Solsona Ilocos Norte Philippines

Brief history of Solsona

In the early part of the 18th century, settlers from Laoag immigrated to the plains of Solsona which were then occupied by the illiterate tribes called Itnegs. However, these settlers did not live permanently in the place. They only built temporary houses where they would stay during harvest seasons.

In 1788, Solsona was organized with Nicolas Joban as cabeza de barungay. The first seat of government was in Santiago, the most populous and progressive barangay of the town. However, in 1855 a great flood occurred and washed away the town, causing a lot of damages. The ruins of the church in Santiago which was damaged by the flood are still seen today.

After the great flood in 1855, the people no longer build their houses in Santiago. Instead, they moved to Rancheria Cabanuagan, where the town proper is situated now. In that same year, the town was organized with Ignacio Guillermo as the cabeza de barungay.

In 1904, another flood swept the town, destroying the central part of the poblacion and the two big barangays, Bago-bago arid Bagbag. Many damages were incurred. Animals were drowned, houses were destroyed and big trees fell.

In the same year, Solsona was annexed to Dingras. However, its annexation did not last long because in 1910 Solsona became again an independent municipality through the efforts of some leaders of the town.

Origin of Its Name

The town was first named Kaitnegan, because the first settlers were Itnegs. In the middle of the 19th century, the place was given another name, Sonsona (place of pushing), because the Itnegs were forcibly pushed back to the mountains.

When a team of surveyors arrived in the place to look for a more suitable town site, they asked the name of the place and received the answer, "Solsona," because that was how the word sounded to them. They thought that the name was appropriate, because the place seemed to be where the sun rises. Thus, the term Sonsona was corrupted and hispanized into Solsona which sounded better and was more appropriate.

There is another theory regarding the naming of the town. Instead of adapting the name rancheria, the Spaniards named it Nueva Solsona after the name of a town somewhere in the northern part of Spain. Nueva is a Spanish term for new and usually the word “new" is prefixed to the name of the place founded to distinguish it from the old one.