Caimito is one of the 18 barrios of the municipality of

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

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 delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

in the

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' ...

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 ...

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 ...

. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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 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 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 ...

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

adaptation (''-ito'' being the Spanish

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word 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, and sometimes to belittle s ...

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

caiman A caiman ( (also spelled cayman) from Taíno language, Taíno ''kaiman'') is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family (biology), family, the other being alligators. ...

). Assigned as a suburb of

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Flo ...

in 1835 by Pedro Tomás de Córdova, 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 S.J., wrote a book about the history and genealogy of the area, published in 1989, called ''Vivir en Caimito''. The neighborhood commissioner (''comisario de barrio'' was the main representative of Caimito to the Mayor of

. By the 19th century, they were the main local representatives of an absent state. Most of them were not originally from Caimito, but instead were people who had settled there, usually businessmen and farmers. This position was not compensated properly but they garnered some power and prestige.

List of ''comisarios de barrio'' in Caimito during the 19th century

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 United States Army Corps of Engineers, Army Corps of Engineers announced it would be undertaking a major flood control project of the river, wi ...

and the

San Juan Bay San Juan Bay () is a Bay#Types, semi-enclosed bay, estuary, and harbor connected to the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the northeastern coastal plain of Puerto Rico. Surrounded by the capital Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality o ...

. The major routes that cross Caimito include the PR-199, PR-842 and PR-1. Caimito, San Juan, Puerto Rico - panoramio.jpg, Sunset in Caimito (2014) Carretera PR-199, intersección con la carretera PR-1, San Juan, Puerto Rico.jpg, Puerto Rico Highway 199 in Caimito Carretera PR-842, San Juan, Puerto Rico.jpg, Puerto Rico Highway 842 in Caimito

Demographics

The population of Caimito in 2020 was 19,217. 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., often referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportat ...

Marshalls Marshalls, Inc. is an American chain of discount store, off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store (stores operating with HomeGoods combined), ...

and Capri, the Outlet also includes stores such as

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

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, San Francisco, Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of t ...

and Gap. It includes a fourteen-screen theater by Caribbean Cinemas with

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

, 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 Puerto ...

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

professor at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, 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 fi ...

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

Fajardo, Puerto Rico Fajardo () is a town and a municipality part of the San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area in Puerto Rico. Fajardo is the hub of much of the recreational boating in Puerto Rico and a popular launching port to Culebra, Vieques, and ...

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 (, 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 ideology are usually called ''independentist ...

, professor at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law. The noted boxing family, the Solis family, hails from Caimito. * Enrique Solis- Boxer, fought for world title. * Julian Solís- Boxer, world champion. * Rafael Solis- Boxer, fought for world title. * Santos Solis- a professional boxer.

References

{{Authority control Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Barrios of San Juan, Puerto Rico