Guaynabo, Puerto Rico:
Coordinates: 18°06′52″N 66°10′05″W / 18.11444, -66.16806
Guaynabo (pronounced as IPA: [ˌɡwaiˈnabo]; also known as Guaynabo City or GC) is a municipality in the northern part of Puerto Rico, located in the northern coast of the island, north of Aguas Buenas; south of Cataño; east of Bayamón; and west of San Juan. Guaynabo is spread over 9 wards and Guaynabo Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city).
Guaynabo is considered, along with its neighbors -- San Juan and the municipalities of Bayamón, Carolina, Cataño, Toa Alta, Canovanas, Caguas, Toa Baja, and Trujillo Alto -- to be one of the cities of the Área Metropolitana (Metropolitan Area) of San Juan (the largest MSA in Puerto Rico; many Puerto Ricans erroneously consider it the only metropolitan area in the Commonwealth). It is also part of the larger San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. The municipio has a land area of 70.26 km² (27.13 sq mi) and a population of 100,053 as of the 2000 census.
[edit] History
Guaynabo was founded in 1769 by Pedro R. Davila (P.R.), after a struggle for division from the municipality of Bayamón. Previously, the city was known as "Buinabo", a name that means in Taíno "He aquí otro lugar de agua dulce" or "Here is another place of fresh water."
[edit] Barrios (Districts/Wards)[1]
- Camarones
- Frailes
- Guaraguao
- Guaynabo Pueblo
- Hato Nuevo
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- Mamey
- Pueblo Viejo
- Río
- Santa Rosa
- Sonadora
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[edit] Anthem
By Rafael Velázquez Pericas
Guaynabo, pueblo querido,
yo no te olvido, eres mi amor...
Guaynabo, eres mi encanto,
te quiero tanto, de corazón.
Tu gente, sencilla y noble,
tus hombres son recordados
por sus hazañas,
por su lealtad...
Recuerdo a Baldorioty,
hombre valiente
y sin igual.
Luchando por los esclavos
allá en las cortes
supo ganar.
Su nombre es respetado,
alláien los campos
y en la cuidad.
Guaynabo, eres mi pueblo
lleno de ensueños
y de bondad
[edit] Economy
Long considered to be just a mostly rural, drive-by town for drivers who were going from San Juan to the western part of Puerto Rico, Guaynabo went through a large economic revitalization in the 1950s and 1960s. As a consequence, parts of the city have also served as a San Juan suburb preferred by upper-middle and high-income families. Today, Guaynabo has the highest per capita income in Puerto Rico. The neighborhoods of Garden Hills, Torrimar, San Patricio and Tintillo are among the upper class neighborhoods located in Guaynabo that where built in the 1950s and 1960s, with the notable exception of Villa Caparra and Suchville, San Juan's first wealthy suburbs, which were built in the 1920s. Residential construction continued between the 1970s and 1990s, where hundreds of new upper middle class developments were built: Parkville, Mallorca, Tierra Alta, Villas Reales, Ext. Villa Caparra, Mansiones de Guaynabo, Mansiones Reales, and Palmas Reales, among many others.
As a result of the proliferation of upper middle class and wealthy neighborhoods, several prominent private schools were founded in Guaynabo, including Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola[founded in Isla Verde and moved to current location in Rio Piedras], Academia San José, Academia María Reina and Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola[both located in Rio Piedras], Colegio Marista, and which mainly instruct in Spanish, although most private schools extensively cover English to levels comparable to those of the mainland; and Parkville School, American Military Academy, Baldwin School, in the Guaynabo-Bayamón border, and Wesleyan Academy, which mainly instruct in English. The first modern shopping mall built in the Caribbean and Latin America, San Patricio Plaza, was built in Guaynabo in 1963, in the San Patricio sector next to Villa Caparra.
Guaynabo's skyline is filled with over a hundred high-rise buildings. Most are residential condominiums, but the buildings also include various major headquarters for banks and other businesses.
When Alejandro Cruz was Guaynabo's mayor, many sport facilities were built, such as Mario "Quijote" Morales Coliseum (then called Mets Pavilion). In addition, many manufacturing plants, such as the Hanes' plant, were established in Guaynabo. Guaynabo has, at different times, been voted the Most Picturesque and Cleanest Town in Puerto Rico[citation needed].
Several businesses have their headquarters or local Puerto Rican branches in Guaynabo. El Nuevo Día, Santander Securities, Puerto Rico Telephone and many sales offices for large US firms (such as Texaco, Microsoft, American Airlines, Dell and others) have their Puerto Rican headquarters in Guaynabo. WAPA-TV (Televicentro) and Univisión de Puerto Rico have their main studios in Guaynabo.
Iberia's San Juan-area offices are in Guaynabo.[2]
[edit] Mayors
[edit] The Recent Mayors of Guaynabo
| Mayor |
Term |
Party |
| Santos Rivera |
1969-1979 |
New Progressive Party |
| Alejandro Cruz Ortiz |
1979-1993 |
New Progressive Party |
| Héctor O'Neill García |
1993-present |
New Progressive Party |
[edit] Mayors of Guaynabo from 1782 to 1969
-
-
| Term |
Name |
| 1782 |
Cayetano de la Sarna |
| 1800 |
Pedro Dávila |
| 1812 |
Dionisio Cátala |
| 1816 |
Angel Umpierre |
| 1818 |
Juan José González |
| 1821 |
Joaquín Goyena |
| 1822 |
José María Prosis |
| 1823 |
Simón Hinonio |
| 1825 |
José R. Ramírez |
| 1827 |
Antonio Guzmán |
| 1828 |
Genaro Oller |
| 1836 |
Andrés Degal |
| 1836 |
Agustín Rosario |
| 1840 |
Francisco Hiques |
| 1844 |
Martínez Díaz |
| 1848 |
Tomás Cátla |
| 1849 |
Andrés Vega |
| 1852 |
Justo García |
| 1856 |
José Tomás Sagarra |
| 1857 |
Manuel Manzano |
| 1859 |
Juan Floret |
| 1859 |
José Francisco Chiques |
| 1862 |
Segundo de Echeverte |
| 1862 |
José de Murgas |
| 1869 |
Juan J. Caro |
| 1873 |
Benito Gómez |
| 1874 |
Manuel Millones |
| 1876 |
José Otero |
| 1891 |
Juan Díaz de Barrio |
| 1914 |
José Ramón |
| 1914 |
José Carazo |
| 1919 |
Narciso Val Llovera |
| 1924 |
Zenón Díaz Valcárcel |
| 1936 |
Dolores Vldivieso |
| 1944 |
Augosto Rivera |
| 1948 |
Jorge Gavillán Fuentes |
| 1956 |
Juan Román |
| 1964 |
José Rosario Reyes |
[edit] Tourism
[edit] Landmarks and places of interest
- Baldorioty de Castro Statue
- Bellas Artes Center
- Caparra Ruins
- Caribe Recreational Center
- Mets Pavilion
- San Patricio Plaza
[edit] Festivals and events
- Three Reyes Festival - January
- Mabó Carnival - march
- Mothers Tribute - May
- Patron Festivities - May
- Salsa National Day - June
- Bellas Artes Camp - June
- Bomba & Plena Festival - October
- Christmas Lighting - November
[edit] Sports
Guaynabo's BSN team, the Guaynabo Mets, won national championships in 1980, 1982 and 1989, commanded by the player after whom the coliseum was named, Mario "Quijote" Morales.
[edit] Notable "Guaynabeños"
[edit] Diplomacy
Guaynabo serves as a host city three foreign consulates with business in Puerto Rico:
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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