Museo Hacienda Buena Vista

The plantation was started by Don Salvador de Vives in 1833. The plantation house (the "Manor House") was built in the Spanish Colonial style, with the surrounding buildings being built in the local criollo style. Eventually Hacienda Buena Vista would become one of the most successful plantations in the mountains of Puerto Rico. By 1900, a series of turn-of-the-20th-century hurricanes and the failing coffee market, brought operations at the Hacienda to a standstill and gradually Hacienda Buena Vista fell into disrepair and was partially abandoned. By 1937 agriculture had seriously declined in Puerto Rico, and the plantation business was abandoned, becoming mostly a weekend country house for the Vives heirs. Worker barracks, outbuildings and equipment deteriorated rapidly under the humid tropical climate and rainfall. As a result of a new law passed by the Legislature of Puerto Rico in 1956 intended to provide land to local farmers, the government of Puerto Rico expropriated most of the lands of Hacienda Buena Vista. Only 87 acres of land remained with the Vives, including the manor house and the water channel system. These remaining 87 acres of lands were acquired by the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico in 1984, with the intention of restoring the hacienda. Despite the grave deterioration of the coffee-processing machinery and the farm buildings, the Conservation Trust managed to restore the estate so that it could be used to educate the public about the golden era of fine coffee growing in the mountains of Puerto Rico. The original owners donated many of the furnishings, and the Conservation Trust purchased other authentic pieces. In 1986, the Trust had completed the restoration and turned it into a museum. The museum opened in 1987 and has operated uninterrupted since. ==Significance==

The Museum is significant for various reasons. First, it contains the only remaining example of the Barker hydraulic turbine, which was the first reaction type turbine ever made. It was nominated as a Mechanical Engineering landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in July 1994. The second reason the Museum is significant is that it offers one of the best remaining examples of a Puerto Rican coffee plantation. This is important because in the latter part of the nineteenth century the coffee produced in Puerto Rico and exported to Europe and the United States was considered among the finest in the world. It is said to have even been the favorite at the Vatican at the time. Hacienda Buena Vista is also significant because it shows the evolution of the coffee industry in the region. Various periods can be appreciated. These range from the cultivation of produce such as plantains (1833–1845); to the production of flour (from rice and corn) (1847–1872). These products were staples for the subsistence of the local population. ==Description of the museum==

Museo Hacienda Buena Vista is both, and open-air museum and an indoors museum. The Museum is located in Barrio Magueyes, in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Located at an altitude of between 160 and 460 meters above sea level, the air is crispy cool at night and moist-to-humid during the day. The hills near the hacienda-museum are excellent for cultivating corn, coffee, and fruits. This open-air museum is made up of an agricultural complex. Its main buildings are grouped together in a central area and the property includes 11 original buildings: the hacienda manor house, the carriage house, the horse stables, the mule stables, the caretaker's house and office, two warehouses, a hurricane shelter, the corn mill, and the slave quarters. There is a water canal system that is still operative, an aqueduct, and a house garden. The coffee bean processing building was rebuilt to look like the original 1892 building. The carriage house, stables, and a small caretaker's house are nearby. In addition mule stables and caretaker's office are also part of the museum patrons can access. Located opposite the manor house, is the hurricane shelter. It is a solid brick structure measuring . x , and built . above ground. Its walls, floor and ceiling were made to withstand or dissipate the destructive tropical storms that are common in this region. Corn mill and bean drying station A second corn mill at the Hacienda Buena Vista Museum was built in 1854. It is a two-story wood-frame structure measuring . wide by long. The actual corn-milling work took place on the floor of this mill. Dried corn making it thru a hopper in this building was processed here. Grinding of the corn into corn meal occurred here. It was also packed into bags here. One of the canals of the aqueduct system ran underneath this building to power the corn mill above. A bean drying station is also part of the exhibits; this building dates from 1847. Thi building had previously served as slave quarters, but after the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico in 1873, it was converted into a bean drying building. The pans used for drying the coffee beans were kept in this building as well. ==Legacy==

On 16 July 1994, Robert B. Gaither of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers presented a plaque to the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust designating the Hacienda Buena Vista's hydraulic turbine as a National Historic Monument of Mechanical Engineering. The award was given in recognition not only of the value of the turbine but also of the extraordinary work the Conservation Trust carried in its restoration. A copy of the award is available for viewing at the museum's gift shop. ==Gallery==

Hacienda Buena Vista entrance sign, Barrio Magueyes, Ponce, Puerto Rico (IMG 3023).jpg|Sign on PR-123 marking the entrance to the Museum Hacienda Buena Vista.JPG|The Manor House at Museo Hacienda Buena Vista ==See also==