History of Mayagüez
Encyclopedia
Founding
The founding of Mayagüez was requested on July 19, 1760 by a group led by Faustino Martínez de Matos, Juan de SilvaJuan de Silva
Juan de Silva was a Spanish military commander and governor of the Philippines, from April 1609 until his death on April 19, 1616.De Silva was a native of Trujillo, Spain, and a knight of the Order of Santiago...
and Juan de Aponte, at a hill located about one kilometer inland from Mayagüez Bay
Mayagüez Bay
The Mayagüez Bay is a bay located in western Puerto Rico.The bay has recently been opened to the city of Mayaguez with the building of the Parque del Litoral because of the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games. The Port of Mayagüez is located in the bay. The Yagüez River empties into the bay....
and the outlet of the Yagüez River
Yagüez River
The Rio Yagüez is a river located in western Puerto Rico.The Rio Yaguez originates at 1,200 feet above sea-level in the Urayoán Mountains to the south-east of Las Marias and to the north-east of Maricao...
. It was officially founded on September 18, 1760. "Maygüez" was the indigenous name for this river (the word means "clear water" in the language of its original inhabitants, the Taíno
Taíno people
The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is thought that the seafaring Taínos are relatives of the Arawak people of South America...
). "Mayagüez" is a variation on this name, which means "Land of Clear Waters" and eventually gave the city its nickname. The Taínos had settled the area for hundreds of years before the town's founding, at the nearby settlement of Yagüeca (also spelled Yagüexa or Yaweka), which sits near a larger river, the Rio Grande de Añasco
Rio Grande de Añasco
The Rio Grande de Añasco is a river in western Puerto Rico. Its source is in the Cordillera Central mountain range west of Adjuntas, and it flows about 40 miles westwards to its mouth on the Mona Passage north of Mayagüez.-References:*Añasco River. The Columbia Gazetteer of North America...
(originally named "Guaorabo"). A theory likening the name to a nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
term which translates into "Land of the Setting Sun" is unsubstantiated.
The Spanish Crown granted the founders the right to self-government in 1763, formally separating the town from the larger Partido de San Germán. Originally the settlement was named Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez (Our Lady of the Candelaria of Mayagüez). Most of the town's settlers, including its founders, came originally from the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, whose patron saint is the Virgin of Candelaria
Virgin of Candelaria
The cult of the Virgin of Candelaria or Our Lady of Candelaria , popularly called La Morenita, celebrates an apparition of the Virgin Mary on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands . The center of worship is located in the city of Candelaria in Tenerife. She is depicted as a Black Madonna...
, hence the name.
In 1777, two American frigates, the Endowok and the Henry, took refuge in Mayagüez Bay
Mayagüez Bay
The Mayagüez Bay is a bay located in western Puerto Rico.The bay has recently been opened to the city of Mayaguez with the building of the Parque del Litoral because of the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games. The Port of Mayagüez is located in the bay. The Yagüez River empties into the bay....
as to evade attack from the British ship HMS Glasgow
HMS Glasgow (1757)
HMS Glasgow was a 20-gun sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1757 and took part in the American Revolutionary War. She is most famous for her encounter with the maiden voyage of the Continental Navy off Block Island on 6 April 1776...
. The local government lent two Spanish flags to the American frigates to disguise them as Spanish ships. After protesting unsuccessfully to the Spanish authorities, the captain of the Glasgow chose not to attack the ships and retired from the area.
Villa status and the Great Fire of 1841
On 7 May 1836, the settlement was elevated to the royal status of villaVilla
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
, and Rafael Mangual was named its first mayor. At the time, the villa's principal economic activity was agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. The famous patriot, educator, sociologist, philosopher, essayist, and novelist Eugenio María de Hostos
Eugenio María de Hostos
Eugenio María de Hostos known as "El Ciudadano de América" , was a Puerto Rican educator, philosopher, intellectual, lawyer, sociologist and independence advocate....
was born in Mayagüez in 1839.
On 30 January 1841 a fire nearly destroyed the villa (it burned 300 out of the 500 existing housing units in town). The town was rebuilt with some of its main roads widened as to prevent any future fires to spread quickly. The Spanish military governor of Puerto Rico, Gen. Santiago de Méndez Vigo personally raised funding through a subscription fund to rebuild the entire city; eventually one of Mayagüez's three main thoroughfares was named in his honor.
The local fire department
Fire department
A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...
was founded on 1843; it contained major fires in 1852 and 1866 and performed hurricane rescue and relief operations in 1852. The villa's first census was held on 1844.
Mayagüez later became the cultural and political center of the western part of Puerto Rico. Due to its physical isolation from the rest of the island (the city was founded on a coastal valley surrounded by mountains) and its need for self-sufficiency from Puerto Rico's main government (which, some of its current inhabitants claim, lasts to this day) Mayagüez developed a peculiar local culture and a strong sense of regional pride that tends to distinguish its inhabitants from the rest of Puerto Rico's. Some historians claim that this strong, fiercely independent culture was responsible for breeding not only liberal thinkers such as Eugenio María de Hostos, but also radical ones such as Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances
Ramón Emeterio Betances
Ramón Emeterio Betances y Alacán was a Puerto Rican nationalist. He was the primary instigator of the Grito de Lares revolution, and as such, is considered to be the father of the Puerto Rican independence movement...
, the father of the Puerto Rican independence movement and first medical director of Mayagüez's Municipal Hospital (currently known as Hospital San Antonio), Segundo Ruiz Belvis
Segundo Ruiz Belvis
Segundo Ruiz Belvis , was a dedicated abolitionist who also fought for Puerto Rico's right to independence.-Early years:...
, the father of the Puerto Rican Abolitionism
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
movement and a former city administrator, and José de Diego
José de Diego
José de Diego y Martínez , known as "The Father of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement", was a statesman, journalist, poet, lawyer, and advocate for Puerto Rico's independence from Spain and from the United States....
, first president of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives and founder of the local College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. The Grito de Lares
Grito de Lares
El Grito de Lares —also referred as the Lares uprising, the Lares revolt, Lares rebellion or even Lares Revolution—was the first major revolt against Spanish rule and call for independence in Puerto Rico...
, Puerto Rico's first major pro-independence revolt, was planned at a farm in the outskirts of town. The September 23, 1868 revolution was remotely organized by Dr. Betances who, twelve years earlier, had literally saved the town from extinction by a cholera epidemic that killed over 30,000 people in the island and decimated the town's population. Today, the local medical center and the main thoroughfare that crosses the city from north to south are named after Dr. Betances.
In 1870 a telegraph to the capital
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
was inaugurated. Since 1858 postal service existed between both cities and the exterior.
City status
On 10 July 1877 the villa formally received its city charter from the Royal Crown of SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
The Escuela Libre de Música or Free Music School was founded in 1894 and directed by Fernando Callejo. In 1896, a statue was raised in the main plaza
Plaza Colón
Plaza Colón is the main plaza in the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. This plaza and its fountain commemorate the explorer Christopher Columbus, whose name in Spanish was Cristóbal Colón...
to honor Cristopher Columbus. That same year the villa formally received its current formal title, "Excelente Ciudad de Mayagüez". The local produce market, the Plaza del Mercado, formerly an open-air market, was eventually housed in a new building erected in the early 1890s, a prefabricated structure designed by Gustave Eiffel
Gustave Eiffel
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a French structural engineer from the École Centrale Paris, an architect, an entrepreneur and a specialist of metallic structures...
's construction company.
Late 19th and 20th centuries
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
, U.S. troops (from the 5th. Cavalry, 11th. Infantry and 19th. Infantry, under Gen. Theodore Schwan
Theodore Schwan
Theodore Schwan was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Peebles' Farm. He also served with distinction during the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars.-Early life and Civil War:Schwan was born in Hanover,...
) entered Mayagüez. Spanish troops encircled the city however. A battle never occurred, and the invading troops were well-received. According to chronicles of the day a young local boy was given the task of raising the Star and Stripes at the Casa del Rey (City Hall) and raised it upside down, with the canton to the floor, without knowing this was a symbol of distress. A few of the American troops eventually settled in Mayagüez, including Sgt. Frank Cole, the father of later mayor Benjamin Cole.
In 1911, the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts was founded in Mayagüez. Today it is known as the University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) — the Caribbean's
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
leading science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
institution.
The city of Mayagüez was nearly destroyed again on October 11, 1918 by an earthquake and a tsunami
1918 Puerto Rico earthquake
The San Fermín earthquake, also known as the Puerto Rico earthquake of 1918, was a major earthquake that struck the island of Puerto Rico at 10:14am on October 11, 1918. The magnitude for the earthquake has been reported at around 7.5 ; however, that might not be an exact number...
. Most of the town had to be rebuilt, including the U.S. Costums House
U.S. Custom House (Mayagüez, Puerto Rico)
The U.S. Customs House or "Edificio Aduana" is a historic custom house building located at Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. As of February 10, 1988, the building was owned by the U.S. Customs Service, Washington, D.C.-History:...
and the Mayagüez City Hall (a new cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
was added, resembling that of New York City Hall
New York City Hall
New York City Hall is located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA, between Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street. The building is the oldest City Hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions, such as...
). On June 20, 1919 a fire nearly destroyed the Teatro Yagüez
Teatro Yagüez
The Teatro Yagüez in Puerto Rico is a historic building that today is a performing arts theater. It is located at Candelaria and Dr. Basora Streets, in the city of Mayagüez. It consists of the Lucy Boscana Hall and the Roberto Cole Cafe Theater.-History:It was originally erected by Francisco...
, the town's main theater, killing 92 (some say 150) people. The Teatro was later rebuilt and remodeled twice; it is now Mayagüez's municipal theater.
Pope Paul VI authorized the founding of the Diocese of Mayagüez on April 1, 1976, which led to the rededication of the church as a cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
soon after. A few years later the first bishop of the city, Mons. Ulises Casiano Vargas
Ulises Aurelio Casiano Vargas
Ulises Aurelio Casiano Vargas is the bishop emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mayagüez, in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico....
(who assumed the bishop's office on April 30, 1976) led the drive for the cathedral's remodeling following Perocier's original plan; the remodeled cathedral was reopened on January 1, 2004.
Between 1962 and 1998 Mayagüez was a major tuna canning and processing center. At one time, 80% of all tuna products consumed in the United States were packed in Mayagüez (the biggest employer, StarKist
Charlie the Tuna
Charlie the Tuna, the cartoon mascot tuna for StarKist Tuna, was created by Tom Rogers of the Leo Burnett Agency after StarKist hired Leo Burnett in 1961. StarKist Tuna is the name of a brand of tuna currently owned by Dongwon Industries....
, had 11,000 employees working three daily shifts in the local plant's heyday). Mayagüez was also a major textile industry hub; until very recently, almost a quarter of all drill uniforms used by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
were sewn in the city.
On May 12, 1975 a unit of the Cambodian Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
seized a container ship, the SS Mayagüez
SS Mayagüez
SS Mayaguez was a U.S.-flagged container ship that attained notoriety for its 12 May 1975 seizure by Khmer Rouge forces of Cambodia, which resulted in a confrontation with the United States at the close of the Vietnam War....
, on the Gulf of Siam. The botched recovery of the ship's crew by the U.S. Marine Corps off the island of Koh Tang
Koh Tang
Koh Tang is an island off the coast of Preah Sihanouk Province in the Gulf of Thailand. The island is approximately 43 km southwest off the coast of Cambodia...
— which occurred on May 15 — became known as the Mayagüez Incident
Mayagüez incident
The Mayaguez incident between the Khmer Rouge and the United States from May 12–15, 1975, was the last official battle of the Vietnam War. The names of the Americans killed, as well as those of three Marines who were left behind on the island of Koh Tang after the battle and who were subsequently...
, considered by historians as one of president Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
's first foreign policy setbacks. The container ship was actually part of the then government-owned Navieras de Puerto Rico, which explains why the city's name became entangled in such a major military international incident.