The region of what became Humacao belonged to the
Taíno region of Humaka, which covered a portion of the southeast coast of Puerto Rico. The region was led by cacique
Jumacao (also referred to as "Macao"). The Taíno settlement was located on the shores of what became the
Humacao River. It is believed that the Taíno chief Jumacao was the first "cacique" to learn to read and write in Spanish, since he wrote a letter to the
King of Spain Charles I complaining about how the
Governor of the island wasn't complying with their peace agreement. In the letter, Jumacao argued that their people were virtually prisoners of Spain. It is said that King Charles was so moved by the letter that he ordered the Governor to obey the terms of the treaty. During the early 16th century, the region was populated by
cattle ranchers. However, since most of them officially resided in
San Juan, a settlement was never officially organized. At the beginning of the 18th century, specifically around 1721–1722, the first official settlement was constituted in the area. Most of the residents at the time were immigrants from the
Canary Islands, but due to attacks from
Caribs,
pirates, and other settlers, some of them moved farther into the island in what became
Las Piedras. Still, some settlers remained and by 1776, historian
Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra visited the area and wrote about the population there. By 1793, the church was recognized as parish and the settlement was officially recognized as town. Humacao was led by mayor
Marcelo Trujillo Panisse for over a decade. A basketball star in his early years, Trujillo has pushed for the development of infrastructure facilities for sports and the fine arts in the city. In March 2008, a new
Roman Catholic diocese was established as the
Fajardo-Humacao diocese. Its first bishop is Monsignor
Eusebio 'Chebito' Ramos Morales, a
maunabeño who was rector of the Humacao's main parish in the 1990s. On September 20, 2017
Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico. Punta Santiago in Humacao saw a six-foot storm surge. The hurricane caused destruction of homes and infrastructure. ==Geography==