Yauco, Puerto Rico

All you want to know about Yauco, Puerto Rico

Yauco, Puerto Rico

Flag

Nickname(s): El Pueblo del Café", "Capital Taína", "Los Corsos

Location within the island of Puerto Rico

Founded

February 29, 1756

Government

- Mayor

Abel Nazario Quiñones (PNP)

- Senatorial dist.

5 - Ponce

- Representative dist.

21,23

Area

- Total

68.8 sq mi (178.1 km²)

- Land

68.1 sq mi (176.5 km²)

- Water

0.6 sq mi (1.6 km²)

Population (2000)

- Total

46,384

- Density

680.6/sq mi (262.8/km²)

- Gentilic

Yaucanos

Time zone

AST (UTC-4)

Anthem – "Pueblo de gestas gloriosas"

Website: www.yauco.com

Yauco ('yau-"ko) is a city (ciudad) and municipality in southwestern Puerto Rico located in the southern coast of the island by the Caribbean Sea, south of Maricao, Lares and Adjuntas; east of Sabana Grandeand Guánica; and west of Guayanilla. Yauco is spread over 20 wards and Yauco Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is both a principal city of the Yauco Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Ponce-Yauco-Coamo Combined Statistical Area.

According to the United States Census Bureau estimates, the 2000 population of Yauco was 46,384 persons. Its land area is 176.5 square kilometers with a population density of 262.8 per square kilometer. Its postal zip code is 00698, telephone area code is 787, and it is in the Atlantic time zone.

Yauco is also the name of the principal town (zona urbana) of the municipality. The town's population in 2000 was 19,609. The town, built on a hillside, has stepped streets and traditional houses, some of which are open for tours.

Yaucanos also call their home la Ciudad del Café (City of Coffee), la Capital Taína (Taino Capital), and los Corsos (The Corsicans).

1 History
- 1.1 Flag
- 1.2 Coat of Arms
2 Demographics
- 2.1 Barrios (Districts/Wards)
- 2.2 Geo/Topography
3 Anthem
4 Economic
5 Notable "Yaucanos"
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

History

19th century train station in Yauco

Yauco, originally known as coayuco, was founded February 29, 1756 (the loose translation of "coayuco" in Taino is "yucca plantation".) Once known as the coffee capital of the world, its coffee, low in caffeine but rich in taste, and its trade in coffee was beaten by market policies of the twentieth century, including the desire of the Puerto Rican government and sugar industry to develop trade in sugar at the expense of coffee. It is still known for its exports of coffee and tobacco.

Battlefield of Yauco 1898

One of the most notable battles during the Puerto Rico Campaign of the Spanish American War occurred between Spanish forces and Puerto Rican volunteers, led by Captain Salvador Meca and Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Puig against the American forces led by Brigadier General George A. Garretson on July 26, 1898. The Spanish forces engaged the 6th Massachusetts in a firefight in what became known as the Battle of Yauco. Puig and his forces suffered 2 officers and 3 soldiers wounded and 2 soldiers dead. The Spanish forces were ordered to retreat.^[1]

Flag

The flag of Yauco consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, black the superior and gold the inferior one. To the center the official shield of Yauco.

Coat of Arms

Shield divided in quarters by a cross in the center that represents the Christendom. In a silver field a gold and black boiler, with seven necks and heads of black serpents in each handle, three to the right hand, confronted with four to the left-hand side. Bordered by a checkered band in gold and black. The second and third quarter, in a field of gold, two coffee plant flowers of five leaves of silver and four red. The coffee plant flower and the coffee grains, represent their cultivation in the Yauco municipality. The border of the shield represents the beads of the rosary. The three tower crown, establishes its category of town.

Demographics

Barrios (Districts/Wards)

Yauco Pueblo, August 2006

Yauco Lake (Lago de Yauco), August 2006

Aguas Blancas
Algarrobo
Almácigo Alto
Almácigo Bajo
Barinas
Caimito
Collores
Diego Hernandez
Duey
Frailes
Jácana
Naranjo
Palomas
Quebradas
Ranchera
Río Prieto
Rubias
Sierra Alta
Susúa Alta
Susúa Baja
Vegas|
Yauco Pueblo

^[2]

Geo/Topography

Mount Membrillo, the Rodadero Peak and the Curet Hill.
Rivers; Chiquito, Duey Loco, Naranjo and Yauco.

Anthem

By M. Ramos Antonmattei

Pueblo de gestas gloriosas
es Yauco ciudad cafetal
sus hijos le escriben la historia
con cantos de gloria inmortal.

Por eso mi pueblo querido
tu emblema y noble pendón
serán por siempre tenidos
en alto con honra y honor.

Tus valles y tus montañas
son ricas en caña y café
tus hijos con amor trabajan
la tierra que les vio nacer.

Por eso mi Yauco querido
te canto con gran emoción
tu corazón se ha prendido
muy dentro de mi corazón.

Economic

Agriculture

Yauco's main crops are coffee, cotton, oranges, sugarcane and tobacco.

Industrial

Yauco also produces textiles and other light manufactured materials.

Tourism

Landmarks and places of interest

Mansion Negroni

IMG]http://i29.tinypic.com/5wktjt.jpg[/IMG

Casa Franceschi
Casa Agre
Casa Cesari
Teatro Ideal
Lucchetti Lake
Nuestra Señora del Rosario Hermitage Ruins
Tozza Castle
Vegas Lake

Festivals and events

National Coffee Festival - February
Patron Festivities - October

Notable "Yaucanos"

Johnny Albino - bolero singer
Benny Ayala - baseball player, New York Mets
Loida Figueroa - Poet, historian & novelist.
Brigadier General Mihiel Gilormini - served in the Royal Air Force and in the United States Army Air Force during World War II. He was the recipient of the Silver Star, the Air Medal with four clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross 5 times. He was also the founder of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard.
Lissette Martinez - the lead electrical engineer for the Space Experiment Module program at the Wallops Flight Facility which is part of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Colonel Hector Andres Negroni - historian, author and the first Puerto Rican graduate of the United States Air Force Academy.
Mike Perez - baseball player, St. Louis Cardinals
Julio Victor Ramirez, hijo- Investigative journalist, born in Yauco, but raised in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Julio Irving Rodriguez-lawyer & senator of mayaguez
Rubén del Rosario - Literary critic, linguist and Professor (University of Puerto Rico, Hispanic Studies School.)
Francisco Lluch Mora - Poet
Salvador Vassallo a.k.a. "Chiry" - was the president and CEO of Vassallo Industries Inc., a worldwide leader in the production of PVC injection moulded and extruded goods.
Amaury Veray - Composer