The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Pre 16th century 600-1000AC – The Ponce areas of El Tuque, Punta Cucharas, Caracoles and Tibes, among others, are inhabited by Igneri and pre-Taino cultures.Informe Final del Proyecto de Monitoreo Socioeconómico en las Áreas Protegidas Marinas y Costeras de Puerto Rico: Reserva Natural Punta Cucharas, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Rosemarie Vazquez Cruz, Carlos J. Carrero Morales, Jeannette Ramos Garcia and Andreica Maldonado. A joint project by NOAA, DRNA, Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios del Litoral (UPR-Mayaguez), and Programa de Colegio Sea Grant de la UPR. 2011. Gaspar Pons, Reserva Natural Punta Cucharas. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Re-published by Carlos Carrero. (November 2011). Page 37. Accessed 25 February 2019.
16th century 1508 – Cacique Agüeybaná, the cacique who led the region of which Ponce was a part, greets Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León on his arrival to the island of Puerto Rico. 1511 – Agüeybaná II, the cacique of the area that would later be known as Ponce, leads the Taíno rebellion of 1511 against the Spanish invaders but later dies of battle wounds. 1550 – Or, middle of the 16th century. Residents of San German spread out to the plains of the southern coast of Puerto Rico as far as Rio Jacaguas, now part of Ponce, to raise cattle and farm the land.Mariano Vidal Armstrong. Ponce: Notas para su historia. Comite Historia de los Pueblos. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1986. p. 14. 1582 – Colonizers settled on the banks of Rio Jacaguas, Ponce.Cayetano Coll y Toste. "Memoria del Gobernador Melgarejo." Biblioteca Histórica de Puerto Rico. 1914. Volume 1. Page 82.
17th century 1646 – The area settled by the Spanish colonists is first referred to by the name of "Ponce".Luis Fortuño Janeiro. Album Historico de Ponce (1692–1963). Page 6. 1963. Imprenta Fortuno. Ponce, Puerto Rico.Ponce, Puerto Rico: Algunos Datos (In Spanish). Datos sobre Ponce. Retrieved 22 November 2009. 1670 – A chapel is erected in the middle of the Spanish settlement and dedicated in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. 1678 – Governor Juan de Robles Lorenzana attempts to organize the settlement at Ponce with the appointment of a "Capitán a guerra" but, unwilling to formalize the settlement, all of the Ponce residents refuse to accept the post.Eduardo Neumann Gandia. Verdadera y Autentica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. p. 10. 1692 – The Spanish settlement at Ponce is recognized as a hamlet by Spanish King Carlos II.
18th century 1712 – The populated place is chartered as El Poblado de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Ponce (The village of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Ponce).Government of the Municipality of Ponce. Transportate > Walking Tour 1724 – Founding of the San Antonio Abad shrine at the location currently occupied by the Ponce City Hall.Eduardo Neumann Gandia. Verdadera y Autentica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. p.258. 1740 – The Ponce Catholic parish burns, making it the first of many notorious fires in the city.Fernando Picó. Ponce y los rostros rayados: sociedad y esclavitud, 1800-1830. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Ediciones Huracán. 2012. p. 15. . 1742 – The English attack Ponce and the invasion is repelled by local citizens.Informe Final del Proyecto de Monitoreo Socioeconómico en las Áreas Protegidas Marinas y Costeras de Puerto Rico: Reserva Natural Punta Cucharas, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Rosemarie Vazquez Cruz, Carlos J. Carrero Morales, Jeannette Ramos Garcia and Andreica Maldonado. A joint project by NOAA, DRNA, Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios del Litoral (UPR-Mayaguez), and Programa de Colegio Sea Grant de la UPR. 2011. Gaspar Pons, Reserva Natural Punta Cucharas. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Re-published by Carlos Carrero. (November 2011). Page 37. Accessed 7 June 2016. 1760 – Fuerte de San José is built in Barrio Playa.Socorro Giron. Ponce, el teatro La Perla y La Campana de La Almudaina. Gobierno Municipal de Ponce. 1992. p.653. 1765 – First census yields a total of 3,314 souls residing in Ponce. 1778 – Coamo takes over administrative jurisdiction of the region of Ponce from San German.Informe Final del Proyecto de Monitoreo Socioeconómico en las Áreas Protegidas Marinas y Costeras de Puerto Rico: Reserva Natural Punta Cucharas, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Rosemarie Vazquez Cruz, Carlos J. Carrero Morales, Jeannette Ramos Garcia and Andreica Maldonado. A joint project by NOAA, DRNA, Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios del Litoral (UPR-Mayaguez), and Programa de Colegio Sea Grant de la UPR. 2011. Gaspar Pons, Reserva Natural Punta Cucharas. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Re-published by Carlos Carrero. (November 2011). Page 32. Accessed 25 February 2019. 1787 – The 1787 Boricua earthquake cracks the walls of the Our Lady of Guadalupe church.Historia sísmica de Puerto Rico: Terremotos significativos en la zona de Puerto Rico on SalonHogar
19th century 1800 – A census yields a total of 7,234 souls residing in Ponce.Eduardo Neumann Gandia. Verdadera y Autentica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce. Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. 1913. p.259. 1811 - Intendente Alejandro Ramirez declares the Port of Ponce open to international commerce.Ramon Marin. La Villa de Ponce Considerada en tres distintas épocas: Estudio Histórico, Descriptivo, y Estadístico, hasta fines del año 1876. Ponce, PR: Establecimiento Tipográfico "El Vapor". 1877. (Section III of Ramon Marin'sLas Fiestas Populares de Ponce. p.184. San Juan, PR: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. 1994.) 1812: First Constitutional mayor, José Ortíz de la Renta, takes office, and the ayuntamiento is established.Guillermo A. Baralt. Buena Vista: Life and work in a Puerto Rican Hacienda, 1833-1904. Translated from the Spanish by Andrew Hurley. (Originally published in 1988 by Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico as La Buena Vista: Estancia de Frutos Menores, fabrica de harinas y hacienda cafetalera.) 1999. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA: University of North Carolina Press. p. 18. Port of Ponce dredged, built and opened. 1813 – The naval customs office is established. 1814 – First cemetery is built. 1816 – Ponce ceases to depend on Coamo for governmental matters and becomes seat of the Southern District government.Socorro Giron. Ponce, el teatro La Perla y La Campana de La Almudaina: Historia de Ponce desde sus comienzos hasta la segunda década del siglo XX. Ponce Municipal Government. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 1986. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Editora Corripio, C. por A. 3rd edition (1992). page 9. LOC: 85-90989. Registration Number: TX-1-977-212 1819 – First public scrivener (clerk) is appointed. 1820: A large fire that "almost destroyed the early Ponce settlement" takes place, prompting Governor Miguel de la Torre to order that "every male from 16 to 60 years old must become a [volunteer] firefighter".Ivette Perez Vega. Las Sociedades Mercantiles de Ponce (1816-1830). Academia Puertorriqueña de la Historia. San Juan, PR: Ediciones Puerto. 2015. p. 299. The first known division of the village into barrios.Eduardo Questell Rodriguez. Historia de la Comunidad Bélgica de Ponce, a partir de la Hacienda Muñiz y Otros datos. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Mariana Editores. 2018. p.13. Barrios de Ponce. Antepasados Esclavos.(From: Pedro Tomás de Córdoba. Memorias geográficas, históricas, económicas y estadísticas de la Isla de Puerto Rico.) Retrieved 19 June 2012. Declared seat of one of seven judicial districts in Puerto Rico. 1821 – Declared headquarters of Southern Military District. 1826 – 10 July: Slave rebellion. Eleven slaves are executed and six other are condemned to 10 years of hard labor.Fernando Picó. Ponce y los rostros rayados: sociedad y esclavitud, 1800-1830. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Ediciones Huracán. 2012. pp. 191-192. 1827 – 26 February: A large fire in Playa de Ponce started by lightning destroys many residential homes and warehouses with estimated losses at $37,000 ($ in dollars) Spanish pesos.Emilio Pasarell. Esculcando el Siglo XIX en Puerto Rico. Barcelona: M. Pareja. 1967. p.27. 1833 – Hacienda Buena Vista is established. 1836 – Inauguration of Ponce's Ayuntamiento General. 1839: The town's chapel is demolished and a new church with two octagonal towers is built in its place. The Court of First Instance is transferred from Coamo to Ponce. 1842 – 17 February: Seven slaves are executed at Cerro del Vigía and 6 others received prison sentences ranging from 6 to 10 years for an organized rebellion the previous year (1841).Mariano Vidal Armstrong. Ponce: Notas para su historia. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Oficina de Preservación Histórica. 1986. p. 36. 1843 – Mayor Juan Rondón inaugurates the Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro cemetery (then called Cementerio Civil) and he is also first person to be buried there. 1845 – A fire in Barrio La Playa destroys most of the sea-front settlement 1846: The Ponce City Hall is built to be used as a jail. Royal decree organizing the municipal government of Ponce. 1848: 29 July: Granted the status of villa (town).Francisco Lluch Mora. Orígenes y fundación de Ponce y otras noticias relativas a su desarrollo urbano, demográfico y cultural : (siglos XVI-XIX). San Juan, P.R.: Plaza Mayor. 2001. p. 132. A third slave rebellion takes place (see 1826 and 1841).Fernando Picó. Ponce y los rostros rayados: sociedad y esclavitud, 1800-1830. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Ediciones Huracán. 2012. p. 201. 1853 – 17 January: There is a mayor fire in Ponce which, because there were no firefighters yet, was put out by residents and civil and military authorities. It resulted in a campaign for the establishment of a group volunteer firefighters.Emilio Pasarell. Esculcando el Siglo XIX en Puerto Rico. Barcelona: M. Pareja. 1967. p.19. 1857 – Construction of Carretera Central (today's PR-14 and PR-1) begins, joining Ponce and San Juan.Historia de las Carreteras de Puerto Rico: 1857-La Carretera Central. Primera Hora. 13 March 2006. Retrieved 11 February 2014. 1858 – Carnaval de Ponce starts its annual celebration. 1863: Plaza de Mercado Isabel Segunda is completed Santo Asilo de Damas is founded by Sister Francisca Paz Cabrera 1864: Teatro La Perla, so named to honor the Virgin of Montserrat (who was known as "The Pearl of the Mediterranean."Government of the Municipality of Ponce. Ponce Walking Tour. At VisitPonce.com Government of the Municipality of Ponce. VisitPonce website > Disfrutalo > Ponce es para Ti > Paseo de Arte y Cultura> Teatro La Perla. ) opens with La Campana de la Almudaina. The Ponce Gas Company is founded by Julio Steinacher.Guillermo A. Baralt. Buena Vista: Life and work in a Puerto Rican Hacienda, 1833-1904. Translated from the Spanish by Andrew Hurley. (Originally published in 1988 by Fideicomiso de Conservación de Puerto Rico as La Buena Vista: Estancia de Frutos Menores, fabrica de harinas y hacienda cafetalera.) 1999. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA: University of North Carolina Press. p. 4. 1870: Juan Bertoli builds a home for mayor Ermelindo Salazar which would later become Centro Cultural de Ponce Carmen Solá de Pereira Ponce Municipal Library, Puerto Rico's oldest public library, opens as Gabinete de Lectura. 1871 - Logia Aurora Num. 1, a masonic lodge was founded in Islote Caja de Muertos, Ponce. 1873 – Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad, the first Anglican church anywhere in Latin America, is built. 1874: 14 January, Verification of the Ponce leg of the transatlantic cable at the Port of Ponce.Emilio Pasarell. Esculcando el Siglo XIX en Puerto Rico. Barcelona: M. Pareja. 1967. p.10. 18 May, the city is first lit using gas-based lampposts.Emilio Pasarell. Esculcando el Siglo XIX en Puerto Rico. Barcelona: M. Pareja. 1967. p.33. 8 September, telegraph service begins.Emilio Pasarell. Esculcando el Siglo XIX en Puerto Rico. Barcelona: M. Pareja. 1967. p.12. 1876: