HOUSING AREAS -- ROUSSEAU                                                      [p2 OF 2] 

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HOUSING AREAS -- ROUSSEAU  (continued)

In addition to the living quarters there were playgrounds, a small pedestrian park, a tennis court, electrical buildings, bomb shelters, water pump station, maintenance buildings, large laundry facilities, a vehicle repair area, covered parking areas, and other facilities. 

(Left)   Unidentified buildings at Rousseau.  [Photo by Gregory Kennington, Copyright © 2000 Mr. Gregory Kennington. Used with permission from Dino Barkema's site  www.chagres.com/taruswd4.jpg.   

(Right) Other housing units (former hospital wards).  [Photo by Gregory Kennington, Copyright © 2000 Mr. Gregory Kennington. Used with permission from Dino Barkema's site  www.chagres.com/taruswd4.jpg.  See Notice below for all photos used in this section.]

(Left)    Unidentified buildings at Rousseau.  [Photo by Gregory Kennington, Copyright © 2000 Mr. Gregory Kennington. Used with permission from Dino Barkema's site  www.chagres.com/taruswd4.jpg.  See Notice below for all photos used in this section.]

(Right)  Rousseau area today.  Large white quonset shelter was used by U.S. military for temporary exercises or contigency operations.  [Photo by Dino Barkema from his site ww.chagres.com photo album 3 -  Copyright © 2000 by Dino Barema; used with permission.] 

In 1961 the entire population of Rousseau moved to the new town of Cardenas carved out of the jungles between Corozal and Fort Clayton.  The entire facility of Rousseau was demolished in 1962.

From 1979-1999, the area was used by the U.S. Army under permit from the Navy as a storage and staging area for exercises (including the inbound and outbound stateside combat units deployed to Panama for the three-week jungle warfare and survival course at Fort Sherman on the Atlantic side and also for the Army National Guard and Reserve units deployed from the United States deploying to Panama to conduct engineering exercises  (building or upgrading roads, bridges, schools, and medical clinics) in Panama from 1984 through 1997).  In addition, the Army Range Control office was located at this site (a wood building).  In September 1994 - February 1995, the site was used to house administrative activities associated with Operation Safe Haven, operated by Southern Command's Army component U.S. Army South, that housed 8,600 Cuban migrants in four temporary Cuban Migrant camps on part of nearby Empire Range for six months under an agreement with the Panamanian Government.  (The migrants were returned to Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba in February 1995.)  The site was transferred to Panama June 18, 1999.

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NOTICE:  The copyright holders retain all rights to the above photos of Rousseau buildings. Their permission and that of Dino Barkema were granted to WHO for use on this site.  Further reproduction without permission of the copyright holders is strictly forbidden.  As noted on Dino Barkema's website for The Gregory Kennington Photo Gallery - Copyright © 2000 Mr. Gregory Kennington.and for The T.A. Stepp Photo Gallery - Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000 Mr. T. A. Stepp.  Contact WHO for details to secure permission for further use.

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SOURCES USED:  

Photos from: 

Dino Barkema's Photo Album 3 at  http://www.chagres.com/Photos-3.htm 

The Gregory Kennington Photo Gallery Volume Number NK-1 at Dino Barkema's website http://www.chagres.com/NK-1.html

The T. A. Stepp Photo Gallery at http://www.chagres.com/Photos-B.htm

Map of Rousseau provided to WHO by Dino Barkema.

Documents (very little information available): An American Legacy in Panama - a Brief History of teh Department of Defense Installations and Properties of the former Panama Canal Zone.  Prepared by Graves + Klein, Architects,Engineers of Pensacola, Florida, for United States Army South (USARSO) through the Directorate of Engineering and Housing, United States Army Garrison Panama. Researched and Compiled by Suzanne P. Johnson, Cultural Resources Specialist, Consultant to Graves + Klein. Editor: Richard M. Houle, Chief, Engineering Division, Directorate of Engineering and Housing, USARSO. (Entire text minus photos online at https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/Library/NCR/note8.html.)

The Era of U.S. Army Installations in Panama, History Office (compiled by Delores De Mena), U.S. Army South, 11 January 1996.

Personal recollections from former residents of Rousseau: Dino and Larry Barkema and Nina Kosak.

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William H. Ormsbee, Jr.  2005