Chicola was a small port on the north coast of the Fallas,

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. It was built in 1932 by the Fallas-Gutiérrez sugar company to ship to the US the sugar produced by the factories of Central Patria and Central Adelaida. It is located on a bay in front of

Cayo Coco Cayo Coco is an island on the north coast of central Cuba, known for its all-inclusive resorts. It lies within the Ciego de Ávila Province and is part of a chain of islands called Jardines del Rey ('King's Gardens'). The cay is administered b ...

island, near the Laguna de Leche, at c. 30 km north-west of Morón,

Ciego de Ávila Province Ciego de Ávila () is one of the provinces of Cuba, and was previously part of Camagüey Province. Its capital is Ciego de Ávila, which lies on the Carretera Central (central highway), and the second city is Morón, further north. The provi ...

.Canal de Chicola (satelliteviews.net)
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History

The name came from the Spanish word (chico), which means "small" or "tight". The only access to Chicola was through 9 kilometers of

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

that ran, from Falla, on a heavily forested and swampy terrain. The sugar was carried in railroad wagons and then loaded onto flat-bottom boats to be taken over 25 miles of shallow sea (6 feet) to deep ocean, ( Cayo Guillermo), where it was transferred to big liners. It operated until 1968. In 1962 the Cuban

coast guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

installed a station with a 100-foot-high

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

, which was closed in 1975. Today it is an abandoned locality visited only by

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

. The railways were salvaged for materials for cattle fence construction.

References

Ports and harbors of Cuba Buildings and structures in Ciego de Ávila Province Morón, Cuba {{Cuba-geo-stub