Ponce, Puerto Rico

Infobox Settlement
settlement_type =
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = Territory
subdivision_name1 = Puerto Rico
subdivision_type2 =
subdivision_name2 =
timezone=AST
utc_offset=-4
timezone_DST=
utc_offset_DST=
unit_pref=Imperial
map_caption =Location of Ponce, Puerto Rico within Puerto Rico.
latNS=N
longEW=W| official_name = Autonomous Municipality of Ponce
Municipio Autónomo de Ponce |

image_caption = Ponce skyline from El Vigia
nickname = "La Perla del Sur" , "Ciudad Señorial" , "Ciudad de los Leones"

| image_

blank_info = Ponceños|blank_name=Gentilic|

Country |
Puerto Rico
established_date = 1692|established_title=Founded| |leader_title=Mayor
leader_name = Francisco Zayas Seijo
leader_party = Partido Popular Democrático
political party display = PPD
leader_title1=Senatorial dist.
leader_name1= 5 - Ponce
leader_title2=Representative dist.
leader_name2 = 24, 25| area_magnitude = 1 E9 | area_total_km2 = 501.44
area_land_km2 = 297.13| area_water_km2 = 204.31| population_as_of = 2000 | population_note =
population_total = 186475|population_footnotes= | population_density_km2 = 627.6|
population_blank2_title = Racial groups
(2000 Census) [ [http://www.topuertorico.org/pdf/2kh72.pdf Demographics/Ethnic U.S 2000 census] ]
population_blank2 = 83.6% White 5.3% Black 0.3% American Indian/AN 0.1% Asian 0.1% Native Hawaiian/PI 5.4% Some other race 5.2% Two or more races|latitude = 18°0'36" N
longitude = 66°22'12" W | website = www.ponceweb.org | footnotes = Anthem – "¡Oh, Ponce! En mi corazón" |

Ponce ( [ponse] ), officially the "Autonomous Municipality of Ponce", is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Southern Coastal Plain region of the island, south of Adjuntas, Utuado and Jayuya; east of Peñuelas; and west of Juana Díaz. It has a total of 19 wards, including the historic "Ponce Pueblo" (the downtown area of the city).

Ponce, the second largest city in Puerto Rico outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, [cite web| url=http://www.puertorico.com/destinations/ponce/| title=Puerto Rico - Ponce, Puerto Rico| accessdate=2007-06-16] is named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the grandson of Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. It is located a few miles from the Caribbean coastline of the island. Ponce is often referred to as "La Perla del Sur" (The Pearl of the South) and "La Ciudad Señorial de Puerto Rico" (Majestic city of Puerto Rico).

History

Ponce, nicknamed "Ciudad de los leones" (City of the Lions) after Ponce de León, Ponce is also called "La Perla del Sur" (The Pearl of the South), has one of Puerto Rico's richest histories, dating back to the 17th century.

In 1692 Juan Ponce de León y Loayza (Juan Ponce de León's great-grandson) obtained a royal permit ("cédula real") to formalize the founding of a hamlet around what was a small chapel at the time, raised and dedicated in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The hamlet was declared a villa in 1848, and obtained its city charter in 1877.

Ponce's elite

A strong influx of immigrants from Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, especially Catalonian-Jews, and other regions of eastern Spain, as well as from the United Kingdom (one of Vanna White's ancestors was mayor of the city once), Greece, Germany and France, as well as wealthy Spaniards who fled from the independence revolts in Cuba, Colombia and Venezuela assured the city's progress. Some of these immigrants made considerable fortunes in coffee, corn and sugar cane harvesting, rum production, banking and finance, the importing of industrial machinery, iron foundries and other enterprises. At a given time during the late 19th century, Ponce had more inhabitants and its many financial institutions were better capitalized than those of Puerto Rico's capital city, San Juan.

The Great Ponce Fire of 1883

In 1883, Ponce was ravaged by an enormous fire. The fire threatened to destroy much of the south coast, but thanks to the firemen of Ponce (who operated from Ponce's Parque de Bombas fire station) Ponce and the south were saved. The "Parque de Bombas" fire station in the central plaza has since become a museum and tourist attraction. The station continued serving the Ponce community until 1990, when it was closed and the building's activities were entirely dedicated to a museum, which is still open to the general public.

The Ponce Massacre

In 1937, Ponce was the scene of an incident dubbed the "Ponce Massacre" in which nineteen unarmed Nationalist protesters, peacefully celebrating the 64th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery, were fatally shot by police under orders from the United States', CoInterPro (Counter Intelligence Program) and non-democratically elected military assigned Governor of the time, Major General Blanton C. Winship.

The Mameyes Landslide

, sent economic, human, and machinery relief.

Recent history

Ponce's mayor for fifteen years (since 1989), Rafael "Churumba" Cordero, died on the morning of January 17, 2004, after suffering three successive brain strokes. He was succeeded by Francisco Zayas Seijo, the city's current mayor.

ymbols

Flag and coat of arms

The coat of arms of Ponce cotains a red and black coloured shield. There is a five tower gold crown that indicates that Ponce is a city by royal decree. As an exterior frame to shield, there is a sugar cane plant on the right of the shield, and to the left a coffee tree branch.

The shield of Ponce is divided by a diagonal line that crosses straight from the superior end to the left inferior end. In this divided field is the color red (for the fire that almost destroyed the city), that covers the superior right portion and the color black (for the ashes after that fire). On that black and red background is a yellow lion with black mane, walking towards the left of the shield, facing right of the shield. The lion is on a bridge, meaning that you must cross a river to enter the city by any region. The shield is bordered by a coffee plant branch and a sugar cane plant, in which the early economy of the city was based.

Geography

Climate

Ponce has winter highs averaging 87°F and summer highs, 93°F. It has a record high of 100°F, which occurred in August 2003, and a record low of 51 °F in 2004.

Barrios

The city of Ponce is itself sub-divided into several barrios (wards/districts) [http://welcome.topuertorico.org/maps/ponce.pdf] :
*Anón
*Belgica
*Bucaná
*Canas
*Canas Urbano
*Capitanejo
*Cerrillos
*Coto Laurel
*Cuarto
*Guaraguao
*Machuelo Abajo
*Machuelo Arriba
*Magueyes
*Mageyes Urbano
*Maragũez
*Marueño
*Monte Llano
*Playa de Ponce
*Ponce Pueblo
*Portugués
*Portugués Urbano
*Primero
*Quebrada Limón
*Quinto
*Real Anón
*Sabanetas
*San Antón
*San Patricio
*Segundo
*Tercero
*Tibes

Culture

Tourism

Ponce's tourist appeal has not gone unnoticed, since its peculiar architectural styles are unique to Puerto Rico. Many of the city's features (from house façades to street corners) are modeled on Barcelona's, given the city's strong Catalonian heritage.

Since the 1970s, and starting with the Ponce Holiday Inn, several hotels have been built to satisfy the tourism industry. Newer Hotels include Hilton Ponce Golf & Casino Resort, home to the new Costa Caribe Golf & Country Club, featuring a 27-hole PGA championship golf course.

Some sites worth visiting are the Serralles Castle and the Cruceta El Vigia, a 100-foot observation tower which overlooks the city, as well as the street corners and 19th century domestic architecture in the blocks surrounding the central plaza. One popular legend is that scouts first used El Vigia to scan for attacking ships.

Ponce is the home of the Ponce Museum of Art, which was operated by Puerto Rico's former Governor Luis A. Ferré until his death at the age of 99. Designed by Edward Durrell Stone (Museum of Modern Art, NY), it is the only museum of international stature on the island, housing the most extensive art collection in the Caribbean. Its best-known painting is "Flaming June", by Frederic Leighton.

Ponce is also home to the Serralles rum distillery (home of the Don Q and Captain Morgan, and Parrot Bay rums).

Plaza Las Delicias is the town's main square. It features several fountains (namely the "Lions Fountain"), the Ponce Cathedral and Parque de Bombas.

Other buildings around Ponce's main plaza include Casa Alcaldía (city hall), the oldest colonial building in the city, dating to the 1840s. Nearby sits Casa Armstrong-Poventud, an example of the neoclassical architectural heritage of the island.

. 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 it is considered the largest and the most important archaeological find in the West Indies.

Hacienda Buena Vista was built in 1833 originally devoted to growing fruits, converted into a coffee plantation and corn mill in 1845 and was in operation until 1937, and restored by "Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico". All the machinery works (the metal parts are original), operated by water channeled from the 360 m Vives waterfall; there is a hydraulic turbine which makes the corn mill work.

"La Guancha Paseo Tablado", the boardwalk, is a place where local Ponceños can usually be spotted. "La Guancha" also has kiosks which sell food and alcoholic beverages. A 45-minute boat ride is available to Caja de Muertos (Coffin Island), a small beach island that features an old lighthouse built in 1887.

ports

Most of Ponce's professional teams are called the "Ponce Lions" (or "Lionesses") regardless of the sport.

The Ponce Lions basketball team is one of the leading teams of the island winning a total of twelve championships during their tenure. The team's venue is the Juan Pachín Vicéns Auditorium.

The teams of baseball and volleyball (male and female) have also been fairly successful. The baseball team venue is the Francisco Montaner Stadium. The stadium is located right next to the Juan Pachín Vicéns Auditorium.

In 2007 Ponce became host to Club Atletico River Plate Puerto Rico futbol team, which currently plays in the Puerto Rico Soccer League. They play at Francisco Montaner Stadium and are expected to play in the United Soccer Leagues, Division 1 in 2008. Becoming the second professional soccer team in Puerto Rico after the Puerto Rico Islanders.

Ponce was the site of the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1993.

Economy

Demographics

Racial distribution

Over the centuries Puerto Rico has become an island made up of many different ethnic groups who all have their own languages, cultures, religions and so on. As a whole, Puerto Rico is comprised mainly of people from a Creole (born on the Island of European descent) or Spanish and European descent, with small groups of African and Asian people. Statistics taken from the 2000 census shows that 83.6% of Ponceños have Spanish or White origin, 5.3% are black, 0.3% are Amerindian etc..

Government

Since its foundation in 1692, the city of Ponce has been led by a mayor. Its first mayor was Don Pedro Sánchez de Mathos. The current mayor is Francisco Zayas Seijo, who was elected in 2005 and is seeking reelection in 2008.

Perhaps its more known mayor of recent years has been Rafael "Churumba" Cordero, who held office since 1989 until his sudden death on the morning of January 17, 2004, after suffering three successive brain strokes. After vice-mayor Delis Castillo finished the term, Zayas Seijo was elected as mayor in 2005.

Other than the mayor, the city has a municipal assembly that handles local legislative duties. The assembly is comprised of 12 civilians elected in each election, along with the mayor.

Ponce was the first municipality of Puerto Rico to declare its autonomy in the mid-90s.

Education

Ponce counts with several public and private schools distributed through several regions. Public education is handled by the State Department of Education.

There are also several colleges and universities located in the city. Some of them are:
* University of Puerto Rico at Ponce
* Interamerican University of Puerto Rico at Ponce
* Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico
** Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law
* Ponce School of Medicine

It also has several other technical institutions like the Instituto de Banca y Comercio, POPAC and others.

Transportation

International flights were once flown to Mercedita Airport, coded PSE, by Eastern Air Lines and American Airlines, while intra-island operations were conducted by Prinair. Air service to Mercedita has increased rapidly during the past two years. Cape Air dba Continental Connection offers daily intra-island service to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, Puerto Rico. In recent months, Spirit Airlines and Jet Blue have announced new jet service from Ponce to Fort Lauderdale, FL. JetBlue also flies nonstop from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City and the Orlando International Airport (MCO). Continental also offers daily nonstop service from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). Ponce is also home to the Port of the Americas, a shipping port currently under expansion to convert into an international shipping hub.

Notable "Ponceños"

*Ada Cecille Perkins Flores - Miss Puerto Rico of 1978
*Alfredo M. Aguayo - Educator and writer
*Antonio S. Luchetti - Public servant, engineer
*Antonio Paoli- world-renowned opera singer of the 1900s
*Carlos Colón - Musician from the bands The Deadlines, and Training for Utopia.
*Carlos Ortiz - Three-time world boxing champion.
*Cesar Andreu Iglesias - political figure
*Cheo Feliciano - salsa and international singer and member of the Fania All-Stars, a popular group of Salsa musicians and singers.
*David Sánchez Badillo - known publicly as Tempo, is a reggaeton and rap artist.
*Denise Marie Quiñones - 4th Puerto Rican winner of the Miss Universe contest.
*Ednita Nazario - international singer
*Elizam Escobar - poet, author and renowned painter
*Epifanio González Villamil (fictional character)
*Federico Degetau - lawyer, writer, author, and the first Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States House of Representatives.
*Hector Campos Parsi - composer
*Héctor Lavoe - salsa singer and member of the Fania All-Stars, a popular group of Salsa musicians and singers.
*Jesse Vassallo - Olympic swimmer and record setter.
*Javy López - former world champion baseball player
*Lourdes Pamela Pop - teacher
*Luis A. Ferré - former governor, Engineer, pianist, founder of the Partido Nuevo Progresista, Senate President and governor of Puerto Rico.
*Lymari Nadal - film actress
*Admiral Horacio Rivero, Jr., the first Hispanic to become a four-star Admiral in the U.S. Navy.
*Luis Ernesto Ramos Yordan - Doctor and Legislator.
*José Julio Henna - Doctor
*José Torres - former world boxing light heavyweight champion
*Jose Tomas Torres Torruellas "Willie Chan" - Former Baseball Player and Boxing champion
*Juan Morel Campos - Composer and musician
*Maria-Elena Laas - film actress
*María Teresa Babí - Professor
*Mario Santiago- boxer
*Maurice Ferré - First Hispanic Mayor of Miami, Florida
*Miguel Pou - painter
*Orlando Cepeda - Baseball Hall of Famer
*Pedro Albizu Campos - nationalist leader
*Pedro Pietri - poet
*Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez - salsa and international singer and member of the Fania All-Stars, a popular group of Salsa musicians and singers.
*Rafael Hernández Colón - Lawyer, Secretary of Justice, Senate President and former Governor of Puerto Rico.
*Raúl G. Villaronga - mayor of Killeen, Texas 1992-1998, first Puerto Rican mayor of a Texas city.
*Roberto Alomar Velázquez - former Major League Baseball player
*Rosario Ferré - novelist
*Roy Rosselló - former Menudo
*Ruth Fernández - Singer and legislator
*Sor Isolina Ferré - Luis A. Ferré's sister and humanitarian icon
*Salvador Vassallo - a.k.a. "Chiry" (March 24, 1942-January 21, 2007) was the president and CEO of Vassallo Industries Inc., a worldwide leader in the production of PVC injection moulded and extruded goods.
*Edgardo Vega Yunqué - Novelist (born in Ponce, but didn't grow up there)
*Juan Guilbe - Baseball Player
*Carlos Albizu Miranda - Educator, first Puerto Rican awarded with a Ph. D in Psyc

References

External links

* [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=05000US72113&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-PH1&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-redoLog=false&-format=CO-2&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_GCTPH1_CO2 Ponce and its barrios, United States Census Bureau]
* [http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USPR0070?from=36hr_bottomnav_undeclared]
* [http://www.anadon.biz/ponce/ponce.shtml Places of Interest in Ponce, Puerto Rico (Spanish)]
* [http://www.ponceweb.org Ponce Official Site]
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/prvi/ Historic Places in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary]