Ponce, Puerto Rico
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Ponce (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell, Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) is a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico.<ref>Ilia del Toro Robledo. Acta #203, dated 17 September 1823. In, Actas del Cabildo de Ponce, Puerto Rico: 1812-1823. Gobierno Municipal Autónomo de Ponce. Comisión Puertorriqueña para la Celebracion del Quinto Centenario del Descubrimiento de America y Puerto Rico, en Conmemoración del Encuentro de Dos Mundos. 1993. p.352</ref> The most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692<ref group="note">Some publications/reporters have erroneously stated Ponce's date of founding as December 12, 1692 (see, for example, Jose Fernandez-Colon, The Associated Press, at "Noticias Online" on January 24, 2009, at Noticias Puerto Rico. Accessed 23 March 2019.) Another incorrect date sometimes found is September 12, 1692 (See, for example, Jorge L. Perez (El Nuevo Dia) and Jorge Figueroa (Ponce Municipal Historian), at Historic Buildings and Structures in Ponce, Puerto Rico., at the text accompanying Drawing #20, titled "Tumba de los Bomberos". Puerto Rico Historic Buildings Drawings Society. 2019. Accessed 4 February 2019. See also Mapa de Municipios y Barrios: Ponce, Memoria Numero 27. Template:Webarchive Gobierno del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. Junta de Planificación. Santurce, Puerto Rico. 1953. p. 6.). Miguel A Sanchez-Celada also points to the September 12, 1692 date based on the record that on that date the Spanish Crown officially recognized, via Royal Decree, the hamlet as a town (See Miguel A Sanchez-Celada. Evolución urbana de Ponce (Puerto_Rico) según la cartografía Histórica. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid, Spain. 2018. (DOI:http:..dx.doi.org/10.5944/etfvi.11.2018.20421) In, Espacio, Tiempo y Forma", Revista de la Facultad de Geografia e Historia, UNED. Serie VI. Geografía 11. 2018, pp. 219-245. ISSN 1130-2968. E-ISSN 2340-146x.) In this article the date reported is that given by the authorities closest to the founding date, and with their respective references.</ref><ref name="Salvador Brau 1820. p. 4">Salvador Brau. La fundación de Ponce: estudio retrospectivo que comprende desde los asomos de vecindad europea en las riberas del Portugués, al terminar el siglo XVI, hasta el incendio casi total del pueblo de Ponce en febrero de 1820. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Taller Tipográfico Comercial "La Democracia". 1909. p. 5. Reprinted at San Juan, Puerto Rico, at a later date. p. 4. (See Francisco Lluch Mora's Orígenes y Fundación de Ponce, Editorial Plaza Mayor, 2006, pp. 29, 33.)</ref><ref name="José Leandro Montalvo-Guenard 1963. p.11">José Leandro Montalvo-Guenard. In, Luis Fortuño Janeiro. Album Histórico de Ponce: 1692-1963 (Section: "Algo Sobre Ponce y su Fundación".) Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963. p. 11.</ref><ref>Mariano Vidal Armstrong. Ponce: Notas para su Historia. San Juan, PR: Comité Historia de los Pueblos. Second Edition. 1986. p. 17.</ref><ref name="Francisco Lluch Mora 2006. p. 33">Francisco Lluch Mora. Orígenes y Fundación de Ponce. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. Segunda Edición. 2006. p. 33.</ref> and is named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza,<ref>Mariano Vidal Armstrong. Estampas, Tradiciones y Leyendas de Ponce. (San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1986.) Page 139. See also Calletano Coll y Toste and Salvador Brau's La fundación de Ponce: estudio retrospectivo que comprende desde los asomos de vecindad europea en las riberas del Portugués, al terminar el siglo XVI, hasta el incendio casi total del pueblo de Ponce en febrero de 1820. (Ponce, Puerto Rico: Tipografía Comercial "La Democracia". 1909.).</ref> the great-grandson of Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León.<ref group="note">Some historians state that the municipality was named after Juan Ponce de León himself. (Crediting Juan Ponce de León himself see, for example, Eduardo Neuman Gandia's Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. (San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913.) Page 34, and Jose Luis Diaz de Villegas, https://books.google.com/books?id=ovzJlU1f-iAC&pg=PA46, and Sandra Torres Guzmán's Una hacienda atada a la historia citadina, https://www.periodicolaperla.com/una-hacienda-atada-a-la-historia-citadina/ Template:Webarchive.) Others state it was named after Juan Ponce de Leon y Loayza, the great-grandson of Juan Ponce de Leon. (Crediting the great-grandson see, for example, Encyclopedia Puerto Rico, {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}; J.A. Corretjer, http://www.yerbabruja.com/pueblos/ponce.htmlTemplate:Dead link; Frommer, https://books.google.com/books?id=Wy_BSu4a2EYC&pg=PA185; and Harry S. Pariser, https://books.google.com/books?id=KawuqbFxLS0C&pg=PT239.) A few authorities state it may have been named after the Ponce de León family in general, covering father, son, grandson, and great-grandson (See, for example, Francisco Lluch Mora's "Orígenes y Fundación de Ponce, y otras noticias relativas a su desarrollo urbano, demográfico y cultural (siglos XVI-XIX)", Segunda Edición, Editorial Plaza Mayor, 2006, page 27.). Still others state it was founded by Juan Ponce de León y Loayza but named by him in the memory of his great-grandfather, the Spanish Conquistador Juan Ponce de León.</ref> Ponce is often referred to as La Perla del Sur (The Pearl of the South), La Ciudad SeñorialTemplate:Efn (The Manorial CityTemplate:Efn), and La Ciudad de las Quenepas (Genip City).
The city serves as the governmental seat<ref>Sylvester Baxter and Adrian C Finlayson. Recent Civic Architecture in Porto Rico. The Architectural Record. Vol 48. Issue 2. August 1920. p. 155.</ref> of the autonomous municipality as well as the regional hub for various government of Puerto Rico entities, such as the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. It is also the regional center for various U.S. federal government agencies. Ponce is a principal city of both the Ponce Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Ponce-Yauco-Coamo Combined Statistical Area with, as of the 2020 US Census, a population of 278,477 and 333,426 respectively.<ref name="PopEstCBSA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The municipality of Ponce, officially the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce, is located in the southern coastal plain region of the island, south of Adjuntas, Utuado, and Jayuya; east of Peñuelas; west of Juana Díaz; and bordered on the south by the Caribbean Sea. The municipality has 31 barrios, including 19 outside the city's urban area and 12 in the urban area of the city. It is the second largest in Puerto Rico by land area, and it was the first in Puerto Rico to obtain its autonomy, becoming the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce in 1992.
The historic Ponce Pueblo district, located in the downtown area of the city, is composed by several of the downtown barrios, and is located approximately three miles (Template:Convert) inland from the Caribbean coast. The historic district is characterized for its Rococo,<ref>Island of Delights: Puerto Rico is a place of many pleasures: miles of Caribbean coastline, rugged mountains, cities and towns of irrestible charm. Mark Miller. National Geographic. Accessed 23 August 2022. [1]</ref> Neoclásico Isabelino,<ref>Island of Delights: Puerto Rico is a place of many pleasures: miles of Caribbean coastline, rugged mountains, cities and towns of irrestible charm. Mark Miller. National Geographic. Accessed 23 August 2022. [2]</ref> and Ponce Creole architectures, with the latter two styles originating in the city.<ref name="americanheritage.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
History
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Early settlers
The region of what is now Ponce belonged to the Taíno Guaynia region, which stretched along the southern coast of Puerto Rico.<ref>"Maps of Native Boriken: A Map of the Chiefdoms and a Map of the Villages at Time of First Contact. Boriken Taino Island." World History Archives: Resources for the History of Native Boriken (Puerto Rico) Taino Map. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> Agüeybaná, a cacique who led the region, was among those who greeted Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León when he came to the island in 1508. Archaeological findings have identified four sites within the municipality of Ponce with archaeological significance: Canas, Tibes, Caracoles, and El Bronce.<ref>Catalogo del Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes. Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo. Municipio Autónomo de Ponce. Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. April 2002. Page 13.</ref>
During the first years of the colonization, Spanish families started settling around the Jacaguas River, in the south of the island.<ref>Tourism Puerto Rico.com Template:Webarchive Retrieved 10 February 2010.</ref> For security reasons,<ref>Ponce: Nuestro Ponce. (In Spanish) Ponce Webcindario. Retrieved 14 February 2010.</ref> these families moved to the banks of the Rio Portugués, then called Baramaya.<ref>Ponce, Puerto Rico: Algunos Datos. (In Spanish) Areciboweb. Retrieved 14 February 2010.</ref><ref>Nombre y Escudos de los Pueblos de Puerto Rico. (In Spanish) YerbaBruja.Template:Dead link Retrieved 14 February 2010.</ref> Starting around 1646 the whole area from the Rio Portugués to the Bay of Guayanilla was called Ponce.<ref>Luis Fortuno Janeiro. Album Histórico de Ponce (1692–1963). Page 6. 1963. Imprenta Fortuno. Ponce, Puerto Rico.</ref><ref>Ponce, Puerto Rico: Algunos Datos (In Spanish). Datos sobre Ponce. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> In 1670, a small chapel was raised in the middle of the small settlement and dedicated in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.<ref>Spain in Puerto Rico: Early Settlements. By Doris Vazquez. The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. 1986. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> Among its earliest settlers were Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, and the Portuguese Don Pedro Rodríguez de Guzmán, from nearby San Germán.<ref>Ponce, Puerto Rico: Algunos Datos (In Spanish) Portuguese Don Pedro Rodríguez de Guzmán, Don Antonio Adab Rodriguez Berrios, and San Antón. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref>
On September 17, 1692, the King of Spain Carlos II issued a Cédula Real (Royal Permit) converting the chapel into a parish, and in so doing officially recognizing the small settlement as a hamlet.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is believed that Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, Juan Ponce de León's great-grandson, was instrumental in obtaining the royal permit to formalize the founding of the hamlet.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Captains Enrique Salazar and Miguel del Toro were also instrumental.<ref>Register of Porto Rico. Page 196 Retrieved 28 March 2010.</ref> The city is named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza,<ref>"Juan Ponce de Leon Biography" Travel Ponce. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref><ref>Explore Puerto Rico.. By Harry S. Pariser. San Francisco: Manatee Press. Page 239. Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref> the great-grandson of Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León.<ref>Some historians believe the city was named after conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon himself. This includes Luis Fortuno Janeiro (see Luis Fortuno Janeiro, "Album Historico de Ponce (1692–1963)" (1963), page 12. Imprenta Fortuno. Ponce, Puerto Rico.). Others yet, believe it was named after the Juan Ponce de Leon family in general.</ref>
In the early 18th century Don Antonio Abad Rodriguez Berrios built a small chapel under the name of San Antonio Abad. The area would later receive the name of San Antón, a historically important part of modern Ponce.<ref>Portuguese Don Pedro Rodríguez de Guzmán, Don Antonio Adab Rodríguez Berríos, and San Antón Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> In 1712 the village was chartered as El Poblado de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Ponce (The Village of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Ponce).<ref>Government of the Municipality of Ponce. Transportate > Walking Tour Template:Webarchive</ref>
19th-century immigrants
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In the early 19th century, Ponce continued to be one of dozens of hamlets that dotted the Island. Its inhabitants survived by subsistence agriculture, cattle raising, and maritime contraband with foreigners. Mayor José Benítez categorized the jurisdiction into cotos, hatos, criaderos, monterías, and terrenos realengos.<ref>Eduardo Neumann Gandía. Verdadera y Autentica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. p. 259.</ref> Cotos were lands awarded to residents as reward for their services to the king. They were developed into estancias or lands apt to be cultivated for agricultural use. Hatos were lands not granted to anyone in particular, but available for communal use where cattle could roam at will. Monterías were hilly areas located next to hatos were cattle could be reigned in or gathered together with the help of trained dogs. Criaderos were lands were cows could be herded for milk production. Goats, sheep, pigs, asses, and mares were also herded in criaderos. Terrenos realengos were lands that belonged to the state (to the king).<ref>'Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. Brevario sobre la Historia de Ponce. Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. Oficina de Cultura y Turismo. 2002. p. 37.</ref><ref>Eduardo Neumann Gandía. Verdadera y Autentica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. pp. 67-68.</ref>
However, in the 1820s, three events dramatically changed the size of the town. The first of these events was the arrival of a significant number of white Francophones, fleeing the Haitian Revolution of 1791–1804.<ref name="Eduardo Neumann Gandia 1913. p. 38">Eduardo Neumann Gandia. Verdadera y Autentica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. 1913. Reprinted in 1987. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. p. 38.</ref> The effect of this mass migration was not felt significantly until the 1820s. These French Creole entrepreneurs were attracted to the area because of its large flatlands, and they came with enough capital, slaves, and commercial connections to stimulate Ponce's sugarcane production and sales.<ref name="Figueroa 2006 p.">Template:Cite book</ref>
Secondly, landlords and merchants migrated from various Latin American countries. They had migrated for better conditions, as they were leaving economic decline following the revolutions and disruption of societies as nations gained independence from Spain in the 1810s-1820s.<ref name="Eduardo Neumann Gandia 1913. p. 38"/>
Third, the Spanish Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 attracted numerous European immigrants to Puerto Rico. It encouraged any citizen of a country politically friendly to Spain to settle in Puerto Rico as long as they converted to the Catholic faith and agreed to work in the agricultural business. With such mass migrations, not only the size of the town was changed, but the character of its population was changed as well. Europeans, including many Protestants, immigrated from a variety of nations.<ref>Francisco A. Scarano. Puerto Rico: Cinco Siglos de Historia. McGraw-Hill/Interamericana Editores, S.A. de C. V. 2000. Pages 407-490.</ref> On July 29, 1848, and as a result of this explosive growth, the Ponce hamlet was declared a villa (a town with municipal rights) by Queen Isabella II,<ref>"Ponce: Founding and History." Puerto Rico Encyclopedia. Template:Webarchive Declared a Villa. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref><ref>"Ponce: Fundación e Historia." Encyclopedia Puerto Rico (In Spanish) Template:Webarchive Declared villa (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> and in 1877 it obtained its city charter.<ref>Museo Castillo Serralles: Historia. Template:Webarchive Declared city. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref><ref>Carta del Rey al Gobernador de Puerto Rico Sobre la Erección en Villa de los Pueblos de Ponce, Coamo, Arecibo, Aguaga, y Loiza. PReb.com: Puerto Rico en Breve. (In Spanish) Cédula Real. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref>
Some of these immigrants made considerable fortunes in coffee, corn and sugarcane harvesting, rum production,<ref name="Pedro Tomás de Córdova">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> banking and finance, the importing of industrial machinery, iron foundries and other enterprises. At the time of the American invasion of the Island in 1898, Ponce was a thriving city,<ref>Ponce, Puerto Rico. Library of U.S. Congress. Largest city. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> boasting the Island's main financial center,<ref>America's Colony: the Political and Cultural Conflict Between the United States and Puerto Rico. By Pedro A. Malavet. NYU Press. 2004. Pages 52-53. Template:ISBN Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> the Island's first communications link to another country,<ref>History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications: From the First Submarine Cable of 1850 to the Worldwide Fiber Optic Network - The CS Hooper/Silvertown. By Bill Glover. First undersea communications link. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> the best capitalized financial institutions, and even its own currency.<ref>Ponce. Let's Go. Template:Webarchive Ponce Had its own Currency. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> It had consular offices for England, Germany, the Netherlands, and other nations.<ref>El Desembarco en Ponce (In Spanish). Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref>
Following trends set in Europe and elsewhere, in 1877, Don Miguel Rosich conceived an exposition for Ponce. This was approved in 1880, and the Ponce Fair was held in the city in 1882. It showed several industrial and agricultural advancements.
"It is important to establish a relationship between the European exhibitions that I have mentioned and the Ponce Fair, as the Fair was meant as a showcase of the advancements of the day: Agriculture, Trade, Industry, and the Arts. Just as with the 1878 World's Fair in Paris, the electric grid of the city of Ponce was inaugurated on the first day of the Ponce Fair. In this occasion the Plaza Las Delicias and various other buildings, including the Mercantile Union Building, the Ponce Casino, and some of Ponce's homes were illuminated with the incandescent light bulb for the first time".<ref>Museo Casa Armstrong-Poventud. Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. Template:Webarchive Click on 'Opusculo de la Casa Armstrong-Poventud'. Taken from the brochure Museo Casa Armstrong-Poventud. ICP, Museos y Parques. Published by: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (San Juan, PR). February 9, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.</ref>
Ponce in the 20th century
U.S. invasion
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At the time of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Puerto Rico in 1898 during the Spanish–American War, Ponce was the largest city in the island with a population of 22,000. Ponce had the best road in Puerto Rico, running from Ponce to San Juan, which had been built by the Spaniards for military purposes.<ref>The world of 1898: The Spanish–American War: Ponce, Puerto Rico. Library of Congress files. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> The taking of Ponce by American troops "was a critical turning point in the Puerto Rican campaign. For the first time the Americans held a major port to funnel large numbers of men and quantities of war material into the island." Ponce also had underwater telegraph cable connections with Jamaica and the West Indies, putting the U.S. forces on the island in direct communication with Washington, D.C., for the first time since the beginning of the campaign.<ref>The American Army Moves on Puerto Rico, Part 3. By Mark R. Barnes, Senior Archaeologist, National Park Service, Southeast Regional Office. The Spanish–American War Centennial Website Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> Just prior to the United States occupation of the island, Ponce was a flourishing and dynamic city with a significant number of public facilities, a large number of industries and commercial firms, and a great number of exquisite residences that reflected the high standing of its bourgeoisie.<ref>Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. Breviario Sobre la Historia de Ponce y Sus Principales Lugares de Interés. Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 1991.</ref>
On July 27, American troops, aboard the Cincinnati, Dixie, Template:USS, and Gloucester, disembarked at Playa de Ponce.<ref>"El desembarco en Ponce." 1898 The Spanish American War in Puerto Rico. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> General Nelson Miles arrived the next day with reinforcements from Guánica and took possession of the city. There were some minor skirmishes in the city, but no major battle was fought. Three men were killed and 13 wounded on the Spanish side, while the Americans suffered four wounded. The American flag was raised in the town center that same day and most of the Spanish troops retreated into the surrounding mountains. The U.S. Army then established its headquarters in Ponce.<ref>Library of Congress Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref>
Period of stagnation
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After the U.S. invasion, the Americans chose to centralize the administration of the island in San Juan,<ref>Discovering Mamposteao. Jonny & Amy Seppy Sills. "We Are Never Full: Musings on Starters, Mains, Desserts and Second-Helpings…." 3 May 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.</ref> the capital, neglecting the south and thus starting a period of socio-economic stagnation for Ponce.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This was worsened by several factors:
- Hurricane San Ciriaco in 1899 had left the region in misery<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Experience Puerto Rico: The Coffee Industry. By Carol M. Bareuther, RD. Retrieved 28 March 2010.</ref>
- The opening of sugar mills in Salinas<ref>Central Aguirre, Salinas. Oficina Estatal de Conservacion Historica de Puerto Rico. (In Spanish) Template:Webarchive Retrieved 13 April 2010.</ref> and Guánica<ref>Sugar in Puerto Rico. Encyclopedia Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 13 April 2010.</ref> drew commercial and agricultural activity away from Ponce<ref>Puerto Rican Sugar Mills Start Operations. The Daily News. 3 February 1971. Page 9. Retrieved 13 April 2010.</ref>
- The decadence in coffee plantations in the 1920s<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Register of Porto Rico. Page 197. Retrieved 28 March 2010.</ref><ref>I Vote My Conscience: The Debates, Speeches, and Writings of Congressman Vito Marcantonio: Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican People 1935-1950: "On H.R. 7674, a bill for a Puerto Rican Constitution: 'its purpose is to perpetuate the present system of colonialism (March 16, 1950),'" Facts about sugar. Template:Webarchive Editors: Annette T. Ruberstein and Associates. Retrieved 22 June 2012.</ref>
- The loss of the Spanish and Cuban markets<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> "The Spanish American War had paralyzed the trade of the Island of Puerto Rico and when Spain surrendered the sovereignty she closed her [Spain's] ports to Puerto Rican products, while the American occupation of Cuba destroyed the only other important market. As a result, the trade in coffee and tobacco was ruined, and nothing was provided by the Americans to take their place."<ref>Appletons' Annual Cyclopedia and Reguister of Important Events. 1898. Page 587.</ref>
At least one author has also blamed the stagnation on "the strife between the U.S. and the local Nationalist Party."<ref>Ponce recalls 19th century colonialism in Puerto Rico. Suzanne Van Atten. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 20 Oct. 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2013.</ref>
The 20th century financial stagnation prompted residents to initiate measures to attract economic activity back into the city. Also, a solid manufacturing industry surged that still remains. Examples of this are the Ponce Cement, Puerto Rico Iron Works, Vassallo Industries, and Destilería Serrallés. El Dia was also founded in Ponce in 1911.
Ponce massacre
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On March 21, 1937, a peaceful march was organized by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party to celebrate the 64th anniversary of the abolition of slavery and protest the incarceration of their leader, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos, in a federal prison on charges of sedition.<ref name="llmc.com">Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Civil Rights in Puerto Rico. By The Commission of Inquiry on Civil Rights in Puerto Rico. 70p, np, 22 May 1937. Law Library Microform Consortium. Kaneohe, HI. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref>
The march turned into a bloody event when the Insular Police, a force somewhat resembling the National Guard of the typical U.S. state and which answered to U.S.-appointed governor Blanton Winship, opened fire on unarmed and defenseless members of the Cadets of the Republic and bystanders.<ref name="llmc.com"/><ref>Template:Usurped Congressman Marcantonio later reported on the events before the U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref>
When the shooting stopped, nineteen civilians had been killed or mortally wounded.<ref>Puerto Rico Encyclopedia. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref> Over two hundred others were badly wounded.<ref>Template:Usurped Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref> Many were shot in their backs while running away, including a seven-year-old girl named Georgina Maldonado who was "killed through the back while running to a nearby church."<ref>Latin American Studies. Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref><ref>Template:Usurped U.S. Congressman Marcantonio gave a speech critical of Governor Winship's involvement in the massacre. The entire speech is contained in the Congressional Record of 14 August 1939.</ref>
The US commissioned an independent investigation headed by Arthur Garfield Hays, general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union, together with prominent citizens of Puerto Rico. The members concluded in their report that the event was a massacre, with the police acting as a mob. They harshly criticized Winship's actions as governor and said he had numerous abuses of civil rights.<ref name="Vito"/> The event has since been known as the Ponce massacre.<ref name="Vito">Template:Usurped. Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref> It was the largest massacre in Puerto Rican history.<ref> Remembering Puerto Rico's Ponce Massacre. Democracy NOW: The War and Peace Report. 22 March 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2010.</ref> As a result of this report and other charges against Winship, he was dismissed from his position in 1937 and replaced as governor.<ref name="Vito"/>
The history of this event can be viewed at the Ponce Massacre Museum on Marina Street. An open-air park in the city, the Pedro Albizu Campos Park, is dedicated to the memory of the president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. As a result of this event, Ponce has been identified as "the birthplace of Puerto Rican national identity."<ref>Eileen J. Findlay, "Decency and Democracy: the Politics of Prostitution in Ponce, Puerto Rico, 1890–1900", Feminist Studies, Vol. 23, 1997. Page 471, Retrieved 30 November 2009</ref> Ponce history in general is expressed at the Ponce History Museum, on the block bordered by Isabel, Mayor, Cristina, and Salud streets in the historic downtown area.
Hub for political and economic activity
Ponce has continued to be a hub of political activity on the island, and is the founding site of several major political parties. It has also been the birthplace of several important political figures of the island, including Luis A. Ferré and Rafael Hernández Colón, both former governors of Puerto Rico, as well as the childhood town of governor Roberto Sanchez Vilella.
Statistics taken from the 2010 census show that 82.0% of Ponceños are White and 9.0% are African-American, with Taínos, Asians, people of mixed race and others making up the rest.<ref name="factfinder.census.gov"/> At 82.0% vs. 76.2% for the island as a whole, Ponce has the highest concentration of white population of any municipality in Puerto Rico.<ref>Puerto Rico, A Travel Guide. Randall Peffer. Lonely Planet. Page 224. 2002. (Template:ISBN) Accessed 27 June 2017.</ref> However, the US Census Bureau changed the definitions of its racial makeup categories for the 2020 census<ref>The changing categories the U.S. census has used to measure race. Anna Brown. Pew Research Center. 25 February 2020. Accessed 3 December 2022.</ref> resulting in 19.0% of Ponceños being classified as white and 13.3% as Black/Afro Puerto Rican', 0.3% as Asian, and people of mixed race making up the rest.
1970s economic decline
The 1970s brought significant commercial, industrial and banking changes to Ponce that dramatically altered its financial stability and outlook of the city, the municipality and, to an extent, the entire southern Puerto Rico region. After Luis A. Ferre concluded his term as governor of Puerto Rico on January 1, 1973, he closed the Puerto Rico Iron Works foundry on Avenida Hostos, and transferred the offices of Ponce's island-wide El Dia newspaper that he owned, as well as the headquarters of his Empresas Ferré, to San Juan. In 1976, CORCO—southern Puerto Rico's main source of economic vitality—shut down its industrial operations in Guayanilla leaving thousands of area residents without work; its impact on indirect sources of employment was even greater. Also, the sugar cane industry, also suffered a major downturn. Sugar cane had until 1976 been grown and refined at Ponce's Central Mercedita, but in that year agricultural production of sugar cane was halted in the lands of the municipality of Ponce and adjacent towns. Also, the headquarters of Banco de Ponce and Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño were moved to San Juan. Unemployment of Ponce jumped to 25% as a result of these changes.<ref>Reinaldo E. Gonzalez Blanco. El Turismo Cultural en Ponce durante el Plan Ponce en Marcha, 1900-2000. Neysa Rodriguez Deynes, Editor. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Professional Editions. 2018. pp.24-25. Template:ISBN</ref>
The Mameyes landslide
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On October 7, 1985, Ponce was the scene of a major tragedy, when at least 129 people lost their lives to a mudslide in a sector of Barrio Portugués Urbano<ref>Map Showing Susceptibility to Rainfall-triggered Landslides in the Municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico: Scientific Investigations Map I-2818. By Mattew C. Larsen, Marylin Santiago, Randall Jibson, and Eduardo Questell. USGS. 2004. Contrary to popular belief, Mameyes in not located in barrio Tibes. Mameyes is located in Barrio Portugués Urbano (Please see map). Retrieved 2 March 2010.</ref> called Mameyes. International help was needed to rescue people and recover corpses. The United States and many other countries, including Mexico, France, and Venezuela, sent economic, human, and machinery relief. The commonwealth government, subsequently, relocated hundreds of people to a new community built on stable ground.<ref>Natural Hazards and Disasters, Landslides in Puerto Rico. Caribbean Natural Hazards. Unit for Disaster Studies. University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. Mameyes landslide survivors were relocated to more stable grounds. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> In 2005, the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction of the United States reported that the Mameyes landslide held the record for having inflicted "the greatest loss of life by a single landslide" up to that year.<ref>Landslide and Debri Flow. Executive Office of the President of the United States. President's National Science and Technology Council. Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction. Washington, D.C. 2005. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref>
Recent history
The municipality of Ponce became the first in Puerto Rico to obtain its autonomy<ref>"Ley Núm. 256 del 13 de agosto del año 2008: Para ordenar a la Comisión Denominadora de Puerto Rico designe la Carr. PR-9 con el nombre de Rafael (Churumba) Cordero Santiago" (In Spanish). LexJuris Puerto Rico. First Autonomous Municipality. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> on October 27, 1992, under a new law (The Autonomous Municipalities Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico<ref>An Act: To amend Sections 1 and 2 of Act No. 100 of June 27, 1956 Template:Webarchive Act No. 81 of 30 August 1991: Autonomous Municipalities Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In An Act: To amend Sections 1 and 2 of Act No. 100 of June 27, 1956, Act No. 66, 3rd Session of the 13th Legislature of Puerto Rico. 14 April 1998. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref>) enacted by the Puerto Rican legislature. Ponce's mayor for 15 years, Rafael Cordero Santiago ("Churumba"), credited for leading the municipal government to that accomplishment, died in office on the morning of January 17, 2004, after suffering three consecutive strokes. Vice-mayor Delis Castillo Rivera de Santiago finished his term. Cordero was succeeded by Francisco Zayas Seijo. In the 2008 general elections María "Mayita" Meléndez was elected mayor of the city of Ponce and served three terms.<ref>Template:Usurped El Sur a la Vista. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.</ref> The current (2021) mayor is Luis Irizarry Pabón who became the first mayoral candidate in the modern history of Ponce to win with more than 60% of votes cast.<ref>Luis Irizarry Pabón: Prevé escabroso proceso de transición tras su victoria en las urnas: En enero, Irizarry Pabón tomará el control de una alcaldía que arrastra un déficit operacional de $48.3 millones y una deuda acumulada de $293.4 millones, según detalla la auditoria externa del año 2018. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. 11 November 2020. (Printed edition: Year 38. Issue 1928. 11–17 November 2020. pp. 4-5.) Accessed 11 November 2020. Archived.</ref>
The city is also the governmental seat of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce, and the regional hub for various commonwealth entities. For example, it serves as the southern hub for the Judiciary of Puerto Rico.<ref>Government: Judiciary. Welcome to Puerto Rico. Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref><ref>La Rama Judicial de Puerto Rico: Tribunal de Primera Instancia (In Spanish) Template:Webarchive Ponce is a Regional Center for the Judiciary of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref><ref>Ley Num. 293 of 25 de diciembre de 2002. Article 1(f). (In Spanish) Template:Webarchive Ponce is a Regional Center for the Puerto Rico Judiciary for several Neighboring Municipalities. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> It is also the regional center for various other commonwealth and federal government agencies.<ref>Centros de Servicios de ARPE Template:Webarchive Template:In lang Map showing commonwealth's ARPE regional center at Ponce. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref>
Ponce has improved its economy in the last years. In recent years, Ponce has solidified its position as the second most important city of Puerto Rico based on its economic progress and increasing population.<ref>Port of the Americas. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Port of the Americas Authority. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 8 March 2010.</ref> Today, the city of Ponce is the second largest in Puerto Rico outside of the San Juan metropolitan area.<ref>"Discover Ponce's Neoclassical Buildings and Museums" Template:Webarchive. PuertoRico.com. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> Its nicknames include: La Perla del Sur (The Pearl of the South)<ref> Ponce. Welcome to Puerto Rico. Retrieved 21 April 2010.</ref> and La Ciudad Señorial (The Noble or Lordly City).<ref>La Perla Theater. Puerto Rico Encyclopedia. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 21 April 2010.</ref> The city is also known as La Ciudad de las Quenepas (Genip City),<ref>Ciudad de Las Quenepas Template:Webarchive Genip is one of the common names in English for Melicoccus bijugatus. The word used in Puerto Rico is quenepa. Other Spanish-speaking countries call the fruit mamoncillo. Retrieved 23 July 2009.</ref><ref>A ready-to-be-eaten Quenepa Template:Webarchive The quenepa is the city fruit of Ponce. Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref> from the abundant amount of this fruit that grows within its borders. The complete history of Ponce can be appreciated at the Museo de la Historia de Ponce, which opened in the city in 1992. It depicts the history of the city from its early settlement days until the end of the 20th century.<ref>Ponce History Museum. Héctor L. Feliciano Torres. InterAmerican University. 2003. Accessed 29 December 2020.</ref>
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico. In Ponce, $1,000 million in damages were the initial estimates. An estimated 3,500 homes were completely or partially destroyed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The hurricane triggered numerous landslides in Ponce.<ref name="USGS_Maria_Landslides">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="USGS_Maria_Landslides map">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Geography
The Municipality of Ponce sits on the Southern Coastal Plain region of the Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Caribbean Sea. It is bordered by the municipalities of Adjuntas, Utuado, Jayuya, Peñuelas, and Juana Díaz.<ref>Directorio de Municipios. Gobierno de Puerto Rico. Pagina Oficial de Gobierno de Puerto Rico. (In Spanish) Template:Webarchive Neighboring Towns. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref>
Ponce is a large municipality, with only Arecibo larger in land area in Puerto Rico.<ref>Tourism Puerto Rico: Ponce Details. Template:Webarchive Second largest land. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> In terms of physical features, the municipality occupies a roughly rectangular area in south-central portion of the Island of approximately Template:Convert wide (east-to-west) by Template:Convert long (north-to-south).<ref>Surface-Water, Water-Quality, and Ground Water Assessment of the Municipio of Ponce, Puerto Rico, 2002-2004. Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5243. By Jesús Rodríguez-Martínez, Luis Santiago-Rivera, José M. Rodríguez, and Fernando Gómez-Gómez. United States Geological Survey. U.S. Department of the Interior. Prepared in Cooperation with the Municipio Autonomo de Ponce, Puerto Rico, Office of the Mayor. 2005. Page 3. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> It has a surface area of Template:Convert.<ref>Boricua Online: Ponce Facts. Source: USGS. Retrieved 21 February 2010.</ref> The main physiographic features of the municipality of Ponce are: (1) the mountainous interior containing the headwaters of the main river systems, (2) an upper plain, (3) a range of predominantly east-west trending limestone hills, (4) a coastal plain, and (5) a coastal flat.<ref>Surface-Water, Water-Quality, and Ground Water Assessment of the Municipio of Ponce, Puerto Rico, 2002-2004. Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5243. By Jesús Rodríguez-Martínez, Luis Santiago-Rivera, José M. Rodríguez, and Fernando Gómez-Gómez. United States Geological Survey. U.S. Department of the Interior. Prepared in Cooperation with the Municipio Autonomo de Ponce, Puerto Rico, Office of the Mayor. 2005. Page 4. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> The northern two-thirds of the municipality consists of the mountainous interior, with the southern third divided between hills, coastal plains, and the coastal flat.<ref>Surface-Water, Water-Quality, and Ground Water Assessment of the Municipio of Ponce, Puerto Rico, 2002-2004. Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5243. By Jesús Rodríguez-Martínez, Luis Santiago-Rivera, José M. Rodríguez, and Fernando Gómez-Gómez. United States Geological Survey. U.S. Department of the Interior. Prepared in Cooperation with the Municipio Autónomo de Ponce, Puerto Rico, Office of the Mayor. 2005. Page 5. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref>
Ponce's municipal territory reaches the central mountain range to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. Geographically speaking, the southern area of the territory is part of the Ponce-Patillas alluvial plain subsector and the southern coastal plain, which were created by the consolidation of the valleys of the southern side of the central mountain range and the Cayey mountain range. The central area of the municipality is part of the semi-arid southern hills. These two regions are classified as being the driest on the island. The northern part of the municipality is considered to be within the rainy western mountains.<ref>"Ponce, Geography." Puerto Rico Encyclopedia. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> Barrio Anón is home to Cerro Maravilla, a peak that at Template:Convert is Puerto Rico's fourth highest peak.<ref>Puerto Rico's Forest Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries. ElYunque.com. Cerro Maravilla. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref>
Nineteen barrios<ref>Ponce. Proyecto Salon Hogar. Map of Barrios of Ponce. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> comprise the rural areas of the municipality, and the topology of their lands varies from flatlands to hills to steep mountain slopes. The hilly barrios of the municipality (moving clockwise around the outskirts of the city) are these seven: Quebrada Limón, Marueño, Magueyes, Tibes, Portugués Rural, Machuelo Arriba, and Cerrillos. The barrios of Canas, Coto Laurel, Capitanejo, Sabanetas, Vayas, and Bucaná also surround the outskirts of the city but these are mostly flat. The remaining six other barrios are further away from the city and their topology is rugged mountain terrain. These are (clockwise): Guaraguao, San Patricio, Monte Llano, Maragüez, Anón, and Real. The ruggedness of these barrios is because through these areas of the municipality runs the Central Mountain Range of the Island.<ref>"Ponce." Puerto Rico, Poesía, Música, Arte, Historia y Cultura. PRFROGUI. Rural Barrios of Ponce. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> The remaining barrios are part of the urban zone of the city.<ref>"Visualizador ArcIMS de Ponce." Ponce, Ciudad Señorial. Oficina de Ordenación Territorial. Municipio Autónomo de Ponce. Template:Webarchive Barrios. Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref><ref>Ponce, Puerto Rico. Boricua Online: Lo Que No Sabias de Puerto Rico y Mucho Mas. Zona Urbana. Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref> There are six barrios in the core urban zone of the municipality named Primero, Segundo, Tercero, Cuarto, Quinto, and Sexto. They are delimetered by streets, rivers, or major highways. For example, Barrio Tercero is bounded in the north by Isabel Street, in the east by the Rio Portugués, in the south by Comercio Street, and the west by Plaza Las Delicias.<ref>1930 Federal Census Team Transcription. The U.S. GenWeb Census Project. Boundaries of Ponce Center City Core Barrios. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> Barrio Tercero includes much of what is called the historic district.
There is a seismic detector that the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, has placed in Barrio Cerrillos.<ref>Localización Espacial de las Estaciones Sísmicas y Creación de Mapas Base para la Red Sísmica de Puerto Rico. University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. 2005. Template:Webarchive U.P.R. Mayagüez Campus. Seismic Detector, Barrio Cerrillos. By Carlos J. Rodríguez. Retrieved 18 July 2010.</ref>
Land features
Elevations include Cerro de Punta at Template:Convert, the highest in Puerto Rico, located in Barrio Anón in the territory of the municipality of Ponce.<ref>Elevations and Distances in the United States. Template:Webarchive U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 17 November 2011.</ref><ref>"Science in Your Backyard: Puerto Rico." Template:Webarchive U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 25 February 2010.</ref> Mount Jayuya, at Template:Convert is located on the boundary between Barrio Anón and Barrio Saliente in Jayuya. Cerro Maravilla, at nearly Template:Convert above sea level, is located to the east of Barrio Anón. There are many other mountains at lower elevations in the municipality, such as the Montes Llanos ridge and Mount Diablo, at Template:Convert and Mount Marueño, at Template:Convert, and Pinto Peak, among others. Part of the Toro Negro Forest is located in Barrio Anón. Coastal promontories include Cuchara, Peñoncillo, Carnero, and Cabullón points.<ref>Ponce: Geography. Template:Webarchive Puerto Rico Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23 July 2009.</ref> Fifty-six percent of the municipality consists of slopes 10 degrees or greater.<ref>Map Showing Susceptibility to Rainfall-triggered Landslides in the Municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico: Scientific Investigations Map I-2818. Mattew C. Larsen, Marylin Santiago, Randall Jibson, and Eduardo Questell. Geopolitical Map of the Municipality. USGS. 2004. Retrieved 27 November 2009.</ref>
Water features
The 14 rivers comprising the hydrographic system of Ponce are Matilde, Inabón, Bucaná, Jacaguas, Portugués, Cañas, Pastillo, Cerrillos, Chiquito, Bayagan, Blanco, Prieto, Anón and San Patricio<ref>Rivers of Ponce. PRFROGUI. Rivers of Ponce. Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref> The Jacaguas River runs for a brief stretch on the southeast area of the municipality. The Inabón River springs from Anón ward and runs through the municipality for some Template:Convert; the tributaries of the Inabón are the Anón and Guayo rivers and the Emajagua Brook. The Bucaná River springs from Machuelo Arriba ward and runs for Template:Convert into the Caribbean Sea. The tributaries of the Bucaná are the San Patricio, Bayagán, and Prieto Rivers and Ausubo brook. The Portugués River springs from the ward of that name in Adjuntas, and runs for Template:Convert into the Caribbean sea at Ponce Playa ward. The Matilde River, also known as the Pastillo River, runs for Template:Convert; its tributaries are the Cañas River and the Limón and del Agua brooks. Lakes in Ponce include Bronce and Ponceña as well as lakes bearing numbers: Uno, Dos, Tres, and Cinco; and the Salinas Lagoon, which is considered a restricted lagoon.<ref>Law 227 of August 9, 2008. Puerto Rico Legislature. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive Salinas Lagoon and surrounding area restricted by Law. Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref> Other water bodies are the springs at Quintana and the La Guancha and El Tuque beaches.<ref>Puerto Rico Encyclopedia, Fundacion Puertorriquena de las Humanidades. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 23 July 2009.</ref> There is also a beach at Caja de Muertos Island. Lake Cerrillos is located within the limits of the municipality,<ref>Lago Cerrillos at Damsite - 50113950. USGS: Water Resources of the Caribbean. U.S. Geological Survey. Lake Cerrillos. Retrieved 19 July 2010.</ref> as will be the future lake resulting from the Portugués Dam. The Cerrillos State Forest is also located in the municipality of Ponce.
Coastal geographic features in Ponce include Bahía de Ponce, Caleta de Cabullones (Cabullones Cove), and five cays: Jueyes, Ratones,<ref>Cayo Ratones has an area of 6.94 square cuerdas and is located across from Laguna Salinas (in Barrio Canas). Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. Brevario Sobre la Historia de Ponce. Second Edition. Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. 2002. Pages 9 and 13. Printed by Impress Quality Printing, Bayamon, Puerto Rico.</ref> Cardona, Gatas, and Isla del Frio.<ref>Cayo Frio has an area of 2.89 cuerdas and is located across from the mouth of Rio Inabon (in Barrio Capitanejo). Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. Brevario Sobre la Historia de Ponce. Second Edition. Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. 2002. Pages 9 and 13. Printed by Impress Quality Printing, Bayamon, Puerto Rico.</ref> Caja de Muertos Island and Morrillito islet are located at the boundary between Ponce and Juana Díaz. There is a mangrove covering an area of approximately Template:Convert at Cabullón promontory and Isla del Frio. The Salinas Lagoon, part of Reserva Natural Punta Cucharas, has a mangrove that expands about Template:Convert. The lagoon itself consists of 698 cuerdas (678 acres; 274 ha).<ref>Laguna Las Salinas: De nuevo en el mapa sureño. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.</ref> The Rita cave is located in Barrio Cerrillos.<ref>Puerto Rico Encyclopedia. Fundación Puertorriqueña para las Humanidades. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 23 July 2009.</ref>
Climate
Ponce features a tropical savanna climate (Koppen Aw/As). Ponce has summer highs averaging Template:Convert<ref>August Daily Averages for Ponce, PR. The Weather Channel. 2012. Accessed 21 July 2019. Archived at the WayBack Machine on 19 October 2012.</ref> and winter highs, Template:Convert.<ref name="weather.com">February Daily Averages for Ponce, PR. The Weather Channel. 2012. Accessed 21 July 2019. Archived at the WayBack Machine on 3 November 2012.</ref> It has lows averaging Template:Convert in the winter<ref name="weather.com"/> and Template:Convert in the summer.<ref>August Daily Averages for Ponce, PR. The Weather Channel. 2012. Accessed 21 July 2019. Archived at the WayBack Machine on 19 October 2012.</ref> It has a record high of Template:Convert, which occurred on 21 August 2003,<ref>August Daily Averages for Ponce, PR. Template:Webarchive The Weather Channel. Retrieved 26 July 2009.</ref> and a record low of Template:Convert which occurred on 28 February 2004, tying the record low of Template:Convert from 25 January 1993.<ref>February Daily Averages for Ponce, PR. Template:Webarchive The Weather Channel. Retrieved 26 July 2009.</ref> The mean annual temperature in the municipality is Template:Convert.<ref>Surface-Water, Water-Quality, and Ground Water Assessment of the Municipio of Ponce, Puerto Rico, 2002-2004. Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5243. By Jesús Rodríguez-Martínez, Luis Santiago-Rivera, José M. Rodríguez, and Fernando Gómez-Gómez. United States Geological Survey. U.S. Department of the Interior. Prepared in Cooperation with the Municipio Autónomo de Ponce, Puerto Rico, Office of the Mayor. 2005. Page 4. Retrieved 28 November 2009.</ref>
Cityscape
Architecture
During the 19th century, the city was witness to a flourishing architectural development, including the birth of a new architectural style later dubbed Ponce Creole. Architects like Francisco Valls, Manuel Víctor Domenech, Eduardo Salich, Blas Silva Boucher, Agustín Camilo González, Alfredo Wiechers, Francisco Porrata Doria and Francisco Gardón Vega used a mixture of Art Nouveau and neoclassic styles to give the city a unique look. This can be seen in the various structures located in the center of the city like the Teatro La Perla. To showcase its rich architectural heritage, the city has opened the Museum of Puerto Rican Architecture at the Wiechers-Villaronga residence.<ref>Puerto Rico's Second City Steps Out. Jeremy W. Peters. The New York Times. New York, New York. 17 February 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref><ref>Explore Puerto Rico. By Harry S. Pariser. San Francisco: Manatee Press. 2006. Page 243. Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref>
Many of the city's features (from house façades to chamfered street corners) are modeled on Barcelona's architecture, given the city's strong Catalan heritage. In 2020, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Ponce Historic Zone as one of America's most endangered historic places.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Barrios
With 31 barrios, Ponce is Puerto Rico's municipality with the largest number of barrios.<ref>Template:Usurped Rafael Torrech San Inocencio. El Sur a la Vista. elsuralavista.com. 14 February 2010. Accessed 12 February 2011.</ref><ref>Ponce. Proyecto Salon Hogar. Map of Barrios of Ponce. (Map with fully urbanized barrios conglomerated and merged as "Zona Urbana". Barrio not labeled is named "Machuelo Abajo".) Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref><ref>"Ponce: General Information." Template:Webarchive Puerto Rico Encyclopedia. Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref><ref>Ponce Puerto Rico. AreciboWeb. (Map showing the 31 geo-numbered barrios of Ponce.) Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref> Ponce's barrios consist of 12 located in the urban area of the city plus 19 outside the urban zone.<ref>Ponce, Puerto Rico: Barrios AreciboWeb. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref><ref>Un Acercamiento Sociohistorico y Linguistico a los Toponimos del Municipio de Ponce, Puerto Rico. Amparo Morales, María T. Vaquero de Ramírez. "Estudios de lingüística hispánica: homenaje a María Vaquero". Page 113. Retrieved 19 July 2011.</ref> Of these nineteen, seven were considered suburban in 1999. The suburban barrios were: Canas, Magueyes, Portugués, Machuelo Arriba, Sabanetas, Coto Laurel, and Cerrillos.<ref>Sunny A. Cabrera Salcedo. Hacia un Estudio Integral de la Toponimia del Municipio de Ponce, Puerto Rico. Ph. D. dissertation. May 1999. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Graduate School. Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Page 21.</ref> A 2000 report by the U.S. Census Bureau provides detailed demographics statistics for each of Ponce's barrios.<ref>U.S. Census Bureau. Template:Webarchive Accessed 12 February 2011.</ref>
The 2000 Census showed that Montes Llanos is the least populated barrio in the municipality. Thanks to its larger area, barrio Canas was by far the most populated ward of the municipality.<ref>Lo Que No Sabias de Puerto Rico y Mucho Mas. By Boricua Online.com. Barrio Canas Most Populated. Retrieved 7 December 2009.</ref> At 68 persons per square mile, San Patricio was the least populated, while Cuarto was the most densely populated at 18,819 persons per square mile.
Ponce has nine barrios that border neighboring municipalities. These are Canas, Quebrada Limón, Marueño, Guaraguao, San Patricio, Anón, Real, Coto Laurel, and Capitanejo. Canas and Capitanejo are also coastal barrios, and together with three others (Playa, Bucaná, and Vayas) make up the municipality's five coastal barrios.
There are also five barrios within the city limits (Canas Urbano, Machuelo Abajo, Magueyes Urbano, Portugués Urbano, and San Antón) that in addition to the original six city core barrios — named Primero, Segundo, Tercero, Cuarto, Quinto, and Sexto — make up the 11 urban zone barrios of the municipality. The historic zone of the city is within these original six core city barrios. These eleven barrios composed what is known as the urban zone of the municipality.
The remaining eight barrios (Magueyes, Tibes, Montes Llanos, Maragüez, Portugués, Machuelo Arriba, Cerrillos, Sabanetas) are located in the interior of the municipality. These last eight are outside the city limits and are neither coastal nor bordering barrios.<ref>Mapa de Localizacion Limite de Barrios de Ponce. Oficina de Ordenacion Territorial. Municipio Autonomo de Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 24 March 2010.</ref>
A summary of all the barrios of the municipality, their population, population density, and land and water areas as given by the U.S. Census Bureau is as follows:<ref>U.S. Census Bureau. Fact Finder. Ponce Municipio, Puerto Rico – County Subdivision and Place. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 6 March 2010.</ref><ref>Ponce... Pearl of the South. The Real Estate Book. Template:Webarchive List of barrios of Ponce from U.S. Census Bureau. This map shows fully urbanized barrios conglomerated and merged as "Zona Urbana". The barrio missing a label is called "Machuelo Abajo" Retrieved 7 December 2009.</ref><ref>Welcome to Puerto Rico.Org, Map of Ponce. By Welcome to Puerto Rico.org. Retrieved 7 December 2009.</ref>
| No. | Barrio | Population (2000 census) |
Density (/sq mi) |
Total Area (sq mi) |
Land Area (sq mi) |
Water Area (sq mi) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anón | 1669 | 129.9 | 12.85 | 12.85 | 0.00 |
| 2 | Bucaná | 3963 | 2957.5 | 2.16 | 1.34 | 0.81 |
| 3 | Canas | 34065 | 2349.3 | 22.82 | 14.50 | 8.32 |
| 4 | Canas Urbano | 21482 | 9299.6 | 2.31 | 2.31 | 0.00 |
| 5 | Capitanejo | 1401 | 355.4 | 4.82 | 3.95 | 0.88 |
| 6 | Cerrillos | 4284 | 1377.5 | 3.31 | 3.11 | 0.20 |
| 7 | Coto Laurel | 5285 | 1492.9 | 3.60 | 3.54 | 0.06 |
| 8 | Cuarto | 3011 | 18818.8 | 0.17 | 0.16 | 0.00 |
| 9 | Guaraguao | 1017 | 247.4 | 4.11 | 4.11 | 0.00 |
| 10 | Machuelo Abajo | 13302 | 7515.3 | 1.86 | 1.77 | 0.90 |
| 11 | Machuelo Arriba | 13727 | 2124.9 | 6.61 | 6.46 | 0.15 |
| 12 | Magueyes | 6134 | 1345.2 | 4.56 | 4.56 | 0.00 |
| 13 | Magueyes Urbano | 1332 | 1074.2 | 1.24 | 1.24 | 0.00 |
| 14 | Maragüez | 754 | 142.0 | 6.42 | 5.31 | 1.11 |
| 15 | Marueño | 1474 | 350.1 | 4.21 | 4.21 | 0.00 |
| 16 | Montes Llanos | 462 | 214.9 | 2.15 | 2.15 | 0.00 |
| 17 | Playa | 16926 | 3864.4 | 14.98 | 4.38 | 10.60 |
| 18 | Portugués | 4882 | 1386.9 | 3.56 | 3.52 | 0.04 |
| 19 | Portugués Urbano | 5886 | 5163.2 | 1.14 | 1.14 | 0.00 |
| 20 | Primero | 3550 | 14200.0 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.00 |
| 21 | Quebrada Limón | 804 | 301.1 | 2.67 | 2.67 | 0.00 |
| 22 | Quinto | 724 | 6581.8 | 0.11 | 0.11 | 0.00 |
| 23 | Real | 3139 | 595.6 | 5.28 | 5.27 | 0.01 |
| 24 | Sabanetas | 6420 | 2351.6 | 2.79 | 2.73 | 0.06 |
| 25 | San Antón | 11271 | 10063.4 | 1.17 | 1.12 | 0.04 |
| 26 | San Patricio | 465 | 67.8 | 6.86 | 6.86 | 0.00 |
| 27 | Segundo | 11321 | 17416.9 | 0.65 | 0.65 | 0.00 |
| 28 | Sexto | 4745 | 18250.0 | 0.27 | 0.26 | 0.01 |
| 29 | Tercero | 773 | 9662.5 | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.00 |
| 30 | Tibes | 866 | 123.5 | 7.01 | 7.01 | 0.00 |
| 31 | Vayas | 1338 | 187.9 | 10.47 | 7.12 | 3.35 |
| Ponce | 186475 | 1625.5 | 193.6 | 114.7 | 78.9 |
Tourism
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Due to its historical importance throughout the years, Ponce features many points of interest for visiting tourists.<ref name="JetBlue 2010">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> The downtown area contains the bulk of Ponce's tourist attractions.<ref>Ponce City Map. Hotel Belica, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive Hotel Belgica Downtown City Map. Retrieved 24 November 2009.</ref> Tourism has seen significant growth in recent years. In 2007, over 6,000 tourists visited the city via cruise ships.<ref>El Vocero. By Jackeline Del Toro Cordero. 16 October 2008. Template:Webarchive Over 6,000 cruise ship tourists. Retrieved 7 December 2009.</ref> Passenger movement at the Mercedita Airport in FY 2008 was 278,911, a 1,228% increase over fiscal year 2003 and the highest of all the regional airports for that 5-year period.<ref>Transfer of operations from PPPA to Municipal Government Template:Webarchive Retrieved 15 November 2009.</ref> Though not all of these were tourists, it represents a volume larger than the population of the city itself.
To support a growing tourist industry, around the 1970s, and starting with the Ponce Holiday Inn, several hotels have been built. Newer lodging additions include the Ponce Hilton Golf & Casino Resort, home to the new Costa Caribe Golf & Country Club, featuring a 27-hole PGA championship golf course. The Hotel Meliá has operated in the city continuously since the early 20th century. It has also been studied that the Intercontinental Hotel, which opened in February 1960 and closed in 1975, could be refurbished and re-opened atop the hill near Cruceta del Vigía as the "Magna Vista Resort".<ref>Magna Vista Resort Venture in Ponce. Puerto Rico.com Template:Webarchive Retrieved 20 July 2010.</ref> The Ponce Ramada also opened in 2009, and other hotel projects in the works include the Four Points by Sheraton, and Marriott Courtyard, among others.<ref>New Hotel Resort Slated for Ponce Tourists. Let's Go To Ponce. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 29 July 2009.</ref> In 2013, the downtown Ponce Ramada Hotel added a casino to its 70-room structure.<ref>Estrenan expansión en Ramada Ponce. Template:Webarchive Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 27 February 2013. Year 31. Issue 1526. Page 4. Retrieved 27 February 2013.</ref><ref>Encaminan expansión en Hotel Ramada. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 5 October 2011.</ref> Ponce is part of the Government of Puerto Rico's Porta Caribe tourist region.
Ponce en Marcha
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In recent years an intensive $440 million<ref>"Introduction to Ponce." Frommer's $440M Renovation Project. Retrieved 4 December 2005.</ref><ref>Welcome to Puerto Rico: Ponce. Nearly one half a billion dollars have been spent preserving the colonial core of Ponce. Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref> revitalization project called "Ponce en Marcha"<ref>"'Identity, Power, and Place @ the Margins." Revolutionary Ideas in Planning. Proceedings of the 1998 National Planning Conference. By Wanda I. Mills. AICP Press. Template:Webarchive Ponce en Marcha. Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref> ("Ponce on the Move") has increased the city's historic area from 260 to 1,046 buildings.<ref>Explore Puerto Rico. By Harry S. Pariser. Page 242 Downtown revitalization brought historic buildings up to 1,046. Retrieved 7 December 2009.</ref> The Ponce en MarchaTemplate:Efn project was conceived in 1985 by then governor Rafael Hernández Colón during his second term in La Fortaleza and Ponce mayor Jose Dapena Thompson.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Arturo Picó Valls: Confía en juez del pleito Ponce en Marcha. Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 21 October 2011.</ref> The plan was approved by the Ponce Municipal Legislature on January 14, 2003. It was signed by Governor Sila Calderon via Executive Order on December 28, 2003, and went into effect on January 12, 2004. The plan incorporates one billion dollars in spending during the period of 2004 through 2012.<ref>Inerte el Plan Territorial: El sueño roto de todos los ponceños. Rolando Emmanuelli Jiménez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2011.</ref> A significant number of buildings in Ponce are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.<ref>National Register of Historic Places - buildings and structures</ref> The nonprofit Project for Public Places<ref>Great Public Places: Ponce Center City. Project for Public Spaces, New York, New York. By Maria Fernanda Vallecillo. Template:Webarchive Project for Public Spaces. Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref> listed the historic downtown Ponce city center as one of the 60 of the World's Great Places, for its "graciously preserved showcase of Caribbean culture".<ref>60 of the World's Great Places. Project for Public Spaces: Thirty Years of Placemaking. New York, New York. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref> The revitalized historic area of the city goes by various names, including "Ponce Centro" (Ponce Center),<ref>Great Public Places: Ponce Center City. Project for Public Spaces, New York, New York. By Maria Fernanda Vallecillo. Template:Webarchive"Ponce Center City." Retrieved 11 December 2009.</ref> "Historic Ponce",<ref>Explore Puerto Rico - Historic Ponce. Page 240"Historic Ponce." Retrieved 11 December 2009.</ref> and "Historic District."<ref>Frommer's Portable Puerto Rico: Volume 10. Second Ed. By Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince. Wiley Publishing. Pages 7-8."Historic District." Retrieved 11 December. 2009.</ref> The name "Ponce en Marcha" comes from the revitalization plan of Zona Atocha in Madrid called Atocha en Marcha.<ref>Reinaldo E. Gonzalez Blanco. El Turismo Cultural en Ponce durante el Plan Ponce en Marcha, 1900-2000. Neysa Rodriguez Deynes, Editor. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Professional Editions. 2018. p.28 (footnote). Template:ISBN</ref>
Landmarks
The city has been christened as Museum City for its many quality museums.<ref>Ponce Museum City. Universia, Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive Museum City. Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref><ref>Your Gateway to the Pearl of the South. Template:Webarchive Holiday Inn. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 17 November 2011.</ref> All museums in Ponce are under municipal government administration. On 15 September 2004, the last four museums not under local control were transferred from the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture to the Ponce Municipal Government by act of the Puerto Rico Legislature.<ref>Museums transferred from ICP to PMG Retrieved 23 January 2010.</ref> However, these four museums (Casa Armstrong Poventud, Casa Wiechers-Villaronga, Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña, and Casa de la Masacre) continue to be controlled by the ICP.<ref>"De cuatro museos, solamente uno abrió". Por Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 20 July 2011. Page 4. Retrieved 14 November 2011.</ref><ref>Crónico el problema con museos del ICP. Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 20 July 2011. Page 12. (Year 29. No. 1442) Retrieved 14 November 2011.</ref> Downtown Ponce in particular features several museums and landmarks.<ref>MundoBoricua Template:Webarchive List of Ponce Attractions by the Director. Retrieved 3 December 2009.</ref>
Plaza Las Delicias, the town's main square, features a prominent fountain (namely, the "Lions Fountain"), the Ponce Cathedral, and Parque de Bombas, an old fire house, now a museum, that stands as an iconic symbol of the city and a tribute to the bravery of its firefighters. This plaza is also a usual gathering place for "ponceños". Other buildings around Ponce's main plaza include the Casa Alcaldía (Ponce City Hall), the oldest colonial building in the city, dating to the 1840s, and the Armstrong-Poventud Residence, an example of the neoclassical architectural heritage of the island.
Just north of downtown Ponce lies the Castillo Serrallés and the Cruceta del Vigía, a Template:Convert observation tower which overlooks the city. The Serralles castle is reported to receive nearly 100,000 visitors every year.<ref>Periódico La Perla. 26 August 2009. Template:Webarchive Serralles Castle - 100,000 visitors/yr. Retrieved 30 October 2009.</ref> The hill on which the Cruceta is located was originally used by scouts to scan for incoming mercantile ships as well as invading ones. The invasion of American troops in 1898 was first spotted from there.
Ponce is home to Puerto Rico's oldest cemetery; in fact, it is the oldest cemetery in the Antilles. In the city outskirts, the Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center was discovered in 1975 after hurricane rains uncovered pottery.<ref>"Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center." Let's Go to Ponce: Insider's Guide to South Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref> The center is the site of the oldest cemetery uncovered up to date in the Antilles. With some 200 skeletons unearthed from the year 300 AD, it is considered the largest and the most important archaeological finding in the West Indies.<ref>"Ponce, PR: Pearl of the South." By Barbarella Brown; Photos by J. Kevin Foltz. American Eagle Latitudes. Template:Webarchive Taino Dating back to 1,000 yrs before Christopher Columbus. Retrieved 3 November 2009.</ref><ref>Knowing Our Roots: Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center (Esbozo histórico). By Archeologist Luis Á. Rodríguez Gracia. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 16 January 2010.</ref> Two other cemeteries in Ponce worth noting are the Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro and the Cementerio Catolico San Vicente de Paul, both of which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Cementerio Catolico San Vicente de Paul has the most eye-catching burial constructions of any cemetery for the wealthiest families, both local and foreign-born, of southern Puerto Rico.<ref>Mariano G. Coronas Castro, Certifying Official, and Marta Cruz Case, Graduate Architect. Cementerio Católico San Vicente de Paul. Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. San Juan, Puerto Rico. May, 1988. National Register of Historic Places - Registration Form: Listing Reference Number 88001249. Pages 2-3. 25 August 1988. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. Washington, D.C.</ref>
Also in the city outskirts is Hacienda Buena Vista, an estate built in 1833 originally to grow fruits. It was converted into a coffee plantation and gristmill in 1845. It remained in operation until 1937, then fell into disrepair, but was restored by the government's Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico. All the machinery works (the metal parts) are original, operated by water channeled from the 360m Vives waterfall; there is a hydraulic turbine which makes the corn mill work.
Paseo Tablado La Guancha is located in the town's sea shore. It features kiosks with food and beverages, an open-space stage for activities, and a marina called Club Náutico de Ponce. From the observation tower on the boardwalk, Cardona Island Light can be seen. A 45-minute boat ride is also available to Isla de Caja de Muertos (Coffin Island), a small island with several beaches and an 1887 lighthouse.
Template:As of, the city had also engaged in the development of a convention center with a capacity for 3,000 people. It is also to include two major hotels, apartment buildings and recreational facilities.<ref>The Ponce Convention District Begins in 2008. Let's Go To Ponce: Insider's Guide to South Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive Convention Center. Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref> Puerto Rico Route 143 (PR-143), known as the Panoramic Route, runs edging near the municipality's northern border.<ref>Template:Usurped Retrieved 27 November 2009.</ref>
Culture
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The city is home to a long list of cultural assets including libraries, museums, galleries, and parks, hundreds of buildings of historical value including schools, residences, bridges, and estates, and frequent activities such as festivals and carnivals. The municipality invests close to half a million dollars in promoting its cultural assets.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It established its first library in 1894<ref>First library from "The History of Puerto Rico From the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation", by R.A. Van Middeldyk. 1903. Template:Webarchive</ref> and, Template:As of had a new central library<ref>New Central Library Template:Webarchive La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico.</ref> with seven other branches scattered throughout the municipality.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A number of cultural events take place during the year, most prominently:<ref>"Ponce: Events" Encyclopedia Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Events taking place in Ponce. Escape to Puerto Rico. Retrieved 7 May 2010.</ref>
- February – Ponce Carnival
- March – Feria de Artesanías de Ponce (Ponce Crafts Fair)<ref>Regresa la Feria de Artesanías de Ponce. Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 3 March 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.</ref> In 2019, the 45th {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was held.<ref name="Primera Hora 2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- April – Ponce Jazz Festival
- May –— Fiesta Nacional de la Danza; Barrio Playa Festival
- July – Barrio San Anton's Bomba Festival
- August – Festival Nacional de la Quenepa (National Genip Festival), often the third week<ref>Quenepas – A Taste of Ponce. Template:Webarchive Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2013.</ref><ref>Celebra Ponce a su mimada quenepa. Ana María Rolón Romero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 27. Issue 1341. Page 28. Retrieved 14 May 2013.</ref>
- September – Día Mundial de Ponce
- November – Discovering Our Indian Roots
- December – Patron Saint's Day Festival (Fiestas Patronales);<ref name="periodicolaperla.com">Vuelven a Ponce las Fiestas Patronales. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.</ref> Las Mañanitas;<ref name="periodicolaperla.com"/> Children's Christmas Concert
The city values its cultural traditions as evidenced by the revitalization project Ponce en Marcha. It is deeply rooted in its traditional cultural, artistic, and musical heritage. The love for art and architecture, for example, can be appreciated at its museums of art, music, and architecture.
"Over the last century or so, the north [i.e., San Juan] willingly accepted the influence of western culture with its tendency toward large sprawling metropolises, and the displacement of old values and attitudes. Ponce, on the other hand, has been content to retain its old traditions and culture. Ponce is not concerned about losing its long standing position as the second largest city in population after San Juan. On the contrary, she prefers to maintain her current size, and stick to its old traditions and culture."<ref>Template:Usurped Peter Feliciano. PonceCensus.Org. 2002. Retrieved 17 November 2011.</ref><ref>Randell Peffer. Puerto Rico. Lonely Planet.</ref>
Some argue that the Ponceño culture is different from the rest of the Island:
"Ponceños have always been a breed apart from other Puerto Ricans. Their insularity and haughtiness are legendary, and some Puerto Ricans claim that even the dialect in Ponce is slightly different from that spoken in the rest of the Island. They are also racially different: you'll see more people of African descent in Ponce than anywhere else in the Island except Loiza."<ref>Puerto Rico By Insight Guides. Page 221. More African-Puerto Ricans in Ponce than anywhere else in the Island. Retrieved October 31, 2009.</ref>
Others claim that Ponceños exhibit considerable more civic pride than do residents of other locales.<ref>Explore Puerto Rico. By Harry S. Pariser. Page 239. Claim of greater civic pride. Retrieved 7 December 2009.</ref> Luis Muñoz Rivera, the most important statesman in the Island at the close of the 19th century, referred to Ponce as "the most Puerto Rican city of Puerto Rico."<ref>Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz, Certifying Official, and Juan Llanes Santos, Preparer, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 26 February 2008. In National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 13. Listing Reference Number 08000283 (McCabe Memorial Church). 11 April 2008.</ref>Template:Efn
Music
Artistic development also flourished during this period. The surging of popular rhythms like Bomba and Plena took place in the south region of the island, mainly in Ponce. Barrio San Antón is known as one of the birthplaces of the rhythm. Every July, Ponce celebrates an annual festival of Bomba and Plena, which includes various musicians and parades.
Immigrants from Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and England came to Ponce to develop an international city that still maintains rich Taíno and African heritage. The African personality, belief, and music add flavor and colorful rhythm to Ponce's culture. Part of this are the influences of the Bomba and Plena rhythms. These are a combination and Caribbean and African music.<ref>Travel and Sports: Puerto Rico. Staff Template:Webarchive Retrieved 7 December 2009.</ref>
Ponce has also been the birthplace of several singers and musicians. From opera singers like Antonio Paoli, who lived in the early 20th century, to contemporary singers like Ednita Nazario. Also, Salsa singers like Héctor Lavoe, Cheo Feliciano, and Ismael Quintana also come from the city.
Dating back to 1858, Ponce's Carnival is the oldest in Puerto Rico, and acquired an international flavor for its 150th anniversary.<ref>Ponce Carnival Goes International In Its 150th Anniversary Edition. Let's Go To Ponce. Template:Webarchive Ponce Carnival. Retrieved 29 July 2009.</ref> It is one of the oldest carnivals celebrated in the Western Hemisphere. It features various parades with masked characters representative of good and evil.
The Museum of Puerto Rican Music, located at the Serrallés-Nevárez family residence in downtown Ponce, illustrates music history on the Island, most of which had its origin and development in Ponce.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
No discussion of music in Ponce would be complete without rendering honor to the great performances of King of Tenors Antonio Paoli and danza master Juan Morel Campos, both from Ponce. Today, there is a statue of Juan Morel Campos that adorns the Plaza Las Delicias city square, and the home where Paoli was born and raised functions as the Puerto Rico Center for Folkloric Research, a research center for Puerto Rican culture.
A municipal band presents concerts every Sunday evening, and a Youth Symphony Orchestra also performs.<ref>Marca sonora huella la Sinfónica Juvenil. Sandra Torres Guzmán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 30. Issue 1485. Page 30. Retrieved 16 May 2012.</ref>
Arts
Ponce's love for the arts dates back to at least 1864 when the Teatro La Perla was built. Ponce is also the birthplace of artists like Miguel Pou, Horacio Castaing, and several others in the fields of painting, sculpture, and others. The City is one of only seven cities in the Western Hemisphere (the others being Mexico City, Havana, Valparaíso, Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, and Rosario) in the Ruta Europea del Modernisme,<ref>Ponce Puerto Rico...the Pearl of the South. TravelPonce.com. Retrieved 11 December 2009.</ref> an international non-profit association for the promotion and protection of Art Nouveau heritage in the world.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Today, Ponce has more museums (nine) than any other municipality in the Island.<ref>Top Five Ponce Attractions. TravelPonce. 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2009.</ref> Ponce is home to the Museo de Arte de Ponce (MAP), founded in 1959 by fellow ponceño Luis A. Ferré. The museum was operated by Ferré until his death at the age of 99, and it is now under the direction of the Luis A. Ferré Foundation. Designed by Edward Durell Stone, architect of Radio City Music Hall<ref>Radio City Top Five Ponce attractions. TravelPonce.com. Retrieved 17 November 2011.</ref> and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, MAP is the only museum of international stature on the Island, the only one that was accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM),<ref>MAP: Informe Annual 2008 Template:Webarchive Page 7.</ref> and the only one that has received a design prize of honor from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).<ref>MAP: Informe Annual 2008 Template:Webarchive Page 52.</ref> It houses the most extensive art collection in the Caribbean with 4,500 pieces.<ref name="Discover">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sports
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Most of Ponce's professional teams are called the Leones de Ponce (Ponce Lions, or Ponce Lionesses as the case may be) regardless of the sport. The Leones de Ponce basketball team is one of the leading teams of the island, winning 12 championships during their tenure.<ref>BSN-PR Championships (In Spanish) Template:Webarchive Retrieved 7 April 2010.</ref> The team's venue is the Juan Pachín Vicéns Auditorium. The Leones de Ponce (men's) baseball and the Leonas de Ponce (women's) baseball teams have also been fairly successful.<ref>Diamonds around the Globe: The Encyclopedia of International Baseball. By Peter C. Bjarkman. Retrieved 30 March 2010.</ref> The baseball teams' venue is the Francisco Montaner Stadium.<ref>Ponce Grand Prix de Atletismo. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 30 March 2010.</ref> The stadium is located next to the Juan Pachín Vicéns Auditorium.<ref>Location of Stadium, from DondeEs.com Template:Webarchive Retrieved 7 April 2010.</ref>
In 1993 the city hosted the Central American and Caribbean Games, from November 19–30.<ref>Fédération Equestre Internationale. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 7 April 2010.</ref>
The city also hosts two international annual sporting events. In the month of May, it hosts the Ponce Grand Prix, a track and field event in which over 100 athletes participate. During the Memorial Day Weekend in the month of September, the city hosts Cruce a Nado Internacional, a swimming competition with over a dozen countries represented. Also, the Ponce Marathon takes place every December, sometimes as part of the Las Mañanitas event on December 12.
The Francisco "Pancho" Coimbre Sports Museum, named after the baseball player of the same name, was dedicated to the honor of Puerto Rico's great sports men and women.<ref>Francisco Pancho Coimbre Sports Museum Template:Webarchive Retrieved 11 December 2009.</ref> It is located on the grounds of the Charles H. Terry Athletic Park on Lolita Tizol Street, just north of the entrance to Historic Ponce at Puente de los Leones (Lions' Bridge) and the Ponce Tricentennial Park. In 2012 the city commenced construction of the multi-sport complex Ciudad Deportiva Millito Navarro. No date has been announced for its completion yet, but its skateboarding section opened in March 2013.
The main annual sports events are as follows:
- April – Las Justas – intercollegiate sports competition
- May – Ponce Grand Prix – international track and field competition
- August – Cruce a Nado Internacional – international swimming competition
- December – Maratón La Guadalupe– - 26-mile national marathon
Recreation
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also
The municipality is home to several parks and beaches, including both passive and active parks. Among the most popular passive parks are the Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park on Ponce By-pass Road (PR-2) at the location where the Rio Portugués feeds into Bucaná. The Parque Urbano Dora Colon Clavell, another passive park is in the downtown area. Active parks include the Charles H. Terry Athletic Field, and several municipal tennis courts, including one at Poly Deportivos with 9 hard courts, and one at La Rambla with six hard courts.<ref>Froomer's Puerto Rico. Eighth Edition. By Darwin Poter and Danforth Prince. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing. 2006.) Page 187. Retrieved 5 December 2010.</ref> There are also many public basketball courts scattered throughout the various barrios of the municipality.
The municipality has 40 beaches including 28 on the mainland and 12 in Caja de Muertos.<ref>Las 1,200 playas de Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive Primera Hora. 9 March 2015. Page 29 of 41. Retrieved 9 March 2015.</ref> Among these, about a dozen of them are most notable, including El Tuque Beach in the El Tuque sector on highway PR-2, west of the city, La Guancha Beach at the La Guancha sector south of the city, and four beaches in Caja de Muertos: Pelicano, Playa Larga, Carrucho, and Coast Guard beach.<ref>Por algo le llaman 'El Edén del Caribe'. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2011.</ref> A ferry must be boarded at La Guancha for transportation to the Caja de Muertos beaches.
Religion
During and after colonization, the Roman Catholic Church became the established religion of the colony. Gradually African slaves were converted to Christianity, but many incorporated their own traditions and symbols, maintaining African traditions as well. Ponce Cathedral, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1839.<ref>GCatholic.org: GCatholic.org. Diocese of Ponce, Puerto Rico Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref><ref>Iglesia Católica de Puerto Rico: Diócesis de Ponce (In Spanish) Template:Webarchive Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> The Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 allowed for non-Catholics to immigrate legally to Puerto Rico, but it required those who wanted to settle on the island to make a vow of alliance to the Catholic Church. Ponce was the first city in Puerto Rico where Protestant churches were built.<ref>Guillermo A. Baralt. La Historia de El Nuevo Dia (1909–2000): "Al servicio de mi tierra". Page 101. Fundación El Nuevo Dia. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2002. Template:ISBN.</ref>
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With the U.S. invasion, there was a significant change in the religious landscape in the City and in Puerto Rico. "The Protestant missionaries followed the footprints of the United States soldiers, right after the Treaty of Paris was ratified and Puerto Rico was ceded to the American government."<ref name="Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz 2008. Page 20">Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz, Certifying Official, and Juan Llanes Santos, Preparer, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 26 February 2008. In National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. United States Department of the Inferior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 20. Listing Reference Number 08000283. Section 8, page 16. 11 April 2008.</ref> By March 1899, eight months after the occupation, executives from the Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, Presbyterians, and others, had arranged for an evangelical division whereby Ponce would have Evangelical, Baptist, and Methodist "campaigns". With the passing of the Foraker Act in 1900, which established total separation between Church and State, the absolute power of the Catholic Church eroded quickly.<ref name="Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz 2008. Page 20"/>
Various Protestant churches were soon established and built in Ponce; today many are recognized as historic sites. Among them are the McCabe Memorial Church (Methodist) (1908),<ref>Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz, Certifying Official, and Juan Llanes Santos, Preparer, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 26 February 2008. In National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 20. Listing Reference Number 08000283. Section 8, page 16. 11 April 2008.</ref> and the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church (Methodist) (1907).<ref>Hector F. Santiago, Historian and Felix Julian del Campo, Historian. Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) August, 1987. In National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Listing Reference Number 87001822. 29 October 1987.</ref>
The bell of the Episcopalian Holy Trinity Church in Barrio Cuarto, rang again<ref>Socorro. Guiron, Ponce, El teatro La Perla y La Campana de la Almudaina: Historia de Ponce desde sus comienzos hasta la segunda década del siglo XX, Ponce, Puerto Rico: Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 3rd ed. 1992. p.153.</ref> when the Americans arrived on 25 July 1898. Built in 1873, the church was allowed to function by the Spanish Crown under the conditions that its bell would not be rung, its front doors would always remain closed, and its services would be offered in English only.<ref>Mariano G. Coronas Castro, Certifying Official; Felix Julian del Campo, State Historian; and Hector Santiago, State Historian, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 14 July 1986. In National Register of Historic Places-Inventory Nomination Form. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 4. Listing Reference Number 86002766. 29 September 1986.</ref>
Today, Ponce is home to a mix of religious faiths: both Protestants and Catholics, as well as Muslims, have places of worship in Ponce. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Pentecostals, Adventists, Evangelicals, Disciples of Christ, and Congregationalists are among the Protestant faiths with a following in Ponce. Catholicism is the faith of the majority of ponceños. In 2009, the Catholic Church had 18 parishes in the municipality, two bishops and 131 priests.<ref>"Diócesis de Ponce: Historia." Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 6 December 2009. (In Spanish) Archived at WayBack Machine on 27 May 2010.</ref> In his Memoirs, Albert E. Lee summed up Ponce's attitude towards religion:<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
Ponce was not only tolerant, it was indifferent in religious matters. Protestants and Catholics, and even atheists, lived together socially on the friendliest terms. Religion was strictly a personal affair in Ponce while in San Juan at times gave the impression that it was ready to practice the auto-de-fe [sic].<ref>Albert Edward Lee. An Island grows; memoirs of Albert E. Lee, Puerto Rico, 1873-1942. San Juan, Puerto Rico: A.E. Lee and Son. 1963. page 68.</ref>{{#if:|
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Economy
Traditionally the city's economy had depended almost entirely on the sugarcane industry.<ref>Sugar and Slavery in Puerto Rico: The Plantation Economy of Ponce, 1800–1850. By Francisco A. Scarano. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1984. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 24 November 2009.</ref> Since around the 1950s, however, the town's economy has diversified and today its economy revolves around a mixed-industry manufacturing sector, retail, and tourism.<ref>Ponce, P.R.: Consolidated Plan (Executive Summary). U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Community Planning and Development. 1995. Ponce's economy depends on manufacturing, retail, and tourism. Retrieved 24 November 2009.</ref><ref>New Initiatives Set to Boost Ponce's Economy. Summit Reports 2003. Summit Communications, New York, NY. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 25 November 2009.</ref> The building of a mega port, anticipated to be completed in 2012,<ref> A New Transshipment Hub Underway in Puerto Rico. Latin Trade. By Richard Westlund. 1 June 2009. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 17 April 2010.</ref> is expected to add significantly to the area's economy. Agriculture, retail, and services are also significant players in the local economy. It is considered an agricultural, trade, and distribution center, with manufacturing that includes electronics, communications equipment, food processing, pharmaceutical drugs, concrete plants, scientific instruments and rum distilling as well as an established gourmet coffee agricultural industry.<ref name="thinkponce.com">City of Ponce: Ponce is for all that come to visit. Ponce is Ours... Template:Webarchive Think Ponce. 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.</ref> The city, though, suffers from an unemployment rate that hovers around the 15 percent mark.<ref>Economy at a Glance - Ponce, PR.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 25 November 2009.</ref>
Manufacturing
The municipality is considered one of the most developed municipalities in Puerto Rico.<ref>Municipalities: Ponce, General Information. Template:Webarchive The City is one of the most developed municipalities in Puerto Rico. Retrieved 25 November 2009.</ref> Its manufacturing sectors include electronic and electrical equipment, communications equipment, food processing, pharmaceutical drugs, concrete plants, and scientific instruments.<ref name="thinkponce.com"/> It also produces leather products, needlework, and fish flour to a lesser extent. Ponce is home to the Serralles rum distillery, which manufactures Don Q, and to Industrias Vassallo, a leader in PVC manufacturing. Other important local manufacturers are Ponce Cement, Cristalia Premium Water, Rovira Biscuits Corporation, and Café Rico. Ponce was once the headquarters for Puerto Rico Iron Works, Ponce Salt Industries, and Ponce Candy Industries.
Agriculture
In the agricultural sector, the most important products are coffee, followed by plantains, bananas, oranges, and grapefruits. A mix of public and private services, as well as finance, retail sales, and construction round up Ponce's economic rhythm.<ref>Ponce's Economy Template:Webarchive Retrieved 23 July. 2009.</ref> Cafe Rico, which metamorphosed from coffee-grower Cafeteros de Puerto Rico, has its headquarters in Ponce.
Retail
For many years commercial retail activity in Ponce centered around what is now Paseo Atocha. This has shifted in recent years, and most retail activity today occurs in one of Ponce's various malls, in particular Plaza del Caribe. Centro del Sur Mall is also a significant retail area, as is Ponce Mall.<ref>Template:Usurped Retrieved 27 November 2009.</ref>
Mega port
Ponce is home to Puerto Rico's chief Caribbean port, the Port of Ponce.<ref>A New Transshipment Hub Underway in Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive Richard Westlund. Latin Trade. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2013.</ref> The port is expanding to transform it into a mega port, called the Port of the Americas that will operate as an international transshipment port. When fully operational, it is expected to support 100,000 jobs.<ref>Ponencia del Gobierno Municipal Autónomo de Ponce Before the Senate of Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive Rafael Cordero Santiago, Alcalde de Ponce. Page 5.</ref>
Demographics
Template:See also Template:Historical populations Template:Historical populations
| Race - Ponce, Puerto Rico - 2020 Census<ref name="factfinder.census.gov">Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 (Geography = Ponce Municipio, Puerto Rico). American Fact Finder. U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Department of Commerce. 2010. Accessed 27 June 2017.</ref> | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Population | % of Total |
| White | 26,148 | 19.0% |
| Black/Afro Puerto Rican | 18,325 | 13.3% |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 4,129 | 3.0% |
| Asian | 365 | 0.3% |
| Two or more races/Some other race | 88,524 | 64.4% |
Ponce has consistently ranked as one of the most populous cities in Puerto Rico. Ponce's population, according to the 2010 census, stands at 166,327, with a population density of Template:Convert, ranking third in terms of population among Puerto Rican municipalities. As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 13.89% of the population.<ref>MLA Data Center Results for Ponce, Puerto Rico Modern Language Association. Retrieved 29 February 2024.</ref>
Government
The municipal government has its seat in the city of Ponce.<ref>Mapa de Puerto Rico: Municipios y Centros Administrativos. (in Spanish) Template:Webarchive Interactive Map. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref><ref>Cartographic Boundary Files. U.S. Census Bureau. Template:Webarchive City is seat of Municipal Gov't. Retrieved 22 November 2009.</ref> Since its foundation in 1692, the city of Ponce has been led by a mayor. Its first mayor was Don Pedro Sánchez de Matos. The 2008 election of María Meléndez Altieri (PNP), brought Ponce the first woman to be elected to the mayoral office in the city's history. She was re-elected in 2012 and again in 2016, but lost her re-election bid in 2020. In the 2020 election Luis Irizarry Pabón (PPD) was elected as mayor, but was suspended as mayor on November 1, 2023, by the Puerto Rico Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor's Panel after an investigation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Marlese Sifre has served as interim mayor since November 2, 2023 and was elected as mayor during the 2024 Puerto Rican general election.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ponce's best known mayor of recent years is perhaps Rafael "Churumba" Cordero Santiago (PPD), who held office from 1989 until his sudden death on the morning of 17 January 2004, after suffering three successive brain strokes.
The city also has a municipal legislature that handles local legislative matters. Ponce has had a municipal council since 1812.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Efn<ref>Historia de los partidos reformista y conservador de Puerto-Rico. Francisco Mariano Quiñones. Tipografía Comercial Comercio 13, Marina. Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. 1889. Page 7.</ref> The municipal legislature is composed of 16 civilians elected during the general elections, along with the mayor, state representatives and senators. The delegations are, until the 2020 general election, distributed as follows: 13 legislators of the Popular Democratic Party, two legislators of the New Progressive Party, and one legislator from the Movimento Victoria Ciudadana.
The Ponce City Hall has one of the most unusual histories of any city hall throughout the world. "Originally built in the 1840s as a public assembly hall, Ponce's City Hall was a jail until the end of the 19th century. Current galleries were former cells, and executions were held in the courtyard. Four U.S. presidents spoke from the balcony - Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt and George Bush." It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2005, the municipality's budget was US$152 million.<ref>Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Municipality of Ponce. Financial Statements for the Year Ended June 30, 2005 and Independent Auditors' Report (Autonomous Municipality of Ponce's Official website: Municipal budget) Template:Webarchive Retrieved 31 October 2009.</ref> In 2010-2011 it was $158 million.<ref>Ponce en sus Dimensiones. Template:Webarchive Puerto Rico, Pueblo a Pueblo. Retrieved 27 November 2011.</ref> In 2016-2017 the proposed budget was $140 million.<ref> Alcaldesa redirige culpas en el Mensaje. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 34. Issue 1693. 11 May 2016. Accessed 12 May 2016.</ref> From a business perspective, the Ponce municipal government is generally praised for its efficiency and speediness, thanks to its adoption of the Autonomous Municipality Law of 1991.<ref>The Climate for Business Development and Employment Growth in Puerto Rico. By Steven J. Davis (Univ of Chicago, Grad. School of Bus. National Bureau of Economic Research. American Enterprise Institute) and Luis Rivera-Batiz (Univ. of P.R., Grad School of Bus. Admin.) 2 September 2005. p.37. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref>
The municipality of Ponce is the seat of the Puerto Rico Senatorial district V, which is represented by two senators. During the 2024 Puerto Rico Senate election, Marially González of the Popular Democratic Party and Jamie Barlucea, of the New Progressive Party, were elected as District Senators and are currently serving.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Symbols
The {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} has an official flag and coat of arms.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of the municipality is based on the design of the official mayoral seal that was adopted in 1844 under the administration of mayor Salvador de Vives.<ref name="visitponce.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The coat of arms of Ponce consists of an escutcheon (shield) in the Spanish tradition. This shield has a field with a party per bend division. The division runs from top left to bottom right. The field is red and black, bordered with a fine golden line. In the center of the shield is the figure of an erect lion standing on a bridge. The top of the bridge is a golden, the middle is red bricks, and the base foundation is gray rocks. Under the bridge there are gray wavy lines. Over the shield rests a five-tower golden stone wall with openings in the form of red windows. To the left of the shield is a coffee tree branch with its fruit, and to the right of the shield is a sugarcane stalk. The symbols of the shield are as follows: The field represents the flag of the municipality of Ponce, divided diagonally in the traditional city colors: red and black. The lion over the bridge alludes to the last name of the conqueror and first governor of Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de Leon. The waves under the bridge allude to the Rio Portugues, on the banks of which the city was born. The coronet in the form of a five-tower mural crown above the shield allude to the Spanish crown, through which the settlement obtained its city charter. The coffee tree branch and the sugarcane stalk represent the main agricultural basis of the economy of the young municipality.<ref name="visitponce.com"/>
Flag
Ponce has two official flags, one for the municipality and one for the city proper. The municipal flag, "the 1692 flag", was adopted in 1967 via a municipal ordinance. This flag, designed by Mario Ramirez, was selected from among a number of public proposals. It consisted of a rectangular cloth divided by a diagonal line into two equal isosceles triangles. The line ran from the top right-hand corner to the bottom left-hand corner. The top triangle was black; the bottom right triangle was red. On the top triangle was the figure of a lion over a bridge. On the bottom triangle was the word "Ponce" with the number "1692", the date when the municipality was founded. Ponce Municipal Assembly Order No. 5, Section 5, of Municipal Assembly Year 1966-1967 established that the last Sunday in April is "Día de la Bandera de Ponce" (Ponce Flag Day).<ref>28 de abril: a punto para otro Día de la Bandera Ponceña: Aunque muchos no nos demos cuenta, existen alrededor de cinco versiones de la bandera ponceña debido a revisiones y celebraciones de momentos históricos. Melina Aguilar Colón and Ernie Zavier Rivera Collazo. Ponce, Puerto Rico: La Perla del Sur. (Electronic version article's date: 17 April 2019.) Printed version: Year 36, Issue 1846 (17 to 23 April 2019). pp. 12-13. Retrieved 17 April 2019. Archived.</ref>
Ten years later, in 1977, a new municipal ordinance introduced a flag, "the 1877 city flag" to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the declaration of the city charter. This (1977) flag consisted of a rectangular cloth divided by a diagonal line, creating two equal isosceles triangles, starting from the top left hand corner and ending on the lower right hand corner. The top triangle is red; the bottom triangle is black. In the center of the flag sits the shield of the municipality. Under this shield is the number "1877", the year of the founding of the city, and above the shield is the word "PONCE". Some flags have the "1877" date on the left border of the bottom triangle and the name of the city on the right border of the triangle, as illustrated in the insert on the left.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Municipal services
Fire protection
The city's fire department has a history of firsts, including being the first organized fire department in the Island. As the largest city in the island at the time, and de facto economic and social center of Puerto Rico, this in effect also created the first Puerto Rico Fire Department. The Ponce Fire Department also built the first fire station in the Island,<ref> Adventure Guide to Puerto Rico By Kurt Pitzer, Tara Stevens, page 226 Retrieved 28 June 2009.</ref><ref>First Fire Station Template:Webarchive Retrieved 29 July 2009.</ref> which still stands to this day, and is now open as the Parque de Bombas museum. Also, in 1951, Ponce's Fire Chief Raúl Gándara Cartagena, wrote a book on the firemen's service, which became a firemen's manual in several Latin American countries.<ref>Puerto Rico Encyclopedia: Fundacion Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades Template:Webarchive Retrieved 8 August 2009.</ref> In recognition of the service rendered by its fire fighters, the City of Ponce built them homes resulting in the creation of the 25 de Enero Street near the city's historic district.
Major fires
The city has withstood some nearly catastrophic fires.
A major fire took place on February 27, 1820,<ref>Vida, Pasión y Muerte a Orillas del Río Baramaya. Luis Antonio Rodriguez Vázquez. Ediciones Arybet. Ponce, Puerto Rico. p. 19. Second Edition. 2010. Template:ISBN. Accessed 19 May 2016.</ref><ref>Caminata Guiada: Centro Histórico de Ponce. Calle Isabel II. page 5. Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore Retrieved 4 December 2009.</ref> that "almost destroyed the early Ponce settlement". It destroyed 106 "of the best homes in town."<ref name="Ponce. 1913. Page 194">Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. By Dr. Eduardo Neumann. 1913. (In Spanish) Reprinted by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (1987)Page 194.</ref> In 1823, then Governor of Puerto Rico, Miguel de la Torre mandated that "every male from 16 to 60 years old must be a firefighter".<ref name="bomberos.gobierno.pr">Puerto Rico. Cuerpo de Bomberos. Historia. Datos Historicos. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 30 November 2009.</ref> Those firefighters had to supply their own fire fighting equipment (essentially picks, buckets, and shovels). Once De la Torre left office, this first fire fighting institution started to decay.<ref name="bomberos.gobierno.pr"/>
Another major fire occurred in La Playa in March 1845,<ref name="Ponce. 1913. Page 194"/> that destroyed "most of the Ponce vicinity." It significantly damaged the Spanish Customs House in Ponce, this being one of the few buildings left standing after the fire.<ref>James C. Massey, Exec. Vice Pres., and Shirley Maxwell, Associate, National Preservation Institute (National Building Museum) Washington, D.C. and the Federal Historic Preservation Office, U.S. Department of the Treasury. (Washington, D.C.) 7 January 1988. In National Register of Historic Places Registration Form - U.S. Custom House, Ponce. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Section 8, Page 3. Listing Reference Number 88000073. 10 February 1988.</ref> The fire burned down the major buildings of the "Marina de Ponce".<ref name="Ponce. 1913. Page 194"/> After this fire, then governor of Puerto Rico Conde de Mirasol (born Rafael de Aristegui y Velez),<ref>Puerto Rico Encyclopedia. Municipalities. Vieques: Restauration (sic) Project Fortín Conde de Mirasol. Retrieved 20 November 2009.</ref> created a new fire fighting organization staffed by volunteers.<ref name="bomberos.gobierno.pr"/> In 1862, the Ponce Firefighters Corps was reorganized under the administration of Ponce mayor Luis de Quixano y Font, and Tomás Cladellas was named fire chief.<ref name="bomberos.gobierno.pr"/> In 1879 the Ponce Fire Corps reorganized again, with a new fire chief, the local architect Juan Bertoli.
On September 25, 1880 another fire, took place destroying most of the older civil records (births, baptisms, marriages, etc.) of the Ponce parish.<ref>Eli D. Oquendo Rodriguez. De criadero a partido: Ojeada a la Historia de los Orígenes de Ponce, 1645-1810. Lajas, Puerto Rico: Editorial Akelarre. 2015. page 43.</ref> In 1883, the Ponce firefighter corps reorganized once more, this time in a more definitive fashion when Máximo Meana was mayor of Ponce. During this time the Ponce Fire Corps was made up of 400 firefighters. Its leadership consisted of Julio Steinacher, fire chief, Juan Seix, second fire chief, Oscar Schuch Olivero, Chief of Brigade, and Fernando M. Toro, Supervisor of the Gymnastics Academy. Concurrent with this, the firefighter corps music band was organized. In September 1883, Juan Morel Campos formally organized the Ponce Fire Corps Municipal Band which exists to this day.<ref name="bomberos.gobierno.pr"/>
The fourth Ponce fire of large proportions occurred on January 25, 1899.<ref>25 de Enero Fire. Noticias Online. Ponce conmemora 110 años de los héroes del Polvorín, (In Spanish). By Jose Fernandez Colon. Published 24 January 2009. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 19 November 2009.</ref> The fire was fought by a group of firefighters among whom was Pedro Sabater and the civilian Rafael Rivera Esbrí, who would later become mayor of the city. The fire started at the U.S. munitions depot on the lot currently occupied by the Ponce High School building and grounds. The heroes in that fire, believed to have saved the city from certain annihilation, are remembered to this day with monuments on their tombs as well as in a monument in the city square Plaza Las Delicias.<ref name="bomberos.gobierno.pr"/> As a further gesture of gratitude, a neighborhood of distinctive Victorian-style cottages were constructed to house the firefighters and their families. These houses, painted in the red and black colors of the city, are located along a street named Calle 25 de Enero (25 de Enero street); they are still owned and occupied by the descendants of these firefighters and are a scenic attraction in Ponce's historic center.
Police
The Ponce Municipal Police consists of a force of some 500 officers.<ref>El Vocero. 16 October 2008. Template:Webarchive Municipal police force of 500 officers</ref> This force is complemented by the Puerto Rico Police force. The Ponce Municipal Police has its headquarters at the southwest corner of the intersection of PR-163 (Las Americas Avenue) and PR-2R (Carretera Pámpanos). In addition it has three precincts as follows: Cantera, La Guancha, and Coto Laurel, plus specialized units at Port of the Americas (maritime unit), Mariani (transit unit), Belgica (motorcycle unit), and Parque Dora Clavell (tourism unit).
The Puerto Rico Police had its Ponce area regional headquarters from 1970 until 2011 on Hostos Avenue.<ref>Let's Go:Home > North America > Puerto Rico > Southeast > Ponce : Practical Information. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 16 April 2010.</ref> In 2011 it moved its command center to a new and larger facility further west on Urbanizacion Los Caobos in Barrio Bucana. It commands five precincts in the city: Villa, Playa, Morel Campos, La Rambla, and El Tuque. The Ponce municipal coverage of the Puerto Rico Police force is as follows:
- The Villa precinct covers barrios Primero, Segundo, Tercero, Cuarto, Quinto, and Sexto, and Portugués Urbano. This precinct includes the historic Ponce district.
- The Playa precinct (# 258<ref name="Home">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>) covers the barrios of Playa, Capitanejo, Bucaná, and Vayas.
- The La Rambla precinct covers barrios Anón, Real, Maragüez, Cerrillos, Coto Laurel, Sabanetas, San Patricio, Monte Llano, Machuelo Arriba, Machuelo Abajo, and Portugués.
- The El Tuque precinct covers barrios Canas and Canas Urbano.
- The Morel Campos precinct covers barrios Guaraguao, Marueño, Tibes, Magueyes, Magueyes Urbano, and Quebrada Limón.
Crime
In 2002, most of the homicides in Puerto Rico were occurring in San Juan and the greater metropolitan areas of Bayamón, Carolina and Caguas, but Ponce also had a high homicide rate. Also in 2002, Puerto Rico law enforcement officials drafted plans to increase the number of forensic investigators by 25%. The investigators, assigned to the Institute of Forensic Sciences in San Juan, covered homicides in about 65 percent of the island, but the Institute was considering assigning Ponce its own unit.<ref>Spreading drug war bloodies: Puerto Rico Homicide rate is more than three times U.S. average. By Nancy San Martin</ref> By mid-year 2005, there had been 25 more murder cases in Ponce than for all of 2004, a significant increase.<ref name="Puerto Rico Herald. 14 July 2005">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The police acknowledged that most crime cases in Puerto Rico are linked to drug-trafficking and illegal weapons. In mid-July 2005, Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá announced a series of measures aimed at lowering Ponce's high murder rate. Some of those measures included the permanent transfer of 100 agents to the area, the appointment of a ballistics expert from the Institute of Forensic Sciences and of two prosecutors for the Department of Justice in Ponce. Puerto Rico Police Superintendent Pedro Toledo admitted that more than 100 agents are actually needed in the Ponce region in 2005, but that "there would be no additional transfers at the moment to avoid affecting other police areas."<ref name="Puerto Rico Herald. 14 July 2005"/>
Ponce is a convenient transition point for drug smugglers due to its location on the Caribbean Sea and its proximity to Colombia and Venezuela.<ref name="Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Page 5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> From there packages are then transported to the United States by various means including the United States Postal Service.<ref name="Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Page 5"/> The city is included in the area's HIDTA region.<ref name="Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Page 5"/>
As most of the crime in Ponce is connected to the drug-trade, police have an eye on illegal smuggling through the Port of Ponce<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A 2008 government report stated that, "Drug smuggling in containerized cargo is a significant maritime threat to the HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) region. The vast and increasing quantity of goods transshipped through the region every year provides drug traffickers with ample opportunity to smuggle illicit drugs into, through, and from the area.<ref name="Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Page 5"/> In July 2005, local police scored some points in their fight against drug-trafficking.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
By 2007, Ponce had experienced a 61% decline in the rate of violent crimes (Type I).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2010, there was a further reduction of 12 percent in violent crimes over 2009 statistics.<ref>Al Cierre del 2010: Merman los Delitos en el Sur. Jason Rodriguez Grafal. Periódico La Perla del Sur. Week of 1–7 January 2011. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Accessed 5 January 2011.</ref> In August 2013, the Ponce Area Police Region, which includes Ponce and seven other adjacent municipalities, registered 27 fewer Type I crimes that it had by the same period in 2012.<ref>Avanza reingeniería de la Policía en el sur. Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 31. Issue 1550. Page 6. 14 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.</ref>
For the Ponce MSA, which includes the city of Ponce, its nineteen surrounding municipal barrios, the municipality of Juana Diaz, and the municipality of Villalba, crime data was tabulated in 2002 (Total MSA Population: 364,849). No data is available for the city or for the municipality of Ponce alone. The following statistics are registered:
| Category | Number | Rate per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Violent crime^ | 929 | 254.6 |
| Property crime^^ | 5,938 | 1,627.5 |
| Murder and NNMS^^^ | 83 | 22.7 |
| Forcible rape | 25 | 6.9 |
| Robbery | 525 | 143.9 |
| Aggravated assault | 296 | 81.1 |
| Burglary | 1,588 | 435.2 |
| Larceny-theft | 3,803 | 1,042.3 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 547 | 149.9 |
Notes:
^ Violent crimes include: murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
^^ Property crimes include: burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.
^^^ NNMS, non-negligent manslaughter
Source: FBI<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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FBI satellite office
There is an FBI satellite office located in Ponce.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Education
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Grade schools and high schools
Ponce's first school for boys was established in 1820.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Today there are over a hundred public and private schools.<ref>The Real Estate Book. Template:Webarchive</ref> As with the rest of Puerto Rico, public education in Ponce is handled by the Puerto Rico Department of Education. However, the local government is taking on a greater role in public education. On June 13, 2010, the mayor of Ponce announced the creation of a Municipal Education System and a School Board with the objective of obtaining accreditation for what would be the first free bilingual school in the city.<ref name="Home"/>
Colleges and universities
There are also several colleges and universities located in the city, offering higher education, including professional degrees in architecture, medicine, law, and pharmacy. Some of these are:
- Caribbean University - Ponce
- Colegio Universitario Tecnologico de Ponce<ref>Rafael Lenín: Orgulloso hijo de la Tierra de Agüeybaná. Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 12 October 2011.</ref>
- Interamerican University of Puerto Rico at Ponce
- Ponce School of Medicine
- Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico
- Universidad Ana G. Méndez - Ponce
- University of Puerto Rico at Ponce
There are also several other technical institutions like the Instituto de Banca y Comercio, Trinity College,<ref> Centro Sor Isolina: Da vida a innovador programa de empleo. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Retrieved 21 October 2011.</ref> and the Ponce Paramedical College.
Nova Southeastern University, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has a School of Pharmacy campus in Ponce.<ref>NOVA University Retrieved 28 July 2009.</ref>
Health care
The city is served by several clinics and hospitals. There are four comprehensive care hospitals: Hospital Dr. Pila, Hospital San Cristobal, Hospital San Lucas,<ref>Hospital San Lucas Template:Webarchive Retrieved 28 July 2009.</ref> and Hospital de Damas. In addition, Hospital Oncológico Andrés Grillasca specializes in the treatment of cancer,<ref>Resolucion Conjunta. Template:Webarchive Hon. Seilhamer Rodríguez. 16th Assembly - 3rd Session. Senate of Puerto Rico. Joint Resolution Number 402. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2011.</ref> and Hospital Siquiátrico specializes in mental disorders.<ref>Denuncian crisis en hospital psiquiátrico. Template:Webarchive Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 9 November 2011. Year 30. No. 1458. Page 14. Retrieved 15 November 2011.</ref> There is also a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic that provides health services to U.S. veterans.<ref>VA Clinic Template:Webarchive Retrieved 28 July 2009.</ref> The U.S. Veterans Administration will build a new hospital in the city to satisfy regional needs.<ref>Ponce tendrá su Hospital de Veteranos. Template:Webarchive Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 10 October 2012. Year 30. Issue 1506. Page 11. (Title in printed version: "Sera en Ponce: Con luz verde federal el nuevo Hospital de Veteranos.") Retrieved 18 October 2012.</ref> In 2009, Hospital Damas was listed in the U.S. News & World Report as one of the best hospitals under the U.S. flag.<ref>U.S. News & World Report. Template:Webarchive Hospital de Damas: among the best. Retrieved 29 July 2009.</ref> Ponce has the highest concentration of medical infrastructure per inhabitant of any municipality in Puerto Rico.
Transportation
Due to its commercial and industrial significance, Ponce has consistently been a hub of transportation to the rest of the island.
Puerto Rico Highway 52 provides access to Salinas, Caguas, and San Juan. PR-2 grants access to southwestern and western municipalities as a full-access freeway. The PR-10 highway, which is still under construction as a faster alternative to PR-123, provides access to the interior of the island as well as points north of the island, such as Arecibo. PR-1 provides access to various points east and southeast of Puerto Rico, while PR-14 provides access to Coamo and other points in the central mountain region. PR-132 grants country-side access to the town of Peñuelas. PR-123 is the old road to Adjuntas and, while treacherous, it does provide an appreciation for countryside living in some of the municipality's barrios, such as Magueyes and Guaraguao.<ref>Let's Go:Home > North America > Puerto Rico > Southeast > Ponce : Orientation. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 16 April 2010.</ref><ref>Map of Major Highways Leading to Ponce. New York Times Travel Guides. Retrieved 30 March 2010.</ref>
The city is served by a network of local highways and freeways. Running entirely within the municipal limits are PR-12, PR-9, PR-133, and PR-163 and a few others. Freeway PR-12 runs northbound starting at the Port of Ponce to connect with PR-14 on the northeastern part of the city. PR-9, also known as the Circuito de Circumnavegación de Ponce (Ponce's Circumferential Highway), is a highway still partly under construction. It runs mostly north of the city and connects PR-52 to PR-10 in an east-to-west fashion; when completed it will run as a beltway around most of the eastern and northern sections of the city.<ref>Ley Núm. 256 del año 2008: Para ordenar a la Comisión Denominadora de Puerto Rico designe la Carr. PR-9 con el nombre de Rafael (Churumba) Cordero Santiago. Ley Num. 256 de 13 de agosto de 2008. (In Spanish) Retrieved 29 March 2010.</ref> PR-133 (Calle Comercio) connects PR-2 in west Ponce to PR-132. It is an extension of PR-1 from its PR-2 terminus into the city center. PR-163 crosses the City east-to-west connecting PR-52 and PR-14.<ref>Comercio Street (PR-133) Retrieved 1 April 2010.</ref><ref>Cuatro Calles Avenue (PR-133) Retrieved 1 April 2009.</ref><ref>La Ceiba Street (PR-133) Template:Webarchive Retrieved 1 April 2010.</ref><ref>Federico Parra Duperan Street(PR-133) Template:Webarchive Retrieved 1 April 2010.</ref> The municipality has 115 bridges.<ref name="bridge">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Ponce's public transportation system consists of taxicabs and share taxi service providing public cars and vans known as públicos<ref>Let's Go:Home > North America > Puerto Rico > Southeast > Ponce : Intercity Transportation. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 16 April 2010.</ref> and a bus-based mass transit system.<ref name="elnuevodia.com">Nuevo Sistema de Transporte en Ponce: Guaguas recorreran 26 comunidades del la Perla del Sur. Template:Webarchive Sandra Caquías Cruz. El Nuevo Dia. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Page 34. Retrieved 24 February 2012.</ref> There are five taxi companies in the city.<ref>Taxistas ponceños se unen a paro de transportistas contra Uber. Primerahora.com 31 May 2016. Accessed 1 June 2016.</ref> Most públicos depart from the terminal hub located in downtown Ponce, the Terminal de Carros Públicos Carlos Garay.<ref>Temen 'golpe de muerte' con SITRAS. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.</ref><ref>Ponce Public Transportation. Frommer's Getting Around. Retrieved 29 March 2010.</ref> During the 1990s and 2000s, there was also a trolley system reminiscent of the one the city used in the 19th century and which traveled through the downtown streets, and which was used mostly by tourists.<ref>Ponce Trolley: Plaza Las Delicias, Ponce, PR Retrieved 29 March 2010.</ref> Today it is used mostly during special events. There is also a small train that can bring tourists from the historic downtown area to the Paseo Tablado La Guancha on the southern shore,<ref>10Best. Ponce Guide " Ponce Attractions & Activities " Ponce Parks & Attractions > 2. Chu Chu Train. Retrieved 29 March 2010.</ref> As with the trolley, today the train is used mostly during special events. A ferry provides service to Isla de Caja de Muertos.<ref>Ferry Service from La Guancha to Caja de Muertos Template:Webarchive Retrieved 29 March 2010.</ref> The new intra-city mass transit system, SITRAS, was scheduled to start operating in November 2011,<ref>Template:Usurped El Sur a la Vista. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2011.</ref> and, after a 3-month delay, the $4 million SITRAS system, was launched with 11 buses and three routes in February 2012.<ref name="elnuevodia.com"/> A fourth route was to be added for the El Tuque sector according to a June 30, 2012 news report.<ref>Rebaja $46 millones la Alcaldía ponceña. Jason Rodríguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 30. Issue 1487. Page 14. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.</ref>
Mercedita Airport sits Template:Convert east of downtown Ponce and handles both intra-island and international flights. The airport, used to be a private airfield belonging to Destilería Serralles rum distillery before it became a commercial airport serving the Ponce area in the 1940s. There is daily commercial non-stop air service to points in the United States.<ref>‘’Autoridad de los Puertos. Aeropuertos Regionales. Aeropuerto Mercedita (Ponce)’’. (In Spanish) Template:Webarchive Retrieved 29 March 2010.</ref>
Since 1804, Ponce already boasted its own port facilities for large cargo ships.<ref>Established on 28 Feb 1789. Retrieved 29 March 2010.</ref> The Port of Ponce is Puerto Rico's chief Caribbean port.<ref>Ponce. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Licensed from Columbia University Press. 2004. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 29 March 2010.</ref> It is known as the Port of the Americas and is under expansion to convert it into a major international shipping hub.<ref name="ponce.inter.edu">Ponencia del Gobierno Municipal Autonomo de Ponce Before the Senate of Puerto Rico. By Rafael Cordero Santiago, Alcalde de Ponce. Page 4. Template:Webarchive Retrieved 29 March 2010.</ref> It receives both cargo as well as passenger cruise ships.<ref>Cruise lines Retrieved 29 March 2010.</ref><ref>PRTC Template:Webarchive Retrieved 29 March 2010.</ref> A short-haul freight railroad also operates within the Port facilities.<ref name="PR-chemex">Railroads of Puerto Rico: Ferrocarril Chemex Template:Webarchive Brief information and photographs of the Chemex Railroad operation in Ponce.</ref>
Notable Ponceños
International relations
The Dominican Republic maintains a consular office in the city.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Twin towns – sister cities
Ponce is twinned with:
- Template:Flagicon Zaragoza, Spain<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Commemorative dates
The following dates hold special significance for Ponceños and are motive for annual celebrations and/or memorials:
- January 25: El Polvorín fire.<ref>Al rescate de quienes perdieron todo. Jason Rodríguez-Grafal. Ponce, Puerto Rico: La Perla del Sur. 6–12 September 2012. Year 30 Issue 1502. Page 8. Accessed 22 March 2019.</ref> Often remembered with a service at the mausoleum of the Ponce firefighters at Cementerio Civil de Ponce.<ref>Hacen justicia con héroes del Polvorín. Template:Webarchive Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 19–25 January 2012.</ref>
- March 21: Ponce massacre.<ref>Kal Wagenheim and Olga Jimenez-De Wagenheim. "The Grim Years" in, The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History. Markus Wiener Publishers. 2008. pp. 179–180. Template:ISBN</ref> Often memorialized with a get-together and service at the tomb of the victims at Cementerio Civil de Ponce<ref>Siete décadas no anulan tragedia. Template:Webarchive Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 15–21 March 2012.</ref>
- March 22: Abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico.<ref>Abolition of Slavery (1873). Template:Webarchive Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico. Accessed 2 March 2019.</ref> Often remembered with a memorial service at the Monumento a la abolición de la esclavitud.<ref>Todos el viernes a la Concha Acústica: Los actos de conmemoración de la abolición de la esclavitud comenzarán a las 5:00 de la tarde y serán dedicados al polifacético artista David Santiago Torres. Template:Webarchive Patricia Collazo. La Perla del Sur. 20 March 2019. Accessed 22 March 2019. (Printed edition: La Perla del Sur. 20–26 March 2019. Year 36. Issue 1842. Page 13.)</ref>
- April 26 (or, last Sunday of April): Día de la Bandera Ponceña.<ref> 28 de abril: a punto para otro Día de la Bandera Ponceña: Aunque muchos no nos demos cuenta, existen alrededor de cinco versiones de la bandera ponceña debido a revisiones y celebraciones de momentos históricos. Template:Webarchive Melina Aguilar Colón. Ponce, Puerto Rico: La Perla del Sur. 17 April 2019. Accessed 1 October 2020. (Printed version: Year 36. Issue 1846. 17 to 23 April 2019. Pages 12-13.)</ref>
- August 12: Día de la Fundación de Ponce (Founding Date).<ref name="Mariano Vidal Armstrong 1986. p. 17">Mariano Vidal Armstrong. Ponce: Notas para su Historia. San Juan, PR: Comité Historia de los Pueblos, Oficina de Preservación Histórica de Puerto Rico. Second Edition. 1986. p. 17.</ref><ref>Salvador Brau. Orígenes de Ponce. p. 4.</ref><ref>José Leandro Montalvo-Guenard. In, Luis Fortuño Janeiro. Album Histórico de Ponce: 1692-1963 (Algo Sobre Ponce y su Fundación.) Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta Fortuño. 1963. p.11.</ref> Often celebrated on the first Sunday of September.<ref>Ponce se prepara para celebrar su día mundial. Darisabel Texidor Guadalupe. Primera Hora. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.</ref>
- October 7: Mameyes Landslide.<ref>Template:Cite journalTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite report</ref> Often remembered with a get-together and memorial service at the site of the landslide in Barrio Portugués Urbano.<ref>Conmemoran 30 años de la devastación en Mameyes: Aguaceros produjeron el derrumbe de lodo arropando a hogares en el que murieron alrededor de 93 personas. Univision. 7 October 2015. Accessed 22 March 2019.</ref>
- December 12: Las Mañanitas.<ref>Latente la Tradición: Multitud Madruga para Venerar en Ponce la Virgen de Guadalupe. Template:Webarchive Coral Negron Almodovar. La Perla del Sur. Year 35, Issue 1724. (14 to 20 December 2016) Ponce, Puerto Rico. p.4.</ref> Celebrated yearly with a pre-dawn festival parade, followed by a Catholic Mass, and a popular town breakfast.<ref>Vuelven a Ponce las Fiestas Patronales. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2015. Archived at WayBack Machine on 1 February 2015.</ref>
See also
- Timeline of the history of Ponce, Puerto Rico
- List of Puerto Ricans
- History of Puerto Rico
- Did you know-Puerto Rico?
Notes
Footnotes
References
External links
- Photos of Ponce:
- Tourism
- Information about Ponce's tourist attractions
- Centro Ceremonial Indígena de Tibes Video & Contact Info.
- Historic Places in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
- Management Plan for La Esperanza Nature Preserve in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Template:Webarchive Matthew Bourque, Drew Digeser, Stephen Partridge, and Hussein Yatim. Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Worcester, Massachusetts. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
- Autonomous Municipalities Laws:
- Ponce History
- Official website of Municipality of Ponce. Ponce y su Importancia Historica
- 29 December 2000 'Ponce en Marcha' Final Decision by the Puerto Rico Supreme Court (2000 DTS 194, MUNICIPIO DE PONCE V. AUTORIDAD DE CARRETERAS 2000TSPR194; Case Number: CC-98-241 Cons. CC-98-231, 250, 257, 258 and 259)
- 29 December 2000 'Ponce en Marcha' Dissent Opinion from Associate P.R. Sup. Court Justice Honorable Efraín Rivera Pérez (page 1)
- 29 December 2000 'Ponce en Marcha' Dissent Opinion from Associate P.R. Sup. Court Justice Honorable Efraín Rivera Pérez (page 2)
- Census:
- Others:
Template:Adjacent communities Template:Ponce, Puerto Rico Template:Porta Caribe Template:US state navigation box Template:Subject bar Template:Authority control
- Pages using infobox settlement with the wikidata parameter
- Pages with broken file links
- Ponce, Puerto Rico
- Municipalities of Puerto Rico
- 1692 establishments in Puerto Rico
- 1690s establishments in the Spanish West Indies
- 1692 establishments in the Spanish Empire
- Ponce metropolitan area
- Populated coastal places in Puerto Rico
- Populated places established in 1692
- Port cities and towns in Puerto Rico
- Port cities and towns in the Caribbean