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Mayaguez history - learn what once happend
The largest city on the island's west coast, Mayaguez is a port whose elegance and charm reached its zenith during the mercantile and agricultural prosperity of the 19th century. Most of the town's stately buildings were destroyed in an earthquake in 1918, and today the town is noted more for its industry than its aesthetic appeal. Although it's a commercial city, Mayaguez is a convenient stopover for those exploring the west coast. If you want a windsurfing beach, you can head north of Rincon, and if you want a more tranquil beach, you can drive south from Mayaguez along Route 102 to Boqueron. Although the town itself dates from the mid-18th century, the area around it has figured in European history since the time of Christopher Columbus, who landed nearby in 1493. Today, in the gracious plaza at the town's center, a bronze statue of Columbus stands atop a metallic globe of the world. Famed for the size and depth of its harbor (the 2nd largest on the island, after San Juan's harbor), Mayaguez was built to control the Mona Passage, a route essential to the Spanish Empire when Puerto Rico and the nearby Dominican Republic were vital trade and defensive jewels in the Spanish crown. Today this waterway is notorious for the destructiveness of its currents, the ferocity of its sharks, and the thousands of boat people who arrive illegally from either Haiti or the Dominican Republic, both on the island of Hispaniola. Queen Isabel II of Spain recognized Mayaguez's status as a town in 1836. Her son, Alfonso XII, granted it a city charter in 1877. Permanently isolated from the major commercial developments of San Juan, Mayaguez, like Ponce, has always retained its own distinct identity. Today the town's major industry is tuna packing. In fact, 60% of the tuna consumed in the United States is packed here. This is also an important departure point for deep-sea fishing and is the bustling port for exporting agricultural produce from the surrounding hillsides.
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Mayaguez Vacations site
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