San José de Suaita is a former industrial village and

corregimiento ''Corregimiento'' (; , ) is a Spanish term used for country subdivisions for royal administrative purposes, ensuring districts were under crown control as opposed to local elites. A ''corregimiento'' was usually headed by a '' corregidor''. The ...

of the municipality of Suaita. Located about 200 km north of

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

in the Department of Santander,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. It became a

in 1924, by decision of the local council.

Population

There are 1,212 residents (323 urban, and 989 rural). There are 280 households, of which 40.2% have children under 18, 59.8% are single-person, and 9.2% include a person over the age of 65. The average family size is 4.35. San José de Suaita is transforming from an industrial town to an agricultural one. There are very few jobs remaining, and many people are leaving for larger cities.

History

San José de Suaita was a plot of land given to the bourgeois Caballero family, a political family which claimed several properties in the area, including Silvania and

Tipacoque Tipacoque is a municipality and town in Boyacá Department, Colombia, located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, part of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. Tipacoque is situated on the western flank of the Chicamocha river canyon. It is par ...

. The other properties had been owned by the Caballeros since colonial times, while San José de Suaita was granted to them more recently.

Alfonso López Michelsen Alfonso López Michelsen (30 June 1913 – 11 July 2007) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served as the 24th President of Colombia from 1974 to 1978. He was nicknamed "El Pollo" (The Chicken), a popular Colombian idiom for people with ...

, former president of Colombia, detailed some of the history of the town in his book ''Pending Words''.

Cotton Mill Museum

The Cotton Mill Museum and Factory of San José de Suaita () MuseosColombianos.gov.co
/ref> is housed in the forme
Inscomercial High School
Building and was opened in 2006 under the supervision of the French sociologist Pierre Raymond, who was concerned to preserve the history of the important

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

industry in Colombia.Pierre Raymond, ''Mucha tela que cortar: la saga de una fábrica textil y la pugna de las familias Caballero y López por su control'' (Bogotá: Editorial Planeta Colombiana, 2008), pp. xix+380; reviewed in ''Journal of Latin American Studies'' 43 (2011), Cambridge University Press
/ref> Through its exhibits, programs, and collections, the museum preserves and interprets the history of textiles and the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

, with special emphasis on the experiences of the craftspeople, industrial workers, manufacturers, machines, inventors, designers, and consumers. The museum also promotes greater understanding of the major trends and changes in technology, economy, society, environment, and culture that have shaped San José de Suaita from 1900 to the present. Working people operate vintage machinery and guides demonstrate the production process.

Gallery

Image:Fachadamuseo.jpg, Museum headquarters Image:Hilanderia.jpg,

Cotton-spinning machinery Cotton-spinning machinery is machines which process (or spin) prepared cotton roving into workable yarn or thread. Such machinery can be dated back centuries. During the 18th and 19th centuries, as part of the Industrial Revolution cotton-spinnin ...

Image:Lucascaballerobarrera.jpg, Lucas Caballero Barrera Image:Telaresmuseo.jpg,

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

pressing Image:Etiqueta1.jpg, "Dril Comuneros" Label Image:Salidatrabajadores.jpg, Working people - 1970 Image:Museosanjose.jpg, Museum visitors Image:Ruinasexterior.jpg, Ruins

Wildlife and fauna

San José de Suaita has a private wildlife sanctuary containing of hardwoods including

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

References

External links

Flag and coat-of-arms
at Flags of the World website
Local Council
archived 28 August 2004 * San José de Suaita (Spanish Wikipedia) {{DEFAULTSORT:San Jose de Suaita Municipalities of Santander Department