I almost fell off my chair when my friend and CZ Images contributor Vicente Pascual sent me these two photos this past week!  What super captures in time of the best Canal Zone town ever ... Gamboa!  Living in Gamboa was the best years of my life.  These photos are from 1950 and look like they were official Panama Canal photos.  Gamboa was a very nicely laid out town and had all the amenities that the residents needed.  There was a commissary, swimming pool, theater, gym clubhouse, elementary school, police, fire department, churches of several denominations and the best of all, the Canal, river and lake.  The home of the Dredging Division was why Gamboa came into existence with most residents working for the Dredging Division.  These two photos show the sister town of Santa Cruz with the large multi family houses, school, gym and churches.  These large houses were demolished later to make way for more modern multi family apartment style quarters.  

The Ajax and Hercules floating cranes are seen in these photos which is a treat as the Ajax was later sold and only the Hercules was seen when I lived there. There are two of the three Bucyrus Dipper Dredges seen in this photo.  One tied up to the two cranes and the other down in the cove tied up to the drill barges.  All that you needed to keep the Panama Canal open was at hand in Dredging Division. 

The islands and coves across from Gamboa are historical areas.  The towns of Matachin, Jamaica Town, Santa Cruz and Gorgona once very important towns from the 1855 Railroad days and Canal Construction era.  All submerged or over grown  in time.  I had some of my best bottle digging on these islands.

Wonderful old photos.  Thank you Vicente for sending them in.