| Guayama, Puerto Rico | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Municipality — | |||
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| Nickname(s): "El Pueblo de los Brujos", "Ciudad Bruja", "La Ciudad del Guamaní" | |||
| Motto: "Sol del Caribe" | |||
| Anthem: "Viva Guayama, mi pueblo idolatrado" | |||
| Location of Guayama in Puerto Rico | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| Territory | Puerto Rico | ||
| Founded | January 29,1736 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Glorimari Jaime Rodriguez (PNP) | ||
| • Senatorial dist. | 6 - Guayama | ||
| • Representative dist. | 30 | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 81.4 sq mi (210.74 km2) | ||
| • Land | 65.3 sq mi (169 km2) | ||
| • Water | 16.1 sq mi (41.74 km2) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 45,362 | ||
| • Density | 557.5/sq mi (215.3/km2) | ||
| • Racial groups (2010 Census)[1] |
57.2% White 26.1% Black 1.0% American Indian 0.2% Asian 15.4% Mixed or Other |
||
| Demonym | Guayameses | ||
| Time zone | AST (UTC-4) | ||
| Zip code | 00784, 00785, | ||
| Website | http://www.guayamaaldia.com/ | ||
Guayama (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡwaˈʝama]) is a municipality of Puerto Rico founded on January 29, 1736 and located on the Southern Coastal Valley region, bordering the Caribbean, south of Cayey; east of Salinas; and west of Patillas and Arroyo. Guayama is spread over 9 wards and Guayama Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is the principal city of the Guayama Metropolitan Statistical Area.
According to the 2010 census, the city has a population of 45,362.
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The town was founded on January 29, 1736 as San Antonio de Padua de Guayama by Matías de Abadía, although there is knowledge of it being populated by native Indians as early as 1567. Guayama took its name from an Indian leader, or cacique who governed the Southeastern region of the Island, the Guamaní cacique and the Guayama cacique. The meaning of the Indian name is "Great Place" (in Spanish Sitio Grande). It was Governor Don Tomás de Abadía who officially declared Guayama a "pueblo" (town) with the name of San Antonio de Padua de Guayama. That same year the Catholic Church in town, San Antonio de Padua, was declared a Parish. In 1776 Guayama had 200 houses, the church and a central plaza. In the 1828 the construction of the King's House (Casa del Rey) was completed. In 1881 Guayama is declared a Villa (First Order Municipality).
During the Spanish-American War, American forces under General Nelson A. Miles landed at Guanica near Ponce on July 26, 1898. The landing surprised the United States War Department no less than the Spanish, as Miles had been instructed to land near San Juan (the War Department learned of the landing through an Associate Press release.) However, en route to Puerto Rico Miles concluded that a San Juan landing was vulnerable to attack by small boats, and so changed plans. Ponce, said at the time to be the largest city in Puerto Rico, was connected with San Juan by a 70 mile military road, well defended by the Spanish at Coamo and Aibonito. In order to flank this position, American Major General John R. Brooke landed at Arroyo, just east of Guayama, intending to move on Cayey, which is northwest of Guayama, along the road from Ponce to San Juan. General Brooke occupied Guayama August 5, 1898, after slight opposition, in the Battle of Guayama. On August 9, the Battle of Guamani took place north of Guayama. A more significant battle, the Battle of Abonito Pass, was halted on the morning of August 13 upon notification of the armistice between the United states and Spain.
After the Spanish-American War, Guayama continued to develop. In 1913, the Bernardini Theater opened in the city, built by engineer Manuel Texidor y Alcalá del Olmo. The venue, property of attorney Thomas Bernardini, was the scene for artists of international fame. By that time, Guayama was considered one of the most important cities in the island's social scene. In the early twentieth century, there were selected societies such as the 'Coliseo Derkes' and 'Grupo Primavera', which endowed performing arts and scientific events as well. By the mid-twentieth century, Guayama achieved great industrial development, especially with the establishment of Univis Optical Corp., Angela Manufacturing Company and a petrochemical complex of the Phillips Petroleum Company. In 1968, the company started production of paraffin, benzene, synthetic fibers, nylon, plastic anhydrous, a million gallons of gasoline a day and many other products. That same decade a power plant was built in Las Mareas area. At that time, agriculture began to decline as a result of land loss, industrialization and the construction of multiple housing developments. The urban growth affected the sugar cane industry. However, in 1974, 155,595 tons of sugar cane was harvested in the Municipality producing 12,655 tons of refined sugar.
The flag of Guayama is made up of three stripes of different colors; From top to Bottom; Black, Yellow and Red. The black stands for the African slaves of Puerto Rico's past. The yellow represents sugar cane industry in Puerto Rico. The red symbolizes the blood shed by Taíno Indians in their fight against the Spanish/European colonizers. To the left of the top stripe we can see the Old Mill, which today is known as the Molino de Vives.
The shield is divided in four parts and in two of them part of a chessboard appears. The chessboard pattern represents the center of the city, which resembles a chessboard. It has two old mill towers. The laurel trees constitute a representation of the beautiful Recreation Plaza very well known for its trimmed trees. The three silver flowers symbolize San Antonio de Padua, patron of Guayama. The crown represents Cacique Guayama, name of the town. The big crown has four towers.
According to the 2000 Census, the per capita income is $7,326.
Population, per 2010 census: Algarrobo 6,959; Caimital 4,124; Carite 1,210; Carmen 619; Guamaní 1,455 ; Guayama Pueblo 16,891; Jobos 8,286; Machete 3,846; Palmas 709; Pozo Hondo 1,263; Total 45,362[2]
The annual precipitation is approximately 52 inches and the average temperature is 81°F.
The anthem of Guayama is titled "Viva Guayama, mi pueblo idolatrado" and was written by Néstor Cora Vera.
¡Viva Guayama, mi pueblo idolatrado,
la bella patria chica donde nací!
Siempre recuerdo tu nombre venerado.
En mis angustias acuérdate de mí.
¡Viva Derkes, que viva Palés Matos,
grandes hombre de nuestro patrio lar!
Su recuerdo es muy grato
y a Guayama le vamos a cantar.
Recordemos, recordemos
a Guayama, con amor.
Recordemos, recordemos
a Guayama, con amor
Son tus mujeres, cual ninfas escapadas.
de las orillas del Rio Guamani,
y tus matronas nobles y veneradas
En mis angustias acuerdate de mi,
Recordemos,recordemos
a Guayama con amor,
Recordemos,recordemos,
a Guayama con amor.
The education system in Guayama has three public high schools, which are Francisco Garcia Boyrie, Adela Brenes Texidor and Dr. Rafael Lopez Landrón, and one vocational high school, Dra. Maria Socorro Lacot. Guayama also counts with a campus of the Puerto Rico Institute of Technology and the InterAmerican University of Guayama campus (Universidad Interamericana de Guayama in Spanish) http://www.guayama.inter.edu/ . It also has several private schools such as Academia San Antonio, Guamaní Private School, Saint Patrick's Bilingual School, Colegio San Antonio, Escuela Superior San Alfonso de Ligorio and Academia Adventista and more than 12 other public schools in the elementary and intermediate education levels.[3][4]
Guayama has a baseball team (Brujos de Guayama) in the Puerto Rico Amateur Baseball Federation (Liga de Beisbol Superior Doble A) that won the national championship in 1987. It also used to have a basketball team in the Puerto Rico Basketball Superior League (Brujos de Guayama) that went to the League finals twice back in 1991 and 1994 but lost both times to eventual champions Atleticos de San German, it was announced that the team will return for the league's 2012 season http://www.brujos2k12.com/. The Guayama Convention Center hosted some of the roller skating events for the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games that took place in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico from July 18, 2010 to August 1, 2010.