Maunabo, Puerto Rico
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Maunabo () is a
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
and
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
of
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
located in the Maunabo Valley on the southeastern coast, northeast of Patillas and south of Yabucoa. Maunabo is spread over eight barrios and Maunabo Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area. The current mayor of the town is Ángel Omar Lafuente Amaro and the population in 2020 was 10,589.


History

Maunabo was founded in 1799. Maunabo derives its name from a Taino name ''Manatuabón'' for the Maunabo River. Life in Maunabo was difficult for early settlers. In 1800 Maunabo registered a population of just 712 residents of whom 180 were slaves. The population was dedicated to subsistence farming in animal husbandry, minor fruits and crops for sustenance. The population was widely dispersed throughout the newly formed jurisdiction. The town center was just 4 hectacres in area and consisted of 30 houses and 15 bohios according to an 1824 report to the Governor. Trade with neighboring towns along the southern coast of Puerto Rico and Saint Thomas was conducted through the port of Maunabo which was built in 1812. The wooden port facilities were primitive and frequently destroyed by tropical storms. Hurricanes Santa Ana in 1825 and San Jacinto in 1827 destroyed both agriculture and the housing stock. In addition the population faced periods of drought and the spread of communicable diseases such as smallpox. One early institution the Church of San Isidro Labrador y Santa Maria de la Cabeza was established in 1799. The Casa del Rey was the seat of municipal government. The leading landowners exercised political influence as mayors and counselors but the pace of economic development remained slow. In the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth century Maunabo was a town heavily influenced by the development of the sugar industry. The three largest plantations were the haciendas Garonne, Bordelaise and Orleanaise. The names were French due to their founding by the Clauzel family and other French settlers to the region in the 1840s. The principal labor force of the early plantations consisted of enslaved Afro-Puerto Ricans. The population of enslaved people doubled as sugar lands were developed. By 1869 the slave register for compensation of the slaveowners at the time of abolition documented over 250 names of enslaved Afro-Puerto Ricans in Maunabo. Labor relations were characterized by intermittent conflicts and ongoing exploitation throughout the era of the sugar industry's rise. By the 1920s, the average wage of a cane cutter was approximately a dollar a day. The nineteenth century sugar planters were unable to modernize effectively due to a lack of available credit, international competition from the sugar beet industry, managing the transition from slavery to a wage labor system and the ever-increasing tariffs of the US market. The period from abolition (1873) to the Spanish American War (1898) marked a significant decline in the profitability of sugar. After the United States takeover in 1898 Maunabo experienced a period of record sugar production through the Great Depression. In the wake of Hurricane San Ciriaco which destroyed the plantations in 1899 the owners of the three largest plantations decided to combine forces and develop a modern sugar factory, The Central Columbia Sugar Company (1901-1929). The factory site was 6.2 acres and located alongside the Maunabo River on land ceded to the new company by the Hacienda Garonne. Opened fully for business in 1901 the factory's first harvest was 20,000 sacks of sugar, the fifth highest total in the island. Thereafter the Columbia was a medium sized factory that served as an economic focal point for Maunabo but its growth was constrained by geography. Small and medium sized colonos were responsible for transporting clean sugars to the factory and paid a 5% charge for processing. The Central Columbia was destroyed by Hurricane Felipe on September 13, 1928 and thereafter the Maunabo sugars were processed at th
Central Lafayette
in Arroyo. The site of the factory was used as a trucking way station—the first large scale trucking operation in the Puerto Rican sugar industry—by the C& J Fantauzzi Company. After the sale of the factory and related lands to the Puerto Rican government in 1936, the site continued to be used as a way station for Maunabo sugar producers until 1974. Today the ruins of the Central Columbia are a notable landmark in Maunabo. Puerto Rico was ceded by
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
in the aftermath of the
Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
under the terms of the
Treaty of Paris of 1898 The Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, commonly known as the Treaty of Paris of 1898, was signed by Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States on December 10, 1898, and marked the end of the ...
and became a territory of the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. In 1899, the
United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...
conducted a
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Maunabo was 6,221. Maunabo is known for its advances in media. Being almost "disconnected" from the rest of the island by its high mountains, the maunabeños created their own newspaper called ''La Esquina'' ("The Corner" in ''English'') on August 30, 1975 by Ramón "Chito" Arroyo and José Orlando Rivera. It started as a community one-sheeter distributed free of charge only in Maunabo, but its popularity was so overwhelming that a year later it was transformed into a monthly tabloid. Today, the paper still is free of charge, home delivering 40,000 copies not only in Maunabo but also in the southeastern towns of
Guayama Guayama (, ), officially the Autonomous Municipality of Guayama (), is a Guayama barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean coast of Puerto Rico. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...
, Arroyo, Patillas, Yabucoa and
Humacao Humacao () is a city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 12 barrios and Humacao Pueblo (the ...
, and read by more than 190,000 people. Recently, the paper opened its new offices in Maunabo where they also work on ''La Esquina Online'' and other projects. On September 20, 2017
Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...
struck Puerto Rico. The hurricane triggered numerous landslides in Maunabo with its 155 mph winds and rain. The electric company (''Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica'') stated restoring power to Maunabo could take up to 9 months. The mayor said all small businesses were affected and all minor fruits were lost.


Geography

Maunabo is surrounded by high mountains on two sides. The three major peaks are ''Pico Hutton'' on Sierra de Guardarraya with an elevation of ; Cerro Santa Elena also known as ''El Sombrerito'' (the "little hat" for its unusual shape) on Sierra Pandura with an elevation of ; and ''Cerro de la Pandura'' with an elevation of . The wind on these high points is so strong that it is hard to hear anything else but it blowing past your ears. At Sierra Guardarraya the strong winds have affected the growth of vegetation and the tall grass only grows flat to the ground. In the lush and tropical vegetation of Cerro de la Pandura you will find one of the Island's most endangered species of
coquí Coquí is a common name for several species of small frogs in the genus ''Eleutherodactylus'' native to Puerto Rico. They are Onomatopoeia, onomatopoeically named for the very loud mating call which the males of two species, the common coqui an ...
. Known as the coquí Guajón ('' Eleutherodactylus cooki''), this coquí frog can be found in the mountains shared by the neighboring municipalities of Yabucoa, Patillas and
San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...
. Though discovered in 1932 by
Chapman Grant Chapman Grant (March 27, 1887 – January 5, 1983) was an American herpetologist, historian, and publisher. He was the last living grandson of United States President Ulysses S. Grant. He was married and had two children, one of whom survived him ...
of the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
, it was not until 1997 that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared it an
endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...
.


Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Maunabo is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a barrio referred to as . # Calzada #
Emajagua Emajagua is a barrio in the municipality of Maunabo, Puerto Rico with a population of 4,538 in 2010. Features The Tunnel is in Emajagua. History Emajagua was in Spain's gazetteers until Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the ...
# Lizas # Matuyas Alto # Matuyas Bajo #
Maunabo barrio-pueblo Maunabo barrio-pueblo is a barrio and the administrative center (seat) of Maunabo, a municipality of Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 317. As was customary in Spain, in Puerto Rico, the municipality has a barrio called ''pueblo'' which c ...
# Palo Seco # Quebrada Arenas # Talante #
Tumbao In music of Afro-Cuban origin, tumbao is the basic rhythm played on the bass. In North America, the basic conga drum pattern used in popular music is also called ''tumbao''. In the contemporary form of Cuban popular dance music known as timba, pian ...


Sectors

Barrios (which are like minor civil divisions) and subbarrios, are further subdivided into smaller areas called (''sectors'' in English). The types of ''sectores'' may vary, from normally ''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. In the EU context, the Euro ...
. 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 Maunabo: Matuyas, Sector García in Talante, and Batey Columbia in Calzada.


Demographics


Tourism

Mauna Caribe, a which is a local type of bed and breakfast, tropical inn, is located in Maunabo. With an almost unspoiled culture—due to the high mountains that separate the town from the rest—Maunabo still is a bucolic city and the lack of large commercial chains gives it a unique personality compared to the rest of the island. The warm, unspoiled and untamed blue and green waters of the beaches of Maunabo are one of its major attractions. The three beaches (Los Bohios, Los Pinos and Playa Punta Tuna) are mostly visited by the locals all year round. The beaches also attract tourists that explore other regions beyond
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...
and other major cities. Surfers love these wild and dangerous waters. The Punta Tuna beach is also known by the locals as Playa Escondida or the "hidden beach", crowned by the Punta Tuna Lighthouse on one side and separated from the main road by lush sea grape trees on the other. The beach is only accessible by foot through a short dusty road. The sand at Los Pinos Beach (the name means "the pines" and it comes from a pine-tree-lined hill on the side of the beach) shines with black carbon minerals and legend has it that these come from sea volcanoes or from underwater fossil fuel deposits. The minerals tend to stick to anything that is wet and thus it is rarely visited. The Los Bohios Beach is another popular beach in the municipality, attracting thousands of visitors each year. The town is also known for its Punta Tuna Lighthouse built by the
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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
at the end of the 19th century before the Island was turned over to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
as spoils of the
Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...
of 1898. Though it has never ceased working under the active management of the U.S. Coast Guard, for almost 30 years the lighthouse was not accessible to the public. Due to Law 180 presented by Governor
Aníbal Acevedo Vilá Aníbal Salvador Acevedo Vilá (born 13 February 1962) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 2005 to 2009. He is a Harvard University alumnus ( LL.M. 1987) and a graduate of the University of ...
, the doors of the lighthouse were opened once again to the public in February 2006. The lighthouse is also a permanent symbol in the town's coat of arms. The town is also known for its annual crab carnival "Festi-Carnaval Jueyero" which attracts thousands of visitors for a three-day celebration with live music, street fairs, contests and much crab-based food. The carnival is celebrated during the first week of September, at the peak of the summer heat.


Landmarks and places of interest

* Cantera Caverns * Punta Tuna Light - built by the Spaniards in 1892 is located on Punta Tuna. * Punta Tuna Beach * Sierra Pandura * The ruins of the Central Columbia sugar factory


Culture


Festivals and events

Maunabo celebrates its
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
festival in May. 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 Maunabo include: *Gifts on the eve of
Three Kings Day Epiphany ( ), also known as "Theophany" in Eastern Christian tradition, is a Christian feast day commemorating the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the wedding at Cana. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally ...
()– January *Isidore, the Farmer Community Festival () – May *Town Festival () – June/July *Festival of
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is a Roman Catholic Titles of Mary, title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated as patron saint, patroness of the Carmelites, Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on M ...
() – July *Night Out () – August *
Land Crab A number of lineages of crabs have evolved to live predominantly on land. Examples of terrestrial crabs are found in the families Gecarcinidae and Gecarcinucidae, as well as in selected genera from other families, such as '' Sesarma'', altho ...
Festival and Carnival () – September *Christmas Party at Calle 3 ( Palo Seco) () – December *Aníbal Arroyo Cup (basketball event) () – December *End of Year Marathon () – December 31


Economy

(The Committee for the Development of Maunabo) has been active for years and in 2018 worked on upgrades to , a hurricane relief location in Maunabo.


Agriculture

* Fruits and vegetables; cattle.


Industry

* Fishing,
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
strings, plantain.


Government

Like all municipalities in
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, Maunabo is administered by a mayor. The current mayor is Ángel Omar Lafuente Amaro, from the New Progressive Party (PNP). Lafuente Amaro was first elected at the 2020 general election. The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district VII, which is represented by two Senators. In 2024, Wanda Soto Tolentino and
Luis Daniel Colón La Santa Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...
were elected as District Senators.


Symbols

The has an official flag and coat of arms.


Flag

Maunabo's flag consists of a green cloth crossed diagonally by a white stripe. In each corner of the two remaining green triangles, there are two yellow ox yokes.


Coat of arms

This municipality has a coat of arms. Silver and green are the main colors of the shield, representing flowered sugarcane. The upside down V symbolizes the mountains of Maunabo: Sierra de Guarderraya and Sierra de la Pandura. A lighthouse is a representation of Maunabo's oldest building, which is located on the Maunabo coast. The yokes are symbols of agriculture and Maunabo's patron saint, San Isidro Labrador.


Transportation

The town constructed a tunnel which goes under a mountain, in this case, the eastern side mountains, (there is a vehicular tunnel that was built previously, in San Juan, the
Minillas Tunnel The Minillas Tunnel is a road tunnel located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It starts at the beginning of Puerto Rico Highway 22 (unsigned Puerto Rico Highway 2, Interstate PR-2), in the vicinity of Santurce, Puerto Rico, Santurce, near Condado (Santu ...
, but that one goes under some buildings instead) connecting it with the neighboring town of Yabucoa. A
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
an construction company is in charge of the contract. The tunnels have been named Vicente Morales Lebrón, after an environmental activist who, as a result of the 1956 tropical storm Betsy that damaged the only road that connected the town with the north side of the island, proposed the tunnels to be built. In September 2018, the tunnel was closed briefly for the filming of a music video. There are 22 bridges in Maunabo.


Gallery

File:Punta Tuna Beach from Lighthouse.jpg, alt=Punta Tuna Beach from Punta Tuna Lighthouse, Punta Tuna Beach from Punta Tuna Lighthouse File:PuntaTunaLighthouse.jpg, alt=Punta Tuna Lighthouse at Punta Tuna Beach, Punta Tuna Lighthouse at Punta Tuna Beach File:Punta Tuna Beach Sky.jpg, alt=Punta Tuna Beach sky, Punta Tuna Beach sky


Notable residents

* Zahimara Fantauzzi (born 1993), footballer member of the Puerto Rico women's national team *
Heliot Ramos Heliot Lemuel Ramos Lebrón (pronounced "''Eliot''"; born September 7, 1999) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Giants selected Ramos in the first round, with the 1 ...
(born 1999), baseball center fielder for the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
* Rudolph W. Riefkohl (born 1895), Colonel United States Army 1911-1945 * Frederick L. Riefkohl (born 1889), Rear Admiral United States Navy 1912-1947


See also

*
List of Puerto Ricans This is a list of notable people from Puerto Rico which includes people who were born in Puerto Rico (Borinquen) and people who are of full or partial Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent. Puerto Rican citizens are included, as the governm ...
*
History of Puerto Rico The history of Puerto Rico began with the settlement of the Ortoiroid people before 430 BC. At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1493, the dominant indigenous culture was that of the Taíno. The Taíno people's num ...
* Did you know-Puerto Rico?


References


Further reading

*


External links


Puerto Rico Government Directory - Maunabo
{{Subject bar, auto=y, d=y Municipalities of Puerto Rico Populated places established in 1799 San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area 1799 establishments in the Spanish Empire 1799 establishments in North America