Florida () is a town and
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
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 ...
located in the
karst region north of
Ciales
Ciales (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico, located on the Central Mountain Range, northwest of Orocovis; south of Florida and Manatí; east of Utuado and Jayuya; and west of Morovis. Ciales is spread over eight barrios and Ciales P ...
, south of
Barceloneta, east of
Arecibo
Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, th ...
, and west of
Manatí. Florida is not like other municipalities of Puerto Rico with multiple subdivisions called barrios. It has one barrio called Florida Adentro and two other subdivisions: Florida Zona Urbana and Pajonal . It is part of the
San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Florida was founded first as a
barrio of
Barceloneta in 1881 when a priest, Father Carrión, the mayor of Barceloneta, and other dignitaries arrived at a terrain of almost 4 acres. They decided to establish a new barrio and the owner of the place, Don Manuel Cintrón granted the land while he retained a piece of it. The barrio was first called Florida Adentro.
During the 20th century, several efforts were made to declare Florida as a
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 ...
. First, on April 14, 1949,
House Representative Francisco Díaz Marchand presented a project to create a legislative commission that would study the economic and social conditions of the barrio, to determine the suitability of it as an independent municipality. The project was unsuccessful. In 1960, Manuel Frías Morales presented a law that would permit the study to establish the municipality but it didn't succeed either.
Finally, on June 14, 1971, the
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control t ...
and Governor Don
Luis A. Ferré approved the law that officially created the municipality of Florida. It is thus the youngest municipality established in the island.
On September 20, 2017
Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...
struck Puerto Rico. In Florida, 1400 homes were a total loss and 2,295 homes were partially damaged.
Geography
Florida is the second smallest municipality of Puerto Rico, with an area of 10 square miles. The municipality is the only in Puerto Rico with its urban area within the northern
karst region (sometimes referred as the
Northern Karst Hills), thus it is surrounded by low elevation haystack hills known as
mogotes
Mogotes () is a town and municipality in the Santander Department, in northeastern Colombia.
References
{{Santander-geo-stub
Municipalities of Santander Department ...
. The southern border of the municipality with
Ciales
Ciales (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico, located on the Central Mountain Range, northwest of Orocovis; south of Florida and Manatí; east of Utuado and Jayuya; and west of Morovis. Ciales is spread over eight barrios and Ciales P ...
remains one of the least developed areas on the island, due to the ruggedness of the karst. The
Rio Encantado is a subterranean river that goes through this area.
Several caves are in the town like Román Cave, Miró Cave, and Juana Gómez Cave.
Balcon Cave () is located in Florida.
Barrios
![Florida, Puerto Rico locator map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Florida%2C_Puerto_Rico_locator_map.png)
Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Florida is subdivided into administrative units called
barrios (which means ''barrios'' or ''boroughs'' or ''neighborhoods'' in English). A newer municipality of Puerto Rico, Florida has one
barrio called
Florida Adentro
Florida Adentro is a barrio in the municipality of Florida, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 12,680.
The central plaza and its church
Located across the central plaza in Florida Adentro is the , a Roman Catholic church.
History
Puerto ...
and two subbarrios: Florida Zona Urbana and Pajonal and it does not have a barrio-pueblo like most of the other municipalities of Puerto Rico.
The following areas are neighborhoods in Florida:
*Parcelas Arroyo
*Parcelas Selgas
*Pueblo Viejo
*San Agustín
*Perol
*Tosas
Sectors
Barrios (which are like
minor civil divisions
A minor civil division (MCD) is a term used by the United States Census Bureau for primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county or county-equivalent, typically a municipal government such as a city, town, or civil township. MCD ...
)
are subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores (''sectors'' in English). The types of ''sectores'' may vary, from ''sector'' to ''urbanización'' to ''reparto'' to ''barriada'' to ''residencial'', among others.
Special Communities
(Special Communities of Puerto Rico) are marginalized communities whose citizens are experiencing a certain amount of
social exclusion
Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipline ...
. A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of the commonwealth. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Florida: Sector El Hoyo in Comunidad San Agustín, Comunidad Arroyo, Sector Polvorín in Comunidad La Ceiba, Comunidad La Fuente, Estancias de Arroyo in La Joya, Sector El Cerro in Pajonal, and Sectors La Charca and Los Quemaos (both) in Parcelas Selgas.
Culture
Festival and events
Florida celebrates its
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
festival in September. The is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.
Other festivals and events celebrated in Florida include:
*
Three Kings
The biblical Magi from Middle Persian ''moɣ''(''mard'') from Old Persian ''magu-'' 'Zoroastrian clergyman' ( or ; singular: ), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men or (Three) Kings, also the Three Magi were distinguished foreigners in the ...
Festival – January
* Cayenalisa
Pineapple
The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...
Festival- July
* Cultural Fair of
Río Encantado – October
Economy
![PR-140, Florida Farmacéuticas, Salida 57 sign on PR-22](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/PR-140%2C_Florida_Farmac%C3%A9uticas%2C_Salida_57_sign_on_PR-22.jpg)
Florida's economy had mostly relied on agriculture, specifically
pineapple
The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...
, crops and other fruit related products. Today that's history with the high taxes impose on small vendors, there had been a few of manufacturing plants establishing in the area. There are pharmaceuticals in Florida.
Demographics
Florida is one of the least populated municipalities of Puerto Rico, perhaps due to its small size. The population, according to the 2000 census, was 12,237 with a population density of 1,236.7 people per square mile (475.6/km
2). After its establishment in 1974, the population has steadily increased over the years, with 7,232 people in the 1980 census.
Statistics taken from the 2000 census shows that 86.0% of Florideños are of
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
origin, 4.9% are
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
, 0.2% are
Amerindian
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...
etc.
Government
After its initial establishment, Florida belonged to the
Barceloneta region.
In 1949 and 1960 there were some attempts to separate the barrio from Barceloneta, but these were unsuccessful. However, in 1974, Governor
Luis A. Ferré and the
Puerto Rican Senate
The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control t ...
officially declared Florida an independent municipality. Its first mayor was Jorge L. Pérez Piñeiro. The current mayor is
José Gerena Polanco, of the
New Progressive Party (PNP). He was elected at the
2012 general elections.
The city belongs to the
Puerto Rico Senatorial district III
Puerto Rico Senatorial District III, also known as the Senatorial District of Arecibo, is one of the eight senatorial districts of Puerto Rico. It is currently represented by José Pérez Rosa and Angel Martínez (both from the New Progressive ...
, which is represented by two Senators. In 2008,
José Emilio González
Josemilio González (1918–1990) was a Puerto Rican literary critic and editor.
He Went to the University of Puerto Rico, where he graduated in Liberal Arts, with specializations in Spanish, French and Philosophy. in 1940, Earned his Master's De ...
and
Angel Martínez were elected as District Senators.
Symbols
The has an official flag and coat of arms.
Flag
It consists of three horizontal stripes, with the following colors and widths: green the superior and white the inferior, with five modules of width each one, the center one red, with a width of one module.
Coat of arms
Field of silver, in an abyss, a
gules (red) anchored cross, like the one in the
Asturian district of
Llanes
Llanes (the ''Concejo de Llanes'', ''Conceyu de Llanes'' in Asturian language) is a municipality of the province of Asturias, in northern Spain. Stretching for about 30 km along the coast at the extreme east of the province, Llanes is bound ...
. The cross is anchored between two branches of bloomed
poinsettias
The poinsettia ( or ) (''Euphorbia pulcherrima'') is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834 ...
(''Poinsettia pulcherrima''). A green terrace represents the hilly terrain of the town, with a stripe forming waves outlined in silver which represents the underground river of Encantado. At the top, a three tower gold crown distinct in municipalities coat of arms. The shield can be surrounded, to its flanks and bottom by two crossed coffee tree branches with fruits.
Names
Florida derives its name from the abundant flowers and natural resources on its land. It is also known as due to an underground river called Encantado. Another nickname is the due to its
pineapple
The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...
crops.
Education
There are several public and private schools, serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, distributed throughout the municipality of Florida. Public education is handled by the
Puerto Rico Department of Education
The Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDOE; ) is one of the statewide public education system in the United States, with (Hawaii being the other). The PRDOE is the state education agency in charge of managing public schools in Puerto Rico as ...
.
These are some of the schools in Florida, as of 2020:
* Adolfo Egüen School
* Juanita Ramírez González School
* Juan Ponce De León II School
* Francisco Frías Morales School
* Ricardo Rodríguez Torres School
* Early Head Start
Transportation
Puerto Rico Highway 22
PR-22 (also part of unsigned Interstate PR2) is an long toll road in the north coast of Puerto Rico that connects the cities of San Juan and Hatillo. The road is also known as the ''José de Diego Expressway'' (Spanish: ''Expreso José de Dieg ...
provides access to
PR-140, which leads to Florida from the cities of
Mayagüez in the west, or
San Juan in the north.
Like most other towns in the island, it has a public transportation system consisting of public cars.
There is only one bridge in Florida.
Mayors of Florida
*1974–1981 – Jorge Luis Pérez Piñeiro
*1981–1984 – Heriberto González Vélez
*1984–1992 – Juan Ramon De León Vélez
ohnny*1992–2004 – Maria Dolores Guzmán Cardona
aggie
Aggie may refer to:
People
* J. C. Agajanian (1913–1984), American motor sports personality
* Aggie Beynon, Canadian metalsmith
* Aggie Grey (1897–1988), Samoan hotelier born Agnes Genevieve Swann
* Agnes Aggie Herring (1876–1939), Americ ...
*2004–2012 –
José Aaron Pargas Ojeda
*2012–present –
José Gerena Polanco
Notable ''Florideños''
*
Charlie Montoyo
José Carlos Montoyo Díaz (born October 17, 1965) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican former professional baseball second baseman and coach. He is currently the bench coach of the Chicago White Sox, and was previously the Manager (baseball), manage ...
– Current Manager of the Toronto Blue Jays and former Major League Baseball player
*
Alexis Mateo
Alexis Mateo Pacheco (born July 24, 1979), best known as Alexis Mateo, is a Puerto Rican drag queen, performer, reality television personality, fashion designer, and the winner of All American Goddess 2016, Miss Gay Days 2016 and National Show ...
–
Drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...
and contestant on Season 3 of
RuPaul's Drag Race
''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...
.
*Danny A. Viera Carrero- Primer puertorriqueño como jefe de tripulación en el avión del Secretario de Defensa de los Estados Unidos 2008–2011 y Primer Crewchief y jefe de comunicaciones del jefe de Operaciones Navales de los Estados Unidos 2011–2015.
*
See also
*
List of Puerto Ricans
*
History of Puerto Rico
The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people between 430 BC and AD 1000. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taínos. The Taí ...
*
Did you know-Puerto Rico?
References
External links
Municipality of Florida
Viability Study of Florida
Dr. Valentín's Historical Archives
*
Welcome to Puerto Rico! Florida
{{Subject bar, auto=y, d=y
Municipalities of Puerto Rico
Populated places established in 1971
San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area
1971 establishments in Puerto Rico