Aguas Buenas (, ), popularly known as "''La Ciudad de las Aguas Claras''" or "''The City of Clear Waters''", 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' ...

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

Central Mountain Range The Central Mountain Range is the principal mountain range on the island of Taiwan. It runs from the north of the island to the south. It acts as a barrier between the east and west coasts, hindering travel. The tallest peak of the range is ...

, north of Cidra, south of Bayamón,

Guaynabo Guaynabo (, ) is a city and municipality on the northeastern coastal plain of Puerto Rico. Located west of the capital San Juan, east of Bayamón, south of Cataño and San Juan Bay, and north of Aguas Buenas, Guaynabo is spread over 9 barrio ...

and

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 ...

; east of

Comerio Comerio is a ''comune'' (Municipality) in the Province of Varese in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about 50 km northwest of Milan and about 8 km west of Varese. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,549 and an are ...

; and north-west of

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality in central eastern Puerto Rico. Located in the eponymous Caguas Valley between the Sierra de Cayey and Sierra de Luquillo of the Central Mountain Range, it is bordered by San Juan and Trujillo Alto to ...

. Aguas Buenas is spread over 9 ''barrios'' and Aguas Buenas Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology and nicknames

The name ''Aguas Buenas'' translates to "good waters". The

's and municipality's original names were Aguabuena ("good water"), originally a barrio or district of

, and Aguas Claras ("clear waters"). These names and some of the municipality's nicknames such as ''Ciudad de las Aguas Claras'' ("city of clear waters") and ''Oasis de Puerto Rico'' ("

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentwater springs that can be found in the municipality, particularly those founds around the Aguas Buenas Cave and Caverns System Nature Reserve (Spanish: ''Reserva Natural Sistema de Cuevas y Cavernas de Aguas Buenas''). Citizens and residents of Aguas Buenas are referred to as ''aguasbonenses'' and sometimes as Mulos ("mules") or Ñocos ("amputees").

History

Aguas Buenas was originally a sector of

known as ''Aguabuena''. In 1798, a group of residents started establishing their houses near some of the rivers in the area and started calling the sector ''Aguas Claras''. The quantity of residents incremented with time and on July 25, 1832, they organized a meeting and commissioned Francisco de Salas Torres and Ramón Díaz to do the necessary arrangements for the region to be declared a municipality. A resident, Julian López, offered part of his estate to be used for the construction of a town square, a church, the city hall, and the priest house. The town was officially founded on May 25, 1838, and the name was changed to ''Aguas Buenas''. Francisco de Salas Torres was declared the first mayor. Initially, the economy of the town relied on coffee plantations and commerce. At the end of the 19th century, the town's population was close to 7,000. In 1906, mayor Don José E. Morales bought nearly six

acres The acre ( ) is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, ...

of terrain from Don Guillermo Díaz Delgado. In these lands, the sectors of La Pajilla, El Pueblito and El Guanábano were established, expanding the town's area. The epicenter of the

2010 Aguas Buenas earthquake The 2010 Aguas Buenas earthquake, also referred to as the 2010 Christmas Eve earthquake (Spanish: ''Temblor de Nochebuena de 2010''), occurred on December 24 at 7:43 p.m. local time in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico. It measured 5.1 on the mome ...

, popularly known as the ''Nochebuena Earthquake'', was centered between the barrios Juan Asencio, Mulita and Sonadora.

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 ...

on September 20, 2017, triggered numerous landslides in Aguas Buenas with the significant amount of rainfall. Between1,000 and 3,000 homes in Aguas Buenas were destroyed or suffered significant damage as a result of the hurricane. A year after the hurricane struck, many older residents refused to leave their damaged homes and continued to live in their homes, without a reconstructed roof, but with a blue tarp for a roof. The hurricane winds and rain damaged infrastructure and caused the entire electrical system to collapse.

Geography

The terrain is moderately mountainous located in the northern edge of the

Cayey Cayey (), officially Cayey de Muesas, is a mountain town and municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Sierra de Cayey within the Central Mountain range, north east of Salinas and north of Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east o ...

mountain range (

Sierra de Cayey The Sierra de Cayey ( English: "Cayey Mountains") is one of three subranges of the Cordillera Central mountain range in the main island of Puerto Rico. It is demarcated from the eponymous main subrange of ''Cordillera Central'' by the San Crist� ...

), part of the

Cordillera Central Central Cordillera refers to the New Guinea Highlands. Cordillera Central, meaning ''central range'' in Spanish, may refer to the following mountain ranges: * Cordillera Central, Andes (disambiguation), several mountain ranges in South America ** ...

. The highest peaks are La Peña, Santa Bárbara, La Tisa, and La Marquesa.

Water features

Several rivers flow through Aguas Buenas. Some of them are the

Bayamón River The Bayamón River () is a river of Puerto Rico beginning at an elevation of approximately 1,476 ft in barrio Beatriz in Cidra, Puerto Rico. It is slightly over 30 miles long and travels through several municipalities: Cidra, Aguas Buenas, ...

, and several small rivers that are part of the

Río Grande de Loíza The Rio Grande de Loíza (English language, English: ''Great River of Loíza'' or ''Loíza River'') is a river in the Geography of Puerto Rico, main island of Puerto Rico. It is the largest river in Puerto Rico by discharge volume. Situated on th ...

, like Bairoa, Caguitas, and

Cañas Canas or Cañas may refer to: Places * Canas (Lycia), a town of ancient Lycia, now in Turkey * Amatlán de Cañas, a municipality in Nayarit, Mexico * Cañas Canton, in Guanacaste province, Costa Rica * Cañas, Costa Rica, capital of the Cañas (ca ...

Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Aguas Buenas is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a small barrio referred to as , near the center of the municipality. #

Aguas Buenas barrio-pueblo Aguas Buenas barrio-pueblo is a barrio and the administrative center (seat) of Aguas Buenas, a municipality of Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 1,711. As was customary in Spain, in Puerto Rico, the municipality has a barrio called ''puebl ...

# Bairoa # Bayamoncito # Cagüitas # Jagüeyes # Juan Asencio #

Mula Mula may refer to: Places * Mula Township, Sichuan, China * Mula, Ethiopia, a district * Mula, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province * Mule, Norway (also spelled Mula), a village * Muľa, a village and municipality in southern Slovakia * Mul ...

# Mulita # Sonadora # Sumidero

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 Aguas Buenas: Vázquez neighborhood, Las Parcelas in Bayamoncito barrio, Sonadora barrio, Cagüitas Centro, Pajilla sector in Centro Urbano, Jagüeyes Abajo, Las Corujas, and Parcelas Santa Clara in Sumidero barrio.

Tourism

Some of the landmarks and places of interest in Aguas Buenas are located in its town square. Places of interest in Aguas Buenas include: * Finca Artesanal * La Charca Recreational Center * Aguas Buenas Caves * El Mirador Walkway * Luis A. Ferré Plaza (main square of the downtown area) * City Hall * Lecture House * Christ Redeemer House * Jagüeyes Country Club * Monte La Tiza * Maximiliano Merced fire station * Juan Nieves Cotto baseball park * Holy Spirit parish To stimulate local tourism during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico The COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico was an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pa ...

, the

Puerto Rico Tourism Company The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (, or simply ''Turismo'') is the government-owned corporation in charge of tourism matters and regulations in Puerto Rico. The company was created during Governor Luis A. Ferré's administration (1969-1973) to coo ...

launched the ''Voy Turistiendo'' (I'm Touring) campaign in 2021. The campaign featured a passport book with a page for each municipality. The Aguas Buenas passport page lists (

agritourism Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including direct-to-consumer sales such as farm stands and u-pick, agricultu ...

), (agritourism), , and as places of interest.

Culture

Sports

Aguas Buenas has an amateur baseball team called .

Festivals and events

Aguas Buenas 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 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 Aguas Buenas include the

Salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

, Bomba &

Plena Plena is a genre of music and dance native to Puerto Rico. Origins The plena genre originated in Barrio San Antón, Ponce, Puerto Rico, around 1900. It was influenced by the bomba style of music. Originally, sung texts were not associated wit ...

Festival held in late summer, an Agricultural festival held in May and the held in January. An annual Carnival is held in March.

Economy

After its foundation, the economy of Aguas Buenas relied mostly on coffee plantations.

Demographics

According to the 2020 census, Aguas Buenas has a population of 24,223. This represents a decline of 15.5% or over 4,000 inhabitants in comparison to the 2010 census. According to the 2010 Census, 72.5% of the population identifies themselves as

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, and 12.6% as

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

. Also, according to the census, the population is equally divided by gender (49% are males, while 51% are females). Finally, 25% of the population is under 18 years old. The next biggest percentage of population (19.4%) is between 35 and 49 years old.

Government

All municipalities in Puerto Rico are administered by a mayor, elected every four years. The current mayor of Aguas Buenas is Javier García Pérez, of the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was elected at the 2016 general elections. However, on May 5, 2022, García Pérez was arrested by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

on corruption, bribery, and extortion charges. and was subsequently removed from his position. Since 2011, the city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district I, which is represented by two Senators. In 2012,

José Nadal Power José Rafael Nadal Power (born December 8, 1973) is a Puerto Rican politician from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). Nadal Power was elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico in 2012. Early years and studies José Rafael Nadal Power was born in ...

and Ramón Luis Nieves were elected as District Senators.

Mayors

The following have been the Mayors of the Aguas Buenas Municipality, from its foundation to the present:

Symbols

The has an official flag and coat of arms.

Flag

The flag of Aguas Buenas features a blue triangle with the base at the hoist. The triangle has a solitary white star, like the national banner. A second triangle appears interposed with the first one, in yellow, with its point reaching the other end of the flag. The main field of the flag, under both triangles, is color green.

Coat of arms

Designed by Francisco Diaz Rivera in 1975, the coat of arms features a four-paneled shield. The upper left panel shows the Virgin of Monserrate, while the upper right panel features a

Taíno The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...

, a symbol of the original inhabitants of this region. At the bottom right panel, lies a

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (; ), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the " horn of ...

containing the native fruit of Aguas Buenas. This panel represents how the agriculture was the primary source of income for the town. In the lower left panel, there are four

maracas A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

and a güicharo, typical instruments of the "jibaros" of Aguas Buenas and Puerto Rico. The crown, as with other municipalities of

, consists of three towers.

Anthem

''Bajo el azul del cielo de mi patria'' ''En el oriente de la Cordillera'' ''Aguasbonenses forjando la historia'' ''Defendiendo el honor de su bandera.'' ''De sol a sol sembrando nuestros frutos'' ''El orgullo labrado en nuestra tierra'' ''La siega de un futuro va anunciando'' ''El brillo de la solitaria estrella.'' ''Que se levanta en medio del combate'' ''Por negarse a ser solo una quimera'' ''Raices firmes que en el pecho laten'' ''Afirmando la patria y la conciencia.'' ''Aguas Buenas, estirpe de valientes'' ''Pedazo del terruño borinqueño'' ''Un pueblo que se une en la conquista'' ''De lo que es ser un buen puertoriqueñio.'' ''Yo soy Aguas Buenas!''

Transportation

To reach the town of Aguas Buenas, visitors must take the

Puerto Rico Highway 52 Puerto Rico Highway 52 (PR-52), a major toll road in Puerto Rico, is also known as . It was formerly called . It runs from PR-1 in southwest Río Piedras and heads south until it intersects with highway PR-2 in Ponce. At its north end, the s ...

to the city of

. From there, PR-156 leads directly into the downtown square. Other minor roads lead to nearby towns such as Comerío. There are 13 bridges in Aguas Buenas.

Education

There are around 14 public schools in Aguas Buenas. As with all other municipalities, education is handled by the

Puerto Rico Department of Education The Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDOE; ) is one of five jurisdiction-wide public education systems in the United States, with Hawaii, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa being the others. The PRDOE is the state education ...

. These are divided as follows: Elementary Schools *Dr. Gustavo Muñoz Díaz *Ezequiel Ramos La Santa *Jagüeyes Abajo *José R. González *Luis Santaella *Luis T. Baliñas *Mulitas Alvelo *Ramón Luis Rivera/Juan Asencio *Santa Clara Junior High Schools *Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos *Luis Muñoz Marín *Su Bayamoncito *Su Sumidero High Schools *Josefa Pastrana

Notable people

Joyce Giraud Joyce Marie Giraud Mojica (born April 4, 1975), also known as Joyce Giraud de Ohoven, is a Puerto Rican actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. In 1994, she competed at Miss World 1994 but failed to place in the semifinals. In 1998, Gir ...

– Actress and Miss Puerto Rico 1998 *

Ismael Cruz Córdova Ismael Enrique Cruz Córdova (born April 7, 1987) is a Puerto Rican actor who gained national attention for his role as Mando on ''Sesame Street''. Other credits include ''The Good Wife'' (2011), '' In the Blood'' (2014), ''Exposed'' (2016), '' ...

, actor

References

External links

Aguas Buenas Municipality on Facebook
{{Authority control Municipalities of Puerto Rico Populated places established in 1798 San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area 1838 establishments in the Spanish Empire