The Panama Canal was a feat of engineering, but it took hundreds of thousands of people, two different countries, and the creation of a new one to get it done.
The idea of cutting through Panama to open up a trade route through the Americas was first conceived by the French. They invested in their own construction project from 1881 to 1899, but the project proved to be too tedious and expensive.
President Theodore Roosevelt then spearheaded the effort for the U.S. to acquire the project, and when Panama declared their independence from Spain in 1903, a deal was quickly struck to begin construction of the American canal. Once completed in 1914, the Panama Canal became a fixture of world trade that still stands today.
Here are photos of the long and turbulent journey of the people who worked to clear a path through a continental divide.
1
Workers clear earth by hand. 1900.
2
Cutting through the continental divide.
3
French employees of the Panama Canal Company pose for a photograph. 1885.
4
Jamaican laborers push a wagon of earth along a narrow-gauge railroad. 1885.
5
A man stands near dredging equipment abandoned by the French. 1906.
6
U.S. workers arrive in 1904
7
A man stands in one of the canal locks. 1912.
8
A view of the Culebra Cut from the west bank. 1912.
9
The spillway of the Gatun Dam, which impounds manmade Gatun Lake, a major section of the canal. 1913.
10
The Gatun Locks under construction between the Atlantic Ocean and Gatun Lake. 1913.
11
Locks under construction. 1913.
12
A man stands on the west bank overlooking the construction of the Pedro Miguel Locks. 1910.
13
Locks under construction. 1913.
14
The Miraflores lower locks under construction. 1912.
15
The gates of the Miraflores Locks open for testing. 1913.
16
Workers take a break atop the canal locks. 1913
17
Engineers stand in front of the massive gates of the canal locks. 1913.
18
Workers contend with the aftermath of a landslide. 1913.
19
One of the deepest points of the Culebra Cut. 1913.
20
A railroad is displaced after a landslide. 1910.
21
Earth is excavated at the site of the Gatun Locks. 1907.
22
A dredge removes sediment after a landslide in the Culebra Cut. 1907.
23
President Theodore Roosevelt sits in the cab of a crane during a visit to the canal construction site. 1906.
24
The tugboat U.S. Gaton is the first to traverse the Gatun Locks. 1913.
25
The S.S. Kronland traverses the canal. 1915
