Utuado, Puerto Rico


Utuado is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central mountainous region of the island known as the Cordillera Central. It is located north of Adjuntas and Ponce; south of Hatillo and Arecibo; east of Lares; and west of Ciales and Jayuya. It is the third-largest municipality in land area in Puerto Rico. According to the 2020 US Census, the municipality has a population of 28,287 spread over 24 barrios and Utuado pueblo.
Utuado is the main municipality of the Utuado micropolitan statistical area and is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area.

Etymology and nicknames

The name Utuado derives from the Taíno word otoao, meaning roughly between mountains. The letters "o" and "u" are often variable in Taíno. The "d" originated as a hypercorrection: colloquial Spanish often reduces /aðo/ to /ao/, so an un-etymological "d" was added to the Taíno name.
The municipality is known as Ciudad del Viví, derived from the Viví River which runs through Utuado: one river branch comes from Adjuntas and the other from Jayuya. These two rivers then meet near the Fernando L. Ribas Dominicci Avenue and continue the journey to Lago Dos Bocas.

History

The town of Utuado was founded October 12, 1739, by Irishman Sebastian de Morfi, on behalf of 60 families from Arecibo. It was the first town established in the interior, mountainous region of the island known as Cordillera Central and the 11th oldest established municipality in Puerto Rico, following San Juan, San Germán, Coamo, Arecibo, Aguada, Loiza, Ponce, Añasco, Guayama and Manatí.

Columbus's arrival

At the time of the Spanish initial occupation of the island on November 19, 1493, by Christopher Columbus, Puerto Rico was inhabited by the Taíno. The Taínos were a culturally developed society with a universal language, a developed agricultural system, and a social organization based on caciques or chieftains. The Utuado area was ruled over by cacique Guarionex. In Caguana, the Taínos built a series of courts or bateyes, Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site, the most extensive example of Taino engineering in the West Indies. The site is designated a US National Historic Landmark.

Early history: XVI–XVIII centuries

From 1510 through 1513, the island witnessed a Taíno rebellion as a result of harsh and inhumane treatment by the Spanish settlers. During the process of pacification many Spaniards settled in the area now occupied by the municipality of Utuado and set up farms, initially on behalf of the Spanish government, to provide food for the Indian slaves working the gold mines and the Spanish colonists in the area. One of the first settlers in the Otoao region in 1512 was Antonio Sedeño, the island's bookkeeper. His farm's main crop was yuca. His farm was sold in 1519 to Blas de Villasante, the island's treasurer, for 525 gold pesos.
Areas in the Utuado region that were exploited for gold include Salto Arriba barrio, initially, then later in the 1530s Caguana barrio and Don Alonso barrio. In the 1530s, landowners in the Don Alonso area petitioned the Spanish Crown allow for the establishment of a town in the area but it was never granted.
Once the gold mining era ended toward the end of the 16th century, very little is known about the Utuado region until the early 18th century. According to the Puerto Rican historian Fernando Picó, the few documents that exist indicate the area was mostly unpopulated and densely forested. On the other hand, he states that Utuado is the municipality with the most caves, that most likely served as dwellings for Indians or runaway slaves.
The agreement to establish the town of Utuado by the 60 families of Arecibo states they purchased the Hato de Otoao for 569 pesos and 5 reales from owners Manuel Natal and Felipa Román. It also states their desire to choose where on the land the town center would be located, which indicates the area was not populated yet.
During his visit to the island in 1771, Fray Iñigo Abbad y Lasierra states the principal economic activity in the Utuado region was cattle raising, horses and mules. He mentions a small amount of agricultural activity existed but the population only produced enough tobacco and coffee for their own consumption.
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Utuado's population continued to grow as coffee gained in importance and growers saw the need for high altitudes and mountainous terrain to produce the best coffee beans. People not only migrated from the Puerto Rican coastal towns but also from Ireland, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands of Majorca and Menorca, all seeking the riches that coffee had to offer.

Golden era of coffee – "black gold"

During the late 19th century Utuado experienced an explosive economic growth centered around the cultivation of coffee, also known at the time as oro negro or "black gold". By the 1890s Utuado was the largest producer of coffee in Puerto Rico and the second municipality with the largest population. It produced a rich social life for many of its citizens and a casino and theatre were established in the town. The progress of the town was so evident that the regent Queen of Spain, María Cristina, honored the town with the title of Ciudad on August 20, 1894. In 1896 or 1897 Utuado was the first city in Puerto Rico with a public electric lighting system powered by a hydraulic turbine power plant, and in that same year mayor Juan Casellas planned a train system to connect Utuado with Arecibo. By 1899 this golden era ended due to two events: the United States occupation of the island in 1898, which made sugar the new crop of importance instead of coffee, and Hurricane San Ciriaco in 1899, which destroyed the coffee haciendas.
Utuado was the first municipality to elect officials after Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States.

Massacre

One of the most tragic moments in Utuado's history occurred on October 30, 1950, during the Utuado uprising against United States rule, which culminated in what is known as the Utuado Massacre. In Utuado, a group of 32 nationalists, led by nationalist leaders Heriberto Castro and Damián Torres, fought against the local police during the independence revolts which occurred in various cities and towns of the island. The group was reduced to 12 men and retreated to Damián Torres' house. Torres' residence was attacked by 50-caliber machine-gun fire from ten American P-47 Thunderbolt planes. The National Guard arrived later that day and ordered the nine men who survived the attack to surrender. Once the nationalists surrendered, they were forced to march down Dr. Cueto Street to the main town square where their shoes, belts and personal belongings were removed. The group was then taken behind the police station where they were gunned down. Five of the nationalists died in the act, these were nationalist leader Heriberto Castro, Julio Colón Feliciano, Agustín Quiñones Mercado, Antonio Ramos and Antonio González. González, who was 17 years old, pleaded for water and instead was bayoneted to death.

Hurricane Maria

on September 20, 2017, triggered numerous landslides in Utuado. In many areas of Utuado there were more than 25 landslides per square mile due to the intense rainfall from Hurricane Maria.

Geography

Utuado is in the central mountainous region.

Barrios

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Utuado is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a barrio referred to as "el pueblo".
  1. Ángeles
  2. Arenas
  3. Caguana
  4. Caníaco
  5. Caonillas Abajo
  6. Caonillas Arriba
  7. Consejo
  8. Don Alonso
  9. Guaonico
  10. Las Palmas
  11. Limón
  12. Mameyes Abajo
  13. Paso Palma
  14. Río Abajo
  15. Roncador
  16. Sabana Grande
  17. Salto Abajo
  18. Salto Arriba
  19. Santa Isabel
  20. Santa Rosa
  21. Tetuán
  22. Utuado barrio-pueblo
  23. Viví Abajo
  24. Viví Arriba

    Sectors

Barrios and subbarrios, are further subdivided into smaller areas called sectores . The types of sectores may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.

Special Communities

Comunidades Especiales de Puerto Rico are marginalized communities whose citizens are experiencing a certain amount of social exclusion. A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of the commonwealth. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Utuado: Altos de Arena,
Sector El Guano in Arenas Abajo,
Sector Las Cuevas in Viví Abajo,
Sector Mina de Oro in Ángeles Poblado,
Sector Jácanas in Caguana,
Mameyes,
Caniaco,
Cayuco,
Chorreras,
Don Alonso Motor,
El Ensanche,
El Hoyo in Mameyes,
Judea,
La Granja,
La Playita,
Loma Maestre,
Lomas Colón,
Los Pinos,
Matadero Viejo,
Nuevo Londres,
Sector San Antonio,
Sector Cuba,
Sector Borinquén,
Tetuán III, and Calle Progreso in barrio-pueblo.

Demographics

Tourism

Landmarks and places of interest

With narrow streets leading up to a central plaza surrounded by a church and the governor's house, Utuado Pueblo is an example of a town built during the Spanish colonial era of Puerto Rico. The Iglesia San Miguel Arcangel, the local Catholic parish, was founded in 1746. The current double-steepled church was built between 1872 and 1878 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, along with the Caguana Ceremonial Park and the Blanco Bridge or Puente Blanco located in Arenas barrio which connects Utuado with Adjuntas. Other buildings in Utuado Pueblo that retain their colonial architectural features include The Center for Art, Culture and Tourism in the old Tobacco Coop building, the old hospital Hospital Catalina Figueras and Teatro San Miguel, among others.
The Rio Abajo State Forest is a forest reserve shared with Arecibo and home to 223 plants and wildlife species including: native ceiba, Asian teaks, West Indian mahogany, Honduran mahogany and Australian pines. It is also home to the federally endangered Puerto Rican broad-winged hawk as well as a captive population of the critically endangered Puerto Rican parrot. Captive parrots are slowly being released into Río Abajo in an attempt to form a second population of parrots on the island.
East of the Rio Abajo Forest Reserve is the Dos Bocas Lake and dam, one of several man-made lakes in Utuado. From El Embarcadero, near routes 123 and 146, boats take guests around the water to one of the many restaurants for lakeside dining.
The Caonillas Lake and dam in the western region of Utuado is another man-made lake. This reservoir encompasses over and was constructed in 1948 by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.
Debre Besrat Kidus Gebriel, the first Ethiopian Orthodox Church established in Puerto Rico and Latin America is located in barrio Guaonico of Utuado.