Vayas is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Playa, Bucana, Canas and Capitanejo, Vayas is also one of Ponce's five coastal barrios. Together with Capitanejo, Vayas is also one of two rural coastal barrios in the municipality.Sunny A. Cabrera Salcedo. Hacia un Estudio Integral de la Toponimia del Municipio de Ponce, Puerto Rico. Ph. D. dissertation. May 1999. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Graduate School. Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Page 22. It was organized in 1831, at which time it was divided into Vayas Norte and Vayas Sur; in 1878 the two were subsequently merged into today's Vayas.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.

History Barrio Vayas is one of the oldest barrios in Ponce, dating from the 1780s. Its name can be seen spelled as "Bayas", "Vallas, and even "Ballas", but the official name is nowadays spelled "Vayas". It is believed that name came from the stakes used by farmers to mark the extension of their lands, in the times when those lands were used for pasturing herds.Eli Oquendo-Rodriguez. Barrios de Ponce: Noticias y microhistorias de ocho comunidades ponceñas en la historia, siglos XVI al XIX. 2019. p. 207.

Location Vayas is a rural, coastal barrio located in the southern region of the municipality, east of downtown Ponce, and southeast of the traditional center of the city, Plaza Las Delicias. It is located at 18.0107°N 66.5567°W, with an elevation of 43 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 Vayas. Retrieved 25 February 2010. The toponymy, or origin of the name, is related to the edges or boundary (a type of fencing) to cordon off a land area or barrio.Government of the Municipality of Ponce. Periódico "El Señorial". Special issue: Carnaval Ponceño 2013. February 2013. Page 17. Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Boundaries It is bounded on the North by PR-1 and La Esperanza Street, on the South by the Caribbean Sea, on the West by Bucara Street/Los Caobos Avenue, PR-52 (roughly), and the Costa Caribe Country Club East Access Road, and on the East by Río Inabón.Webcensus. 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.Maptest. 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.GeoLocalizador - Junta de Planificación. Junta de Planificación. Gobierno de Puerto Rico. Retrieved 8 September 2012.

In terms of barrio-to-barrio boundaries, Vayas is bounded in the North by Sabanetas and Coto Laurel, in the South by the Caribbean Sea, in the West by Bucaná, and in the East by Capitanejo.Mapa de Localizacion Limite de Barrios de Ponce. Oficina de Ordenacion Territorial. Municipio Autonomo de Ponce. (Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Office of Territorial Planning.) Ponce, Puerto Rico.Arecibo Web. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Barrios. Retrieved 25 February 2010.

Features and demographics Unlike most other barrios of Ponce, Vayas' landscape is entirely flat. Vayas has the third longest coastline of all five of Ponce's coastal barrios, after Canas and Playa. Vayas has of land area and of 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.City Melt Retrieved 25 February 2010.

In 2000, the population of Vayas was 1,338 persons, and it had a density of 188 persons per square mile.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 Vayas was 901 persons, and it had a density of 127.1 persons per square mile.

The main roads serving barrio Vayas are PR-52 and PR-1.

Notable landmarks Vayas barrio is home to Ponce's Mercedita Airport and Destileria Serralles.Mercedita Airport is located in Barrio Vayas Retrieved 3 December 2009. The community of Vayas Torres is among the communities located in Barrio Vayas.Eli Oquendo-Rodriguez. Barrios de Ponce: Noticias y microhistorias de ocho comunidades ponceñas en la historia, siglos XVI al XIX. 2019. p. 209.

Notable people from Vayas Carmín Vega, comedian from the Mercedita sector of Barrio Vayas.

See also

List of communities in Puerto Rico

References

External links Management Plan for La Esperanza Nature Preserve in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Matthew Bourque, Drew Digeser, Stephen Partridge, Hussein Yatim. Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Worcester, Massachusetts. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2013.