Coamo, Puerto Rico

"Coamo" redirects here. For the wood sorrel, see Oxalis rugeliana.

Coamo, Puerto Rico
—  Municipality  —
Flag
Nickname(s): La Villa de San Blás de Illescas", "Los Maratonistas", "La Villa Añeja", "Ciudad de las Aguas Termales"
Anthem: "Allá muy cerca del pueblo"
Location of Coamo in Puerto Rico
Coordinates: 18°04′48″N 66°21′29″W / 18.08°N 66.35806°W / 18.08; -66.35806Coordinates: 18°04′48″N 66°21′29″W / 18.08°N 66.35806°W / 18.08; -66.35806
Country	United States
Territory	Puerto Rico
Founded	1579
Government
- Mayor	Hon Juan Carlos García Padilla (PPD)
- Senatorial dist.	Guayama
- Representative dist.	27
Area
- Total	78.1 sq mi (202.15 km2)
- Land	78 sq mi (202.13 km2)
- Water	6.6 sq mi (0,017 km2)
Elevation	486 ft (148 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	37,597
- Density	481.7/sq mi (186/km2)
Demonym	Coameños
Time zone	AST (UTC-4)
Zip code	00769
Website	coamo.puertorico.pr

Church San Blas de Illescas of Coamo

Downtown plaza area

Coamo (Spanish pronunciation: [koˈamo]) is a municipality in Puerto Rico located in the southern region, north of Santa Isabel; south of Orocovis and Barranquitas; east of Villalba and Juana Díaz; and west of Aibonito and Salinas. Coamo is spread over 10 wards and Coamo Pueblo (The downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is both a principal city of the Coamo Micropolitan Statistical Area and the Ponce-Yauco-Coamo Combined Statistical Area.

Coamo is a small town nestled in a valley about 10 miles (16 km) east of Ponce (about 30 minutes by car). It was named San Blas Illescas de Coamo by its first settlers. San Blas was the Catholic saint who remains the town's patron. Illescas is the Spanish town the original founders came from (nowadays in Toledo province, Castile-La Mancha, Spain). There are a couple of theories regarding the origin of the word Coamo. Some think it comes from an indigenous word that means "valley" but it's also plausible that Coamo derives its name from Coamex (or Coamey), who was a celebrated local cacique (or "chieftain" in the Taino language). Archeological digs near the region have produced some of the best examples of the island's pre-Columbian cultural artifacts.

History

Founded July 15, 1579, Coamo is the third oldest settlement of the island's post Columbian period (after San Juan in the north and San Germán in the west). By 1582, there were twenty families living in Coamo, in the same area where the Tainos had had their village of Guayama. Coamo officially became a town in 1616, and was given the title of "Villa" by Spanish Royal Decree in 1778.

Coamo was the administrative center that encompassed most of the southern half of the island during the early colonial period. As the agricultural and sugar industries, which became the mainstays of the colony's economy, grew, the province would eventually subdivide into several distinct municipalities and the administrative center of the region would later shift west to the coastal town of Ponce.

Coamo boasts a picturesque downtown plaza area, and is the home of a series of natural hot springs, Los Baños de Coamo, which has attracted visitors to its medicinal waters since before the Spaniards landed. These very springs were once rumored to have been Juan Ponce de León's legendary "fountain of youth". In the early nineteenth century, a system of pools of varying depths and sizes and temperatures was constructed at the site of these springs to serve as a spa for the colonials. During the North American invasion in the Spanish American War (1898), this site was the scene of one of the decisive battles of that conflict (the Battle of Coamo). The American troops took possession of the island and the spa was subsequently abandoned. Though the site lay in ruins for most of the twentieth century, it continued to be a landmark to the Coameños, who would often go to bathe in its healing thermal waters. The pools remain, but the buildings which once hosted the island's affluent and colonial soldiers are gone, except for the remains of one central wall structure which has been preserved and incorporated into a fountain courtyard on the grounds of a popular tourist hotel and rest stop which has replaced the ancient Spanish ruins.

Flag

The flag of Coamo derives its colors from the Coat of Arms. Its colors are red, yellow, and black.

Coat of Arms

The top left and the lower right have a red background with a gold Episcopal hat each. These parts of the Coat of Arms represent the old seat of San Blas de Illescas. The horse and the bull represent the cattle wealth of the population. The gold color that serves as background in contrast with the black color, recalls the yellowish reddish tone of the fields of Coamo during the droughts. The heavy border of the Coat Of Arms contains the following figures: two flames; three bell towers with gold bells outlined in red; two red crosses with arms ending in three petals; and a circle with a surface divided by horizontal blue and silver-plated stripes.

Demographics

Race - Coamo, Puerto Rico - 2000 Census[1]
Race	Population	% of Total
White	30,264	80.5%
Black/African American	2,165	5.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native	101	0.3%
Asian	25	0.1%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	6	0.0%
Some other race	3,799	10.1%
Two or more races	1,237	3.3%

Barrios (Districts/Wards)

• Coamo Arriba
• Coamo Pueblo
• Cuyón
• Hayales
• Los Llanos
• Palmarejo
• Pasto
• Pedro Garcia
• Pulguillas
• San Idelfonso
• Santa Catalina^[2]

Geo/Topography

• Cerro Pulguitas, Cuchillas de Coamo, Presidio and Santa Ana.
• Rivers are: Río Coamo, Río Descalabrado, Río Lapa and Río de la Mina.
• Los Baños de Coamo (Coamo Thermal Baths), nourished by the Coamo river.

Economy

Agriculture

Coamo is an agricultural center where mangoes, corn, avocados, oranges and plantains are grown, and where poultry and cattle are raised.

Business

Industry

Coamo is a trading center for machinery, aircraft radio components, and clothing.

Tourism

Landmarks and places of interest

• Los Baños de Coamo (Coamo Thermal Baths)- near the Santa Isabel border.
• Historic Museum (Pico Pomar Residence)
• Church San Blas de Illescas of Coamo, construction on the church began in 1661 and is one of the oldest parish on the island.

Festivals and events

• Coamo is famous for being the host of the San Blas Half-Marathon, a yearly world-class professional marathon that attracts the best competitive runners in the world. It was inaugurated in 1963 by Delta Phi Delta Fraternity in honor to the founder of the town. World-class international and local runners compete in a 21.0975-kilometre (13.1094 mi) half marathon. It's Puerto Rico's biggest race, and the crowds are always large.

• Patron Festivities - February
• San Blas Half Marathon - February
• Flower Carnival - May
• Yuca (cassava) Carnival - August
• Juey (crab) Carnival - October
• Bomba & Plena Festival - November

Sports

The Maratonistas (BSN), is the only professional team the town hosts. The team has played in Coamo with mixed success since joining the league in 1985.

References

1. ^ Ethnicity 2000 census
2. ^ http://welcome.topuertorico.org/maps/coamo.pdf

	Puerto Rico portal
	Geography portal

Historia de Coamo " La Villa Añeja", Ramon Rivera Bermúdez, 1980

External links

• Coamo and its barrios, United States Census Bureau
• Historic Places in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
• "Coamo, Puerto Rico". Geographic Names Information System. USGS. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1992592. Retrieved 2008-05-06.