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

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. 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 island, near the

Laguna de Leche Laguna de Leche (Spanish for "Milk Lagoon", also called ''Laguna Grande de Morón'') is the largest natural fresh water lake in Cuba. It is located in the wetland of northern Ciego de Ávila Province, north of Morón, and has a total surface of . ...

, 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 provinc ...

.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 that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

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 Cayo Guillermo is a cay of the Jardines del Rey archipelago. It is located on the northern coast of Cuba, between the Bay of Dogs (''Bahia de Perros'') and the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Ciego de Ávila Province, and lies in the Morón mun ...

), 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 organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

installed a station with a 100-foot-high

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

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

fishermen A fisher or fisherman 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. Fishers may be professional or recreat ...

. 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