Maasin: How It Got It's Name

           Legend has it that Ferdinand Magellan on his way from Limasawa to Cebu in 1521 dropped by the Canturing River for fresh water supply. His men found the taste of the water salty, thus the name MAASIN.

            This little town was already a flourishing trading center of commerce and industry populated by diligent and enterprising people largely of intermarrying Malay and Chinese descent. Maasin gained prominence as the leading source of abaca products and fiber craft.
 

            The Jesuits formally founded the already progressive Maasin settlement in 1700 and became a pueblo in 1755. A stone church and a baluarte (watchtower) were built to serve as refuge from and look-out perch for seafaring pirates. Indeed, Maasin stood triumphant over the series of Moro raids and insurgencies. Maasinhons brought back the gaiety of the town, rebuilt the trampled church and dedicated it to the Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion.
          

            Maasin was part of the Leyte province until when Southern Leyte was created in 1960 of which it became the provincial capital and the seat of the lone congressional district. Maasin was elevated to city status on August 10, 2000 by virtue of Republic Act 8796, ratified overwhelmingly by the Maasinhons in a plebiscite.