Caimito is one of the 18 barrios of the municipality of

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

located in the mountainous part of the municipality. With a land area of , Caimito is the second largest

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of San Juan,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

it had 21,825 inhabitants and a population density of 4,034.2 per sq.mi. Located in the southern part of San Juan, Caimito is bordered by barrios Tortugo and

Quebrada Arenas Quebrada Arenas is a Barrios of Puerto Rico, barrio in the municipality of Maunabo, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 1,667. History Cueva del Indio (Las Piedras), Cueva del Indio, a prehistoric rock art site which is now a public park, is ...

to the west, by Monacillo to the north, by Cupey to the east and by the municipality of

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founde ...

to the south.

History

The name Caimito comes from the Caimito tree, which is common in the region. The word ''caimito'' is possibly a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

adaptation (''-ito'' being the Spanish

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

) of the Taino word ''caima'', possibly related to the Carib ''acayouman'', meaning crocodile (see

caiman A caiman (also cayman as a variant spelling) is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family, the other being alligators. Caimans inhabit Mexico, Central and South America fro ...

). Assigned as a suburb of

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

in 1835 by

Pedro Tomás de Córdova Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

, who was Captain General of Puerto Rico from 1816 to 1836, Caimito consisted of 3,595.30 acres or land or roughly 5.16 square miles. Caimito comprises the former barrios of Caimito Alto and Caimito Bajo, which were last documented in the 1899 census. Caimito was part of Rio Piedras until 1951 when it was merged as a barrio of the municipality of San Juan. Historian Dr.

Fernando Picó Fernando Picó Bauermeister, S.J. (August 15, 1941 – June 27, 2017) was a Puerto Rican Jesuit, historian and academic. Picó was a leading expert on the history of Puerto Rico and was considered an authority on the island's 20th century histor ...

S.J., wrote a book about the history and genealogy of the area, published in 1989, called ''Vivir en Caimito''.

Geography

Caimito is located in the mountainous area of San Juan. The municipality's highest point, an unnamed peak measuring almost 1,030 feet (314 m) above sea level, close to the municipal border with

, is located in this barrio close to the Sendra Forest Park on the Morcelo sector. Some of the most important rivers in San Juan have their source in this area too, such as the Piedras River, which gives its name to

and flows into the

Puerto Nuevo River The Río Puerto Nuevo is a river of Puerto Rico. Flood control project In mid 2018, the United States Army Corps of Engineers announced it would be undertaking a major flood control project of the river, with a budget of $1552.4 million. See ...

and the

San Juan Bay San Juan Bay ( es, Bahía de San Juan) is the bay and main inlet adjacent to Old San Juan in northeastern Puerto Rico. It is about in length, the largest body of water in an estuary of about of channels, inlets and eight interconnected lagoons ...

. The major routes that cross Caimito include the

PR-199 Puerto Rico Highway 199 (PR-199) is a main highway, mostly divided, in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. It is one of the few highways in Puerto Rico with discontinuity, as there is also another Puerto Rico Highway 199 in Bayamón ...

, PR-842 and the

PR-1 Puerto Rico Highway 1 (PR-1) is a highway in Puerto Rico that connects the city of Ponce to San Juan. Leaving Ponce, the road heads east and follows a somewhat parallel route along the southern coast of the island heading towards Salinas. At S ...

Caimito, San Juan, Puerto Rico - panoramio

Demographics

The population of Caimito in 2010 was 21,825. Caimito is further divided into the following sectors and neighborhoods: Camino Dr. Colorado, La Cuchilla, Camino Los Ramos, Morcelo, Camino Sánchez Guzmán, Camino Pablo Sánchez, Camino Los Sánchez, Camino Francisco Escribano and Camino El Piloto.

Landmarks and attractions

* The Outlets at Montehiedra, developed in 1994, is a one level enclosed mall with over 100 stores located within Caimito. Anchored by

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the l ...

Marshall's Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. Mar ...

and Capri, the Outlet also includes stores such as

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

and Gap. It includes a fourteen-screen theater by

Caribbean Cinemas Caribbean Cinemas is a chain of movie theaters in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. It is the only major chain in Puerto Rico following CineVista's bankruptcy. The chain has expanded into Dominican Republic, Panama, St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. M ...

with

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

, CXC and 4DX screens. * Centro Zen de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Zen Center) * Gimnasio Municipal de Caimito * Centro Sor Isolina Ferré * Iglesia Episcopal San José

Notable people

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (born February 6, 1962) is an American sociologist and professor of sociology at Duke University. He was the 2018 president of the American Sociological Association. Early influences Bonilla-Silva was educated in Puert ...

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

professor at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

, president of the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

. * Félix Trinidad - Former professional boxer. Although born in

Fajardo, Puerto Rico Fajardo (, ) is a town and municipality -Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. Fajardo is the hub of much of the recreational boating in Puerto Rico and a popular launching port to Culebra, Vieques, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. It is ...

and raised in Cupey, "Tito" Trinidad is also often associated with Caimito, having been trained by Freddy Trinidad at the ''Gimnasio Municipal de Caimito''. * Rubén Berrios - President of the

Puerto Rican Independence Party The Puerto Rican Independence Party ( es, Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño, PIP) is a social-democratic political party in Puerto Rico that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from the United States. Those who follow the PIP ...

, professor at the

University of Puerto Rico School of Law The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is a law school in Puerto Rico. It is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System. It ...

. The noted boxing family, the Solis family, hails from Caimito. * Enrique Solis- Boxer, fought for world title. *

Julian Solís Julian Solís (born 7 January 1957) is a former boxer from Puerto Rico. He was born in the San Juan area of Río Piedras, but because of the closeness of his birthplace to Caguas, he often trained at the Bairoa Gym in Caguas. His training base, h ...

- Boxer, world champion. * Rafael Solis- Boxer, fought for world title. * Santos Solis- a professional boxer.

References