MAYAGUEZ, PUERTO RICO
Paseo por Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Mayagüez (Spanish pronunciation: [maʝaˈɣweθ]) is the eighth-largest[4] municipality of Puerto Rico. Originally founded as "Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria" it is also known as "La Sultana del Oeste" (The Sultaness of the West), "Ciudad de las Aguas Puras" (City of Pure Waters), or "Ciudad del Mangó" (City of the Mango), on April 6, 1894 the Spanish crown gave it the formal title of "Excelente ciudad de Mayagüez"[5][6], Mayagüez is located in the center of the western coast on the island of Puerto Rico. It is both a principal city of the Mayagüez Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Mayagüez–San Germán–Cabo Rojo Combined Statistical Area.
History
Main article: History of Mayagüez
Mayagüez was officially founded on September 18, 1760 by a group led by Faustino Martínez de Matos, Juan de Silva and Juan de Aponte, at a hill located about one kilometer inland from Mayagüez Bay and the outlet of the Yagüez River. The Spanish Crown granted the founders the right to self-government in 1763, formally separating the town from the larger Partido de San Germán. Originally the settlement was named Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez (Our Lady of Candelaria of Mayagüez) to evoke an apparition of the Virgin Mary on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. Most of the town's settlers, including its founders, originally migrated from the archipelago, whose patron saint is the Virgin of Candelaria.
On May 7, 1836, the settlement was elevated to the royal status of villa, and Rafael Mangual was named its first mayor. At the time, the villa's principal economic activity was agriculture. The famous patriot, educator, sociologist, philosopher, essayist, and novelist Eugenio María de Hostos was born in Mayagüez in 1839.
On July 10, 1877 the villa formally received its city charter from the Royal Crown of Spain.
Mayaguez's Plaza Colón and Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria church (later cathedral), 1898The city's main Roman Catholic church, "Our Lady of the Candelaria" (plot consecrated on August 21, 1760, first masonry building erected in 1780, current church originally built in 1836) was rebuilt in 1922. The original redesign by architect Luis Perocier sought to restore the building to its original splendor. Not only had the 1918 Puerto Rico earthquake destroyed the temple's ceiling, but a lightning bolt also struck and tore down a wedge-shaped corner of one of its two bell towers. However, lack of proper funding and the extent of the damage of the original structure forced the actual rebuilding of the church to be scaled-down considerably.
In 1911, the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts was founded in Mayagüez. Today it is known as the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM) — the Caribbean's leading science and engineering institution.
Between 1962 and 1998 Mayagüez was a major tuna canning and processing center. At one time, 80% of all tuna products consumed in the United States were packed in Mayagüez (the biggest employer, StarKist, had 11,000 employees working three daily shifts in the local plant's heyday). Mayagüez was also a major textile industry hub; until very recently, almost a quarter of all drill uniforms used by the United States Army were sewn in the city.
POR: WIKIPEDIA Y IMAGENES GOOGLE
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