During the early years of the
Spanish colonization, the region known today as Guayama was inhabited by
Taíno native people. The indigenous population in this area decreased due to slavery and migration to the Lesser Antilles. The following centuries, the region was under attack from the
Taíno rebellion,
Caribs and
pirates. The town was founded on January 29, 1736, as
San Antonio de Padua de Guayama by then Spanish Governor
Matías de Abadía, although there is knowledge of it being populated by native people as early as 1567. It was Governor Don Tomás de Abadía who officially declared Guayama a "pueblo" (town) with the name of
San Antonio de Padua de Guayama. That same year the Catholic church in town,
San Antonio de Padua, was declared a Parish. In 1776, Guayama had 200 houses, the church and a central plaza and the total population was approximately 5,000 villagers. Construction on Guayama's Parroquial church of San Antonio de Padua began in 1827 and was completed 40 years later. In 1828 the construction of the King's House (Casa del Rey) was completed and the church was rebuilt as well. On April 11, 1832. the Guayama Pueblo was destroyed by fire that burned down 57 houses and 9 huts. The reconstruction of the pueblo followed the rules for all Latin American cities found in the “Compilation of Laws of the Indies,” published in 1680. Streets were laid out in a perfect grid, with straight streets oriented north and south, east and west. The central plaza and the blocks to its east and west are rectangular; almost all the other blocks are square. Guayama territorial order was altered at different times through the years. Some of the most populated neighborhoods were segregated to form new towns.
Patillas was established in 1811 as an independent municipality. In 1831, the territory comprised the neighborhoods:
Algarrobos,
Ancones,
Arroyo,
Carreras,
Guayama Pueblo,
Guamaní,
Jobos,
Machete, and
Yaurel. Later, Arroyo was divided into Arroyo Este and Arroyo Oeste and neighborhoods emerged: Pozo Hondo, Palmas de Aguamanil, Caimital, Pitajayas, Cuatro Calles, Sabana Eneas, Palmas, and
Salinas. The latter had been segregated from
Coamo. In 1855, Arroyo was separated to become an independent municipality, taking the neighborhoods: Ancones, Arroyo, Yaurel, Pitajaya, and Cuatro Calles. By 1878, Guayama was a department head including:
Comerío (then Sabana del Palmar),
Cidra,
Cayey, Salinas, Arroyo,
San Lorenzo (then called Hato Grande),
Aguas Buenas,
Caguas,
Gurabo, and
Juncos. The development continued with the construction of the town cemetery in 1844, the slaughterhouse and meat market in 1851, and a wooden theater of two levels in 1878. By then Guayama had fourteen sugar plantations operating with steam engines and three with ox mills. Also practiced in this municipality was the exploitation of lead mines by the company "La Estrella", owned by Miguel Planellas, as well as the mineral galena, by the company "La Rosita", owned by Antonio Aponte. In 1881, Guayama is declared a Villa (First Order Municipality). During the
Spanish–American War, American forces under General
Nelson A. Miles landed at
Guánica near
Ponce on July 25, 1898. The landing surprised the United States War Department no less than the Spanish, as Miles had been instructed to land near
San Juan (the War Department learned of the landing through an Associated Press release.) However, en route to Puerto Rico Miles concluded that a San Juan landing was vulnerable to attack by small boats, and so changed plans. Ponce, said at the time to be the largest city in Puerto Rico, was connected with San Juan by a military road, well defended by the Spanish at Coamo and Aibonito. In order to flank this position, American Major General
John R. Brooke landed at Arroyo, just east of Guayama, intending to move on
Cayey, which is northwest of Guayama, along the road from Ponce to San Juan. General Brooke occupied Guayama August 5, 1898, after slight opposition, in the
Battle of Guayama. On August 9, the
Battle of Guamaní took place north of Guayama. A more significant battle, the
Battle of Aibonito Pass, was halted on the morning of August 13 upon notification of the armistice between the United States and Spain. 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 Guayama was 12,749. After the Spanish–American War, Guayama continued to develop. The Bernardini Theater built by engineer Manuel Texidor y Alcalá del Olmo opened in 1913. The venue, property of attorney Thomas Bernardini, was the scene for artists of international fame. By that time, Guayama was considered one of the most important cities on the island's social scene. In the early twentieth century, there were selected societies such as the 'Coliseo Derkes' and 'Grupo Primavera', which endowed performing arts as well as scientific events. By the mid-twentieth century, Guayama achieved great industrial development, especially with the establishment of Univis Optical Corp., Angela Manufacturing Company and a petrochemical complex of the
Phillips Petroleum Company. In 1968, the company started production of paraffin, benzene, synthetic fibers, nylon, plastic anhydrous, a of gasoline a day, and many other products. During that same decade agriculture began to decline as a result of
land loss, industrialization and the construction of multiple housing developments. The
urban growth affected the
sugar cane industry. However, in 1974, 155,595 tons of sugar cane was harvested in the Municipality producing 12,655 tons of refined sugar. In November 2002, AES Puerto Rico opened its
coal power plant in Guayama. The company transmits and distributes electricity through a 25-year contract with the
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. The 2012 National
Puerto Rican Day Parade was dedicated to the Municipality of Guayama and its people. On September 20, 2017
Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico. In Guayama, the hurricane triggered numerous landslides and caused major destruction with an estimated 2000 homes losing their roof. The river caused major flooding and people were left with no power. After Hurricane Maria, the people of Guayama resorted to collecting spring water for their drinking water. == Geography ==