In 1875 de Lesseps made his first public declaration of interest in an inter-oceanic canal. On the first day of the new year of 1880, on board a steam launch standing of the mouth of the Rio Grande, de Lesseps young daughter Fernanda dug the first shovel of sand into a champagne box and the Panama Canal was symbolically begun.

By the end of January 1881, the first group of French engineers of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique arrived at Colon and the great task of construction commenced.

In the years to follow men and machinery poured into Panama to confront the geographical obstacles of the Isthmus: the backbone of the continental divide at the Culebra Cut and the mighty Chagres river. By December 1881, the French had set up headquarters in Panama City at the Grand Hotel on Cathedral Plaza.

On the Isthmus, the Compagnie Universelle established medical services presided over by the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul. The first 200-bed hospital was established in Colon in March 1882.

On the Pacific side, construction for L'Hôpital Central de Panama, the forerunner of Ancon Hospital, was begun on Ancon Hill. It was dedicated six months later, on September 17, 1882.

At this time the French stood at the pinnacle of 19th century engineering. Their finest engineers and machinery were sent to work. For 8 years a valiant and determined effort was made on the isthmus. The climate, with its torrential rains, incessant heat and fatal disease, took its toll.

Financial mismanagement, stock failure and bad publicity eventually forced the failure of the company. The official end came on February 4th 1889 and the companies assets went into the hands of the liquidator. By may all work was halted on the isthmus. De Lesseps died in France in 1894.

On October 20, 1894, the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panamá was formerly incorporated and work was continued. Crane equipment and other machinery was kept in a state of preservation, more surveys and mapping were done and excavation proceeded at Culebra and other points on the locks canal plan.

On the morning of may 4,1904 at the Canal company headquarters in Panamá City Lieutenant Brooke formally received the French company’s assets for the United States and American control began. Some of the machinery which was left behind by the French was overhauled and put to good use, although much of this which included crane equipment, steam shovels etc. had by this time either become obsolete or was too far gone to become serviceable again. Undoubtedly, the Americans benefited from the French experience, whereby many of the original problems were avoided and surmounted. Under the direction of the Isthmian Canal Commission, work progressed at a furious pace and after ten years of construction on a monumental scale , the canal was completed.