house.  I remember hearing the name from local rate (silver employees) when I lived and worked on the Atlantic Side in the early '70s.  Now I know what Camp Bierd looked like.

Below on the the other side of the area, towards the piers was the Gold housing area on Broad St. (another vacant field in our days in the Canal Zone) of Cristobal.  These were high class quarters with the Y.M.C.A. of the day on the same street.

More next week.