Playa, Ponce, Puerto Rico

Barrio Playa, also known as Playa de Ponce, Ponce Playa, or La Playa, is one of the thirty-one barrios that comprise the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Bucaná, Canas, Vayas, and Capitanejo, Playa is one of the municipality's five coastal barrios. Barrio Playa also incorporates several islands, the largest of which is Caja de Muertos.Map of Ponce Municipio, Puerto Rico. United States Geological Survey. Home Town Locator. Retrieved 6 June 2011. It was founded in 1831.Barrios de Ponce. Antepasados Esclavos.(From: Pedro Tomás de Córdoba. Memorias geográficas, históricas, económicas y estadísticas de la Isla de Puerto Rico.) Retrieved 28 November 2014.

Location Playa is an urban barrio located in the southern region of the municipality, within the limits of the city of Ponce, south of the traditional center of the city at Plaza Las Delicias, and on the shores of the Caribbean Sea. It is located at 17.9839°N 66.6128°W, and it has an elevation of 10 feet.U.S. Geological Survey. Topographic Map of Ponce. Map Styles: Map and Shaded. Trails.com. From: USGS. Topo Map. Projection: NAD83/WGS84. Coordinates and Elevation of Barrio Playa. Retrieved 25 February 2010. The toponymy, or origin of the name, describes the geographic area the barrio occupies in southern Ponce and facing the Caribbean Sea.Government of the Municipality of Ponce. Periodico "El Señorial". Special issue: Carnaval Ponceño 2013. February 2013. Page 17. Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Boundaries It is bounded on the North by PR-2, on the South by the Caribbean Sea, on the West by Río Matilde, and on the East by Río Bucaná.Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. General Purpose Population Data, Census 2000. Unidad de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, Área de Tecnología de Información Gubernamental, Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto. Gobierno de Puerto Rico. Retrieved 24 February 2010.U.S. Geological Survey. Topographic Map of Ponce. Map Styles: Map and Shaded. Trails.com. From: USGS. Topo Map. Projection: NAD83/WGS84. Retrieved 25 February 2010.

In terms of barrio-to-barrio boundaries, Playa is bounded in the North by Canas Urbano and San Anton, in the South by the Caribbean Sea, in the West by Canas, and in the East by Bucaná.Arecibo Web. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Barrios. Retrieved 25 February 2010.

Features and demographics Unlike most other barrios of Ponce, Playa's landscape is entirely flat. Playa also has the second longest coastline of all five of Ponce's coastal barrios, after Canas. Playa has of land area and no water area.U.S. Census Bureau. Census 2000. Ponce and Its Barrios. (Ponce Municipio, Puerto Rico – County Subdivision and Place. GCT-PH1. Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2000. Data Set: Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data) Retrieved 25 February 2010.

In 2000, the population of Playa was 4,761 persons, and it had a density of 1,031 persons per square mile. The communities of Villa del Carmen, Valle Real, Villa Tabaiba, Salistral, El Caribe, Puerto Viejo, Los Meros, Amalia Marin, Lirios del Sur, and Playa proper are found here.Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Office of Territorial Planning. (Municipio Autonomo de Ponce. Oficina de Ordenacion Territorial.) Mapa de Localizacion Limite de Barrios de Ponce. Retrieved 20 February 2010.

In 2010, the population of Playa was 14,077 persons, and it had a density of 3,206.6 persons per square mile.

This barrio, or ward, has its own plaza giving it the character of a municipality within a municipality. It has a residential area, a tourist area called La Guancha, and a harbor, Puerto de Ponce.

Playa has the second longest coastline of all five coastal barrios in Ponce, after Canas.Fact Finder. US Census 2000 Retrieved 21 February 2010.

Infrastructure Major roads serving Barrio Playa are PR-52, PR-2, PR-12, PR-123, and PR-585.General Purpose Population Data, Census 2000. Unidad de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, Área de Tecnología de Información Gubernamental, Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto. Gobierno de Puerto Rico. Retrieved 26 February 2010.

History

As the major means of external communication for the settlement that was to become the city of Ponce, barrio Playa has a history that is as old as the history of the city of Ponce itself, thus dating back to the 16th century. During the 16th century, barrio Playa was called Montones.Eli D. Oquendo-Rodriguez. Pablo L. Crespo-Vargas, editor. A Orillas del Mar Caribe: Boceto historico de la Playa de Ponce - Desde sus primeros habitantes hasta principios del siglo XX. First edition. June, 2017. Editorial Akelarre. Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones del Sur Oeste de Puerto Rico (CEISCO). Lajas, Puerto Rico. Page 21. Subsequently, during the 17th and 18th centuries, significant contraband took place on these shores as well as attempts to attack and ransack the Playa settlement. A lookout post was set up in El Vigia to warn the city of the need of help in the Playa harbor, a port settlement at the time.

By the 1830s, la Playa had one of the best roads in Puerto Rico, connecting the shore settlement to the city proper, and it was the center of Ponce's commercial activity. It subsequently also got the first phone lines in Ponce and was also the first one to get railroad service from downtown Ponce.Aida Belen Rivera Ruiz, Certifying Official, and Juan Llanes Santos, Preparer, Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office. (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 26 February 2008. In National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form – McCabe Memorial Church. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Section 8. Page 15. Listing Reference Number 80000283. Published on 11 April 2008.

Unfortunately, in 1845 a significant fire occurred in La Playa.Verdadera y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce.' By Dr. Eduardo Neumann. 1913. (In Spanish) Reprinted by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (1987)Page 194. The fire destroyed Playa and most of the Ponce vicinity. It significantly damaged the Spanish Customs House in Ponce, this being one of the few building left standing after the fire.James C. Massey, Exec. Vice Pres., and Shirley Maxwell, Associate, National Preservation Institute (National Building Museum) Washington, D.C. and the Federal Historic Preservation Office, U.S. Department of the Treasury. (Washington, D.C.) 7 January 1988. In National Register of Historic Places Registration Form – U.S. Custom House, Ponce. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Section 8, Page 3. Listing Reference Number 88000073. 10 February 1988. The fire burned down the major buildings of the "Marina de Ponce". This moved Puerto Rico governor Conde de Marisol to create a new voluntary fire-fighting organization island-wide.

In 1887 the Spanish government built a lighthouse at Caja de Muertos Light on an island by the same name just off the coast of barrio Playa.National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form – Isla Caja de Muertos Light. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 2. Listing Reference Number 81000690. 22 October 1981. This was followed by the building of Cayo Cardona lighthouse in 1889, on a small island at the entrance of the Ponce harbor.National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form – Cayo Cardona Light. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (Washington, D.C.) Page 2. Listing Reference Number 81000691. 22 October 1981. Both of these islands are part of barrio Playa.

By 1913, Playa was "a dynamic neighborhood with a self-sustained urban development with a population of 5,169 distributed through a residential area dominated by wooden houses, sugar cane farms, churches, schools, hospitals, a cemetery and local indiustries that promoted the formation of a strong artisan and industrial workers class." Playa is considered Puerto Rico's first planned suburban area.Diana Lopez Sotomayor. Edificio Municipal de la Playa de Ponce. National Register of Historic Places. Registration Form. Number 13000639. 3 July 2013. p.7.

In 1929, La Playa was the place where Dr. Manuel de la Pila Iglesias worked for the U.S. federal government with such distinction as to earn him the title "physician of physicians."El Dr. Manuel de la Pila Iglesias: Ilustre médico de Ponce y Puerto Rico. Norman Maldonado, MD. GALENUS: Revista para los Medicos de Puerto Rico. Volume 9. Year 2. Number 2. (March–April 2009) Guaynabo, Puerto Rico: MW World PR Corp. Accessed 28 April 2018.

Today, Playa is a mostly low-income barrio of Ponce, and thus this is where Isolina Ferré founded her "Centro de Orientacion de la Playa" hospital and school that would earn her the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999. The Ponce Playa Diagnostic and Treatment Center was also founded in barrio Playa de Ponce.

Landmarks

Playa is home to a mix of Ponce and Puerto Rico landmarks: Puerto Rico Iron Works foundry, Plaza del Caribe mall, Club Náutico de Ponce yacht club, La Guancha boardwalk, and Caja de Muertos natural reserve are all located in Barrio Playa. The historic Cardona Island Light, Caja de Muertos Lighthouse, United States Custom House and McCabe Memorial Church,McCabe Memorial Church is located in Barrio Playa Retrieved 3 December 2009. all National Register of Historic Places listed landmarks, are also located in Barrio Playa. Playa also has the most important Caribbean seaport in Puerto Rico, called Port of the Americas.A New Transshipment Hub Underway in Puerto Rico. Richard Westlund. Latin Trade. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2013.

Notable natives and residents People from La Playa are called "playeros". Rafael Cordero Santiago, mayor of Ponce (1988–2004)Act Number 256. H. B. 2988; Act No. 256, Approved 13 August 2008. An Act: To direct the Public Structure and Highway Naming Commission of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture to name Road PR-9 (Beltway) of Ponce after Rafael (Churumba) Cordero-Santiago. Legislature of Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2013. Javier Culson, Olympic medal winner track-and-field athleteSaluda a lo lejos una abuela orgullosa. Jason Rodriguez Grafal. (Title in printed version: Desde La Playa de Ponce: Saluda en la Distancia una Abuela Orgullosa.) La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 1 August 2012. Year 30. Number 1496. Page 6. Retrieved 1 August 2012. Carmen Nydia Velázquez, comedian and singerDesfilan en masa para honrar a Ponce . Sandra Torres Guzmán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 31. Issue 1556. 25 September 2013. Page 24. Retrieved 25 September 2013. Jaime L. Drew, educator, writer, civil servant and engineerLuis Fortuño Janeiro. "Album Historico de Ponce (1692–1963)". Page 246. (Imprenta Fortuño. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 1963.) José "Chegüi" Torres, professional boxer Carmen Nydia Velázquez, actress and singerFeliz Carmen Nydia Velázquez con el reconocimiento en su Playa de Ponce. Voces del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 15 January 2020. Accessed 16 January 2020.

Gallery

Playa, Ponce, Puerto Rico

Bron en licentie