Plaza Divisoria was constructed in 1901 by Tirso Neri y Roa, a rich merchant who was then the municipal mayor of Cagayan de Misamis, the old name of the city. Much of the site used for the plaza was donated by Neri to the town. “The purpose of this plaza was to serve as a divider for the town. Divisoria is a Spanish word that means divider,” said local historian Dr. Antonio J. Montalvan II. “At that time, Cagayan de Misamis, as the town was then called, was continuously razed by big fires. So, to contain such kinds of conflagrations, Tirso Neri built this fire break known as Plaza Divisoria.” However, due to its central location, Plaza Divisoria soon became the socio-political and cultural center of Cagayan de Misamis.