The Cuban Flag was first raised over Cuba in this historic city of straight and narrow streets (the "Charleston of the Caribbean"), horse-drawn carriages, industry and "cangrejos" (blue crabs).

[3] There are mostly narrow streets, various squares (including the Plaza de Colón, with a bronze statue of Columbus given to the city by Queen Isabella II.

and erected in 1862)[3] and substantial and elegant business and public buildings, including the ornate parish church designed by Architect Rafael Carrerá, who also built the famous Palacio Aldama in Central Havana.

[6] Before the 1976 reform, Cárdenas was divided into the barrios of Cantel, Fundición, Guásimas, Marina, Méndez Capote, Pueblo Nuevo and Versalles.

[9] According to historian Antonio Rafael de la Cova, Gonzales would join the Confederate forces and was nominated for the rank of general six times but was unsuccessful due to a personal feud with Jefferson Davis.

After the 1933 Cuba–Brownsville hurricane hit the city badly, José Arechabala S.A. financed the dredging of the harbour and the reform of the whole coastline, including the construction of the Monumento a la Bandera (monument to the national Cuban flag).