Caguas (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaɣwas], locally [ˈkawaʔ]) is a city and municipality in central eastern Puerto Rico. Located in the eponymous Caguas Valley between the Sierra de Cayey and Sierra de Luquillo of the Central Mountain Range, it is bordered by San Juan and Trujillo Alto to the north, Gurabo and San Lorenzo to the west, Aguas Buenas, Cidra and Cayey to the east, and Patillas to the south. With a population of 127,244 as of the 2020 census, Caguas is the fifth most populated municipality in the archipelago and island and a principal city of the San Juan metropolitan area.
Since 2009, Caguas had the distinction of being the only municipality in Puerto Rico recognized as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, until 2026, when the municipality of Vega Baja was announced as the second in the island to receive it.
Etymology and nicknames
Caguas, originally founded as San Sebastián del Piñal de Caguax, is named after the local Taino chieftain Caguax, who at the time of the Spanish arrival in 1493 was cacique of the yucayeque and region of Turabo. The name Caguax itself might be related to the Taino word for snail or slug: 'cagua', similar to other Arawakan and Cariban proper names such as Cagua in Venezuela (from the Cumanagoto word cahigua).
Caguas is nicknamed "Valley of the Turabo" (Valle del Turabo) in reference to the former cacicazgo and yucayeque led by Caguax. The Turabo River is also named after this geopolitical toponym. Other nicknames for Caguas include "the Criollo city" (La Ciudad Criolla) and "the Cradle of Trovadores" (La Cuna de los Trovadores). The city is often known as the "center and heart of Puerto Rico" (Centro y corazón de Puerto Rico) for its geographical location, and one of its municipal anthems bears the same. In recent years the municipality has also been referred to as "the new Caguas country" or "the new land of Caguas" (El nuevo país de Caguas) by the media and the former mayor William Miranda Marín.
History
As with the rest of Puerto Rico, the Taínos were the primary group living in the valley at the time of the Spanish arrival. The Spanish conquistadors further developed the agriculture in the valley, while also establishing mines in search of gold, silver and copper. Most of the native Taínos living in the area were either forced out or taken as slaves and moved to the Real Hacienda del Toa (in modern-day Toa Alta and Toa Baja). Most of the valley was later cleared of its original vegetation for the development of cattle farms such as Hato de Bairoa, Hato de Caguax and Hato de Gurabo.
Caguas was officially founded on January 1, 1775, as San Sebastián del Piñal de Caguax, with the name later being shortened and modernized to its current form. The site of downtown Caguas and its central square dates to 1779. In 1820, the settlement was granted the title of Villa and it was granted city rights in 1894. Sugarcane was the primary crop during this time and important sugarcane plantations and refineries were those of Central Santa Juana (close to modern day Plaza Centro) and Central Santa Catalina (modern day Las Catalinas Mall). The Carretera Central, which is the first paved road to cross Puerto Rico from north to south connecting San Juan to Ponce, was built during the last two decades of the 19th century, made Caguas more accessible therefore causing the population of the town to grow even more.
Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and became a territory of the United States. In 1899, the United States Department of War conducted a census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Caguas was 19,857.
The city grew considerably in size during the 1970s and quickly became an exurb of San Juan to the north due to its location. The region of Caguas became an important pharmaceuticals manufacturing center during this time. Pharmaceutical companies originally came to Puerto Rico in the late 1960s and 1970s to take advantage of the now-expired federal tax incentive known as Section 936. This incentive allowed U.S.-based manufacturers to send all profits from local plants to stateside parent plants without having to pay any federal taxes.
Although not typically seen as part of the colloquial Área Metro of San Juan (San Juan, Cataño, Bayamón, Guaynabo and Carolina), the municipality of Caguas is located in the census-based San Juan Metropolitan Area due to its role as a commuter town. The average commute time for residents of the municipality is 30.5 minutes. Caguas is the fourth most populous city in the San Juan Metropolitan region and the most populous city in Puerto Rico that is not located in a coastal area.
On August 7, 2002, Caguas was the site of the 2002 USAF Hercules air disaster, where all 10 military personnel on board lost their lives after an airplane carrying them struck a mountain in the south of the municipality.
Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017, triggered numerous landslides in Caguas with its wind and rain. Rivers were breached causing flooding of low-lying areas, and infrastructure and homes were destroyed. The hurricane caused $90 million in damages in Caguas. More specifically, 40 homes were left without a roof and 30 were flooded in the Morales neighborhood. Escuela Segunda Unidad Diego Vázquez and the Centro Multiusos flooded as well.
Geography
The city and municipality of Caguas are located approximately 30 minutes from the coastline both on the east (Humacao) and the north (San Juan). It is east of Aguas Buenas and Cidra, north of Cayey, south of San Juan, and west of Gurabo and Trujillo Alto. It also shares borders with Guayama and Patillas via a five-point border at the summit of Cerro La Santa, with Cayey and San Lorenzo. This is the tallest point of the Sierra de Cayey, not to be confused with Montaña Santa (officially called Cerro de Nuestra Madre) which is another mountain in the same massif located on the boundary between the municipalities of Patillas and San Lorenzo. At this point there are two tall antennas which provide signal to Puerto Rico's principal TV stations such as WKAQ-TV and WAPA-TV. No road passes exactly at this point, and it can be approached nearby through Puerto Rico Highway 184.
Valle de Caguas
The city is located in one of the largest valleys in Puerto Rico, the Valle de Caguas or Caguas Valley (also known as Valle del Turabo or the Turabo Valley). Being located in a valley, Caguas has the distinction of being relatively flat except near the borders with all the mentioned municipalities except Gurabo. The valley is bordered by the Altos de La Mesa and San Luis ranges in the north, the Sierra de Luquillo on the northeast, the San Lorenzo batholith to the east, the Sierra de Cayey on the south and the main range of the Cordillera Central to the west.
This valley is fed mainly by the Grande de Loíza River, one of Puerto Rico's major rivers that feed into the Atlantic Ocean, and numerous tributaries such as the Cagüitas, along which the contemporary settlement of Caguas was built. The city's nickname Valle del Turabo comes from the Turabo River, which is another tributary that flows from the south. The Gurabo River, another major tributary, feeds into the Grande de Loíza at a region where the valley narrows into a rift valley that runs from west to east and ends in Humacao in the southeastern coast of the island.
As with other parts of Puerto Rico, the region of Caguas is susceptible to earthquakes. The municipality is located along the Great Northern Puerto Rico fault zone (GNPRfz) and in recent times the region experienced moderate size earthquakes in 1990 and 2010.
Water features
Climate
The climate is classified as a tropical monsoon climate, meaning the daily mean temperature from month to month is never less than 64.4 °F (18.0 °C), and there is a distinct wet and dry season. Rainfall is common in relative abundance throughout most of the year, although there is less rain than in the eastern coastal valleys. The land, however, is fertile and deep.
Barrios
Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Caguas is subdivided into barrios:
- Caguas barrio-pueblo
- Bairoa
- Beatriz
- Borinquen
- Cañabón
- Cañaboncito
- Río Cañas
- San Antonio
- San Salvador
- Tomás de Castro
- Turabo
Sectors
Barrios (which are, in contemporary times, roughly comparable to minor civil divisions) and subbarrios, are further subdivided into smaller areas called sectores (sectors in English). 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 (Special Communities of 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 Caguas: Bairoa La 25, Morales neighborhood, Parcelas Viejas in Borinquén, Sector La Barra, and Comunidad La Quebrada in Río Cañas, Hoyo Frío in Las Carolinas, Lajitas, Las Carolinas, Los Muchos, Los Panes in Beatriz, and Savarona.
Tourism
Landmarks and places of interest
There are seven places in Caguas listed on the US National Register of Historic Places, including:
Other landscapes, landmarks and tourist attractions in Caguas include:
Parks and natural areas
The municipality of Caguas is home to various parks and natural protected areas managed by different governmental entities ranging from the municipal government, the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust, and the United States Fish & Wildlife Service.
- Aguas Buenas Cave and Caverns System Nature Reserve, an extensive cave system partially located in the municipality of Caguas.
- Bairoa River Natural Protected Area, protected riparian forest along the Bairoa River.
- Borinquen Valley Natural Area, 25 acres of protected forest located in barrio Borinquen.
- Caguas Real Nature Reserve, 60 acres of riparian forest along the Turabo River managed by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service.
- Caguas Regional Forest, a protected secondary forest and riparian ecosystem along the Turabo River.
- Carite State Forest and Reserve, one of the 20 units in the state forest system of Puerto Rico, partially located in Caguas.
- Cerro Borrás, formerly home to various recreational parks such as Moisty Park, currently preserved as a secondary forest.
- Chalets de Bairoa Natural Area, currently being developed as a preserved ecological corridor within the Valley of Caguas.
- Charco El Cantil, natural swimming pool located along the Turabo River.
- Finca Longo and Altos de San Luis, partially managed by the DRNA forest service and the municipality of Caguas.
- Jardín Botánico y Cultural William Miranda Marín (Botanical and Cultural Gardens), botanical garden and cultural institution containing the ruins of the Hacienda San José plantation and Taíno archaeological sites, located in barrio Cañabón.
- Jorge Sotomayor del Toro Protected Natural Area, a protected natural area located adjacent to the Carite Forest.
Voy Turistiendo Campaign
To stimulate local tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company launched the Voy Turistiendo (I'm Touring) campaign in 2021. The campaign featured a passport book with a page for each municipality. The Voy Turisteando Caguas passport page lists the Jardín Botánico William Miranda Marin, the Catedral Dulce Nombre de Jesús, the Plaza de Recreo Santiago R. Palmer and the Museo de Artes Populares as places of interest.
Sports
Economy
Local malls include Plaza del Carmen Mall, Plaza Centro Mall, and Las Catalinas Mall.
Urbe Apie is a non-profit founded in 2015 that has claimed and repurposed various abandoned properties in Caguas.
Demographics
In 1899, the United States conducted its first census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Caguas was 19,857.