Here are some photos of Cebu when she was very young. I’ve included some ‘current’ photos of some of these buildings/places. Take a good look at the photos and see how things have changed.
Some of these photos did not come with a title or description. So, if you know some information about them, please do share.
By the way, these amazing vintage photos were from the Cebu Heritage thread of SSC-Cebu. The forumers there always have exciting and very educational discussions about how things were in the olden days. Specials thanks to Salin sa Gubat for compiling these photos.
Young churchgoers. Look how neat and nice they looked. Covered from head to toe.
A proof that the railway system was once present in Cebu. It is said that Cebuanos preferred a cheaper means of transportation (similar to kalesa and traysikad) and eventually, the trains were sold to Negros.
A train station with passengers waiting in the platform. Cebu would have looked a lot different today with a train station.
A busy day at the train station.
A train station in Carcar.
St. John’s Day or San Juan. Cebuanos celebrate this day by going to the beach.
This was the old MCWD building near the city hall. Today, it’s a grocery store.
Portrait of the Aboitiz Family.
Another portrait of the famous family.
That’s the park right in front of the Cathedral Museum.
Magallanes Street. Look at those hats and suits. Really nice.
Calle Magallanes. Wow.
Sabong in Cebu. Sugarol na gyud diay sauna pa. Hehehe.
And the oldest street in the entire country – Colon Street. Wow!
Getting Tuba. Palahubog pud? Hehehe.
Making rope. Uso pud diay ang daster sauna sa? I thought Baro and Saya gyud.
Plaza Rizal. I’m not exactly sure where this is karon.
Wow. Hotel Cebu/Carl Petersen. I’m sure if that’s how you read it, though. But look at those ladies with umbrellas. Cool.
Tres de Abril Street. That river looks exactly the same today.
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All right. Now let’s compare some of these shots. They may not be very accurate. But at least you get the picture.
Old Cebu – Then and Now.
The Port Area – Then and Now.
Fuente Osmeña – Then and Now.
Fuente and view of Osmeña Boulevard – Then and Now.
Aduana / Now Malacanan Sa Sugbu
Crossing somewhere in Danao
The Cebu Provincial Capitol – Then and Now.
Fort San Pedro – Then and Now.
Plaza Independencia – Then and Now (Subway construction)
Freedom Park (?) – Then and Now.
Magellan’s Cross – Then and Now.
The Kiosk – Then and Now.
Muelle Osmeña in Opon – Then and Now.
Carbon Market – Then and Now.
Also check out this entry – Young Cebu
ka nice ba d i sa freedom park sa una oi.. karon kay ng huot naman sa mga tindahan… nya ang MCWD kay supermarket naman tangali siya ron.. kay last nakong kit an.. nice na sad siya au.. nya ang train kay murag sa lahug area… ang uban karon pa jud ko kita…
thanks for sharing ley… nindot man sad d i ang sa una..hehehe
hehe. no probs. nindot gyud sauna. 😀
Tres de Abril Street. That river looks exactly the same today?!LOL
My wife told me it’s very stinky there now.
well, yeah. forgot to mention that part. lol. i’m talking about the overall look of the place. there’s still a road right beside the river. and there’s still a bridge.
nindot gyud ang sauna labi na kana mga churchgoers sauna neat kaayo …
kung mag time travel ko pilion nako ang sauna compare sa karon.
ganahan ko sauna panahon nga walay mga taxi, mga digital camera, cellphone, atm, computer, internet…..
kung ibalik ang sauna karon wa pud tay my cebu photo blog hehehe
lahi na gyud karon hightech na
nyahahahah. sakto. 😀
Amazing talaga!
Daghang salamat Ley,
glorious cebu!!! oh how i miss cebu!
where did you get these photos?
Growing up in Lacion, I was always wondering if the train station went all the way beyond our town because we do have an area in town called “Estasyonan” which used to be a train station (the Gonzales clam in Consolacion live near or in front of it to this day); there was still some pillars left of that station but must have been taken down now (I wish I had taken pics of those when I was growing up because we had a camera passed around in the family since that was not something everyone can afford unlike now; it was courtesy of an uncle who came here in the US). I was not sure if it was the last stop or did it go beyond to Danao (if the train tracks you have here, Ley is an extension of that train system)-things my parents could have answered but they have since passed away. There was also an area for the “riles”/train tracks which you can see clearly (without the iron, etc) which Lacionanons used as a trail going to our town cemetery or the market, kind of a back road way (it has since been converted into Consolation Village).
Great pics and good memories of glorious days in Cebu. Thanks, Ley for sharing!
Day Delza
Hayyyyyyyyy, kanindot usahay balikon og sudongon ang kagahapon. . hapsay og limpio ang mga kadalanan, walay trapico og ang zoning maayong pagka plano, fresco pa ang mga hangin og wala pay pollution, tin-aw pa ang mga sapa og kadagatan, timgas kaayo ang mga mata sa kaisdaan, bisan og wala pay pintal ang mga buildings, kabalayan, monumento, og ilabi na ang mga kababaihan. lahi ra gayud ang mga hulagway nga natural, maanindot. Haaaahaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy nalang!
haaaaaayyyy pud…..kabalaknun ba nimug mga pinulongan. daw gikahig ang akong dughan…..
@leylander…..im a fan of ur blog….da best jud!!!
padayona lang jud na permi brad…kay sa atong generation karon tagsa nlang jud ang naka appreciate ug nakahinumdum kung unsa batan-ong sugbo….saunang panahon.
tnx for sharing
Very nostalgic. My granddad, dad & uncles used to wear suits.=) I love that car, vintage na karon.=)
Very nice historical account, never even knew there was rail system in Cebu.
Thanks Ley
A very vivid presentation of young Cebu. Thanks for sharing. We can see how the people were attired then, long before t-shirts came in vogue. Being barefoot was not to be ashamed of, despite the long stretch of road to walk. Shoes were perhaps luxury. Did they ever complain of the heat then?
So that’s how the area of Freedom Park is known as Warwick Barracks.
I’ve been told that Rizal Park is located somewhere near the City Hall.
A difficult job would be to take current pictures for visual comparison from approximate exact same angles . Are there more pictures from where these came from?
this post is one of my favorites. nindot kaayo! salamat ley!
nice one bai ley!its gud 2 knw how cebu looked like b4 and the peoples outfit!i think the pictures was taken during the spanish era bcoz of their outfits!nice 2 see the famous aboitiz family!i wonder wer they are now!thx bai ley.i lyk dis one….
Ganda! I was surprised to know that Cebu used to have a railway system. It would be more convenient if the system survived up to now. Imagine going to Carcar (from Cebu city) by train express.
grabe sauna sah… it looks totally different from now.. pero naay ubang mga buildings like capitol the same ang design, the same pa japon until now but ila lang gipanindotan… ang old cebu ug karon sus very different na jud.. ang tres de abril ambot ang river mao ba kaha na perme na mo maagian wa man lain bridge sa tres.hehehhe
grabe jud noh….. ang fuente osmena naa na diay nay fountain i mean kanang naa sa tunga ba. ambot naa ba kaha to tubig before..
nice kaau jud ang mga photos ay. ma compare jud nimo karon ug sauna.
chuia. haha. nostalgic. haha. ninduta ibalik oi. haha. nabuhi pa lang ko ug sayu. hahaha.
chuia sa mga guard sauna oi. hahaha 🙂 nya, naa pajuy mga train. haha.
bai, naa pai dghan pics ani? pwd mangayu link..
kung naa lang ko time machine. dili ku mu-adto sa future. ganahan ko mubalik sa past.
pagkaanindot ba gyud diay sa Sugbo kaniadto pah.
Sayang wala na ang mga train, nindot unta siguro kung naa pa na karon.
thanks for posting, bai. 🙂
agree ko nimu Clarence..
so niCe…
heheh!
ako suya kaayu ko sa train sa manila… niya naa ra d i unta sa cebu.. aheheh!
Wow! nice work! Sosyal kaau ang mga tao nga nag suite plus kalo.! The best!
is this a compilation of pics or purely all yours?
as mentioned in the post, the photos were from SSC Cebu Heritage thread and most of them were compiled by Salin Sa Gubat.
WOW… in fact, the office here in mj cuenco where we are at right now was once a rail road. interesting..
wlay lain ani…. more pictures please…
Kanindot sa mga pics. Sayanga sa mga trains oi.
Basi okay ra sad nga gitang-tang kay basi maparehas sa Manila puno ug squatter as in “Home along the riles”.
Hey!
Thanks for sharing and writing this article about Cebu!
Nice one!
Just learned from your article that Cebu had a train station before. Kewl!
Paul
Wow… awesome photos… it makes me miss Cebu all the more… and I do recall that Cebu did have a train station way way back…
“… proof that the railway system was once present in Cebu. It is said that Cebuanos preferred a cheaper means of transportation (similar to kalesa and traysikad) and eventually, the trains were sold to Negros.”
Porbida gyud aning Cebuano, da-an na gyud diay nga pwerteng pagka kuripot, hehehe
Very nice historical account, thanks 🙂
Ley, bless your heart for sharing all these pics. labi na gayud and ingon nako nga hagbay nang wa ka-uli sa Cebu. Mauy akong yutang natauhan ug minahal kaayo. Daghang salamat sa pag-share nimo sa mga pictures na ito. Kaannindot pagmasdan ang mga unang mga adla kay makita mo ang pureness and sincerity sa mga nawong. Ang mga building ug kalsada, sus kadako na sa mga changes which I am proud of. We are moving forward. As much as I wanted to go home for a visit due to unavoidable circumstances I cannot. Hinaut pa unta nga una ko kuha-on sa Diyos ay makauli man lang unta sa uma-abot nga adlaw. Thank you much and God bless you.
the cebu before is totally different from today.
ang freedom park is sa carbon diay nah?
Hi land. mo comment ko sa picture nimo sa danao, kay maayo naa ka picture ana. karon pa ko kita picture sa train sa amoa. I think that place in the picture is where the
port coquitlam is situated, owned by the gothong.
hope daghan paka pictures of old cebu and its places.
These pictures are awesome…amazing!Good job! 🙂
^but darla i don’t think ley traveled back in time to take the old cebu photos. ahehehe! but ley, where’d you get the old photos?
haaaai! ka nice jud oi. nindot jud ang cebu.Ü
Nindot kau mga pics nimo bai. lingaw kau ko
More vintage photos here:
http://mycebuphotoblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/remnants-of-war/
http://mycebuphotoblog.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/young-cebu/
http://mycebuphotoblog.wordpress.com/2007/06/28/post-war-cebu/
featured some of your images in my site.
hey can i copy some of ur pictures.. plz ..
wow. nindot jud ang sugbo sukad pa sauna. shempre due to time passed by. mausab jud xa. interesting pud ang pamuyo sa kani-adto. walay internet og facebook. haha 😀
do you an old picture of condrad warehouse? which is now la nueva supermart? your post will be a big help 🙂 thanks..
pwede ko mugamit sa imo mga photos dnhe? ako gamitun sa amo promotional video.. please?? thanks
Good day Ley. Pwede mi mugamit sa imong photos dire for school project sa akong daughter? Daghang salamat daan…regards ko Satchmo…