The land chosen by history.

(Baonghean) - I think that authorities throughout history have always recognized Truong Thi as a place possessing all the favorable conditions – a combination of natural and geographical advantages – to form an administrative center, or an economic, political, and cultural hub in Vinh City, a central city in the North Central region. It is also one of the places that preserves and continues the typical historical and cultural values ​​of Nghe An province.

To build the Truong Thi Railway Factory in the early 20th century, the French colonialists excavated a large amount of earth and rock to fill in the construction site. This location formed the Goong Lake we see today.

The urban planning officer from Truong Thi ward, who guided me through every nook and cranny of the neighborhoods, is a talkative person who loves to learn about history. "I graduated in construction engineering; my job isn't related to history or policy, but I'm naturally curious. If I see something interesting or unusual, I immediately want to find out more," shared Mr. Nguyen Minh Thuy, my guide.

Indeed, thanks to Thuy's curiosity and love of exploration, I had the opportunity to see firsthand one of the important remnants of the French colonial era still remaining in the historically rich land of Truong Thi. It happened when Thuy visited the 9th grade, and upon entering the house of Mr. Dau Doan Vinh, she was surprised to see that the courtyard was paved with a very unusual type of concrete. From the color of the pebbles to the cement, the materials were unlike any concrete he had ever seen.

After carefully inspecting and inquiring, he learned from the homeowner that the concrete was cast during the French colonial era. It was used as the foundation for horse stables in the old days. And not only the yard, but the entire house of Mr. Dau Doan Vinh is situated within that ancient concrete foundation.

Mr. Dau Doan Vinh (right) introduces Mr. Nguyen Minh Thuy to the concrete foundation that was once used as a horse farm during the French colonial period. Mr. Vinh's house is now situated entirely within this unique concrete foundation.

Thuy led me to that unique house, and Mr. Vinh, the owner, explained that the concrete layer was half a meter thick. According to his grandparents and mother, the entire area was a horse farm during the French colonial period. Mr. Vinh, 43 years old, said he didn't know when his family moved there, but he had seen the concrete under the house since he was born. While the surrounding households, being better off, had renovated and built new houses, his family, due to financial difficulties, remained in their original home.

Truong Thi Ward was officially established on August 21, 1982, but strangely enough, this land has always been chosen by history to form the administrative, cultural, economic, and political center. Going back in history, Truong Thi was once associated with the place name Dung Quyet. From the 16th century, Dung Quyet was known as the highest mountain in the region, and the local inhabitants called it Ru Quyet (Quyet Mountain). At that time, the Dung Quyet area had two villages: Thuong village and Ha village. In the early 20th century, Dung Quyet was renamed Yen Dung, and Yen Dung included two villages: Yen Dung Ha and Yen Dung Thuong.

The examination hall was located southeast of Nghe An city, in Ha village, Yen Dung Thuong commune, Chan Loc district, Yen Truong commune. In 1802, after overthrowing the Tay Son dynasty, King Gia Long - Nguyen Anh established his rule. Gia Long revived feudal education, restored Confucianism, and reorganized the examination system to select officials to fill positions in the administrative apparatus at all levels. In 1807, King Gia Long moved the Nghe An provincial examination hall from Lam Thanh to Vinh Doanh.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Thuy examines a concrete structure on Tran Quang Dieu Street, believed to be a remnant of the Truong Thi Railway Factory from the French colonial era.

Initially located southeast of Nghe An province, the examination hall was later rebuilt with laterite stone and brick in Thuong village (Yen Dung Thuong), Yen Dung commune – the current location of the headquarters of the 4th Military Region Command. The examination hall at that time had a perimeter of 193 trượng (approximately 800m), surrounded by a 1.8m high wall of laterite stone. The Nguyen Dynasty held 42 provincial examinations here, selecting 802 graduates, of whom 562 were from Nghe An.

In 1908, on the very land that is now Truong Thi, the French colonialists built the Indochina Railway Car Repair Workshop, later known as the Truong Thi Railway Factory, which was the third largest in Indochina.

It was here, with the establishment of the Truong Thi - Ben Thuy industrial zones by the French, that tens of thousands of workers were employed, forming the first working class in Vinh in particular and Nghe An in general. At the time when the French colonialists intensified their policy of exploiting the colony, the Truong Thi Railway Factory alone employed up to 50,000 workers from all over the country.

Until the late 1920s, when the workers' movement and the patriotic movement grew stronger, the Vinh Provincial Party Committee and the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee were simultaneously established to lead the struggle of the masses. A Party branch was formed at the Truong Thi Railway Factory. Along with Party branches in other factories and workshops such as the Sawmill, the Match Factory, Ben Thuy Port, and rural branches in Loc Da, Yen Dung, Duc Thinh, etc., the workers of the Truong Thi Railway Factory created a powerful revolutionary movement in early 1930, making a significant contribution to the Nghe Tinh Soviet Uprising of 1930-1931.

Also in Truong Thi - Yen Dung Thuong, at 12 noon on August 21, 1945, an event filled the hearts of the people of Nghe An province: the whistle at the Truong Thi Railway Factory blared to celebrate the victory of the uprising to seize power from the workers, farmers, and laborers of Vinh - Ben Thuy. Power had officially returned to the hands of the people.

During the anti-colonial resistance against the French, the people of Truong Thi - Yen Dung implemented a scorched-earth strategy. As a result, some factories, workshops, and industrial zones in Truong Thi - Ben Thuy were destroyed, while others were evacuated to mountainous areas to continue building workshops for manufacturing weapons to fight the enemy.

The victory of our people in the war against French colonialism coincided with the nationwide resistance against American imperialism. In 1975, the war ended, and North and South were reunited, but the once bustling Trường Thi area was unrecognizable. The neighborhoods of Mô Mít, Cầu Nại, Quán Lau, the Northern workers' quarters, and the Black Westerners' Street were nothing more than sparsely populated areas overgrown with reeds.

In his recollections, 84-year-old Nguyen An Toan, residing in Block 9, Truong Thi Ward, stated that in 1968 he was one of the first seven people to settle in this area (now Block 9). Everything was desolate, with overgrown grass interspersed with bomb craters.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thuan, 82 years old, also residing in Block 9, said that there used to be a large river running along the railway factory in Truong Thi. "Time and the concentration of communities have caused this river to disappear due to sedimentation," Mr. Thuan said. He even added that after 1954, there was a community of Vietnamese refugees returning from Thailand and Laos to Truong Thi under the government's support policy.

The family of Mr. Nguyen An Toan, from Block 9, was one of the seven households that moved to live in Truong Thi area in 1968.

Life revived after the war, and new residential clusters in Truong Thi continuously formed on the foundations of history. All remaining traces were demolished to make way for a new phase of development. Nevertheless, occasionally one can still find concrete blocks and structural components of former industrial factories on the streets or in residential areas. And as if by a deliberate choice of history, Truong Thi continued to be the central administrative area of ​​Nghe An. This is where the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, the Provincial People's Committee, and the Nghe An National Assembly Delegation are located.

Mr. Nguyen Tat Thien, Chairman of the People's Committee of Truong Thi Ward, also stated that this area is home to nearly 80 agencies and departments from the central government, Nghe An province, and Vinh city. “Truong Thi also boasts a particularly important cultural landmark: the Ho Chi Minh Monument and Ho Chi Minh Square, the heart of Vinh city, a gathering point for people from all over the province and friends from afar. This is a special historical choice that only our ward has. Currently, the ward has 16 residential blocks with 3,799 households, with 75% of households being well-off or wealthy,” Mr. Thien proudly shared.

A section of Truong Thi Street runs through the ward with the same name.

Returning to the inquisitive young man, Nguyen Minh Thuy led me around Nguyen Tat Thanh Park and then stopped by Goong Lake. “No matter how much life changes, this lake remains. Its formation was due to the French digging up land to build the Truong Thi Railway Factory,” Thuy said, showing his knowledge.

On a sunny autumn afternoon, as the sun gently shone on the streets, we occasionally stopped on the small, tree-lined lanes. I silently listened as the urban planning officer from Truong Thi ward enthusiastically explained each concrete block and stone we encountered. He must love those streets very much. They were so soft and gentle.

To Van