Colonial and Postcolonial The Puente Aranda
hacienda was property of Don Jorge Aranda, and was established in a marshy terrain south of the then village of Santafé in the 16th century by the
oidor Francisco de Anuncibay who arrived to the
New Kingdom of Granada in the year 1537. This hacienda was first named "Hacienda of Aranda" and "The Roof of the Jorges", where the rivers Chinúa and San Agustín merged. It was also the main western path to get to the
Magdalena River, which was and still is the most important fluvial artery of Colombia and a bridge was built to facilitate this. Floodings of the
Bogotá River and its tributaries was frequent. In 1768, a bridge was reconstructed with a better structure and named Puente de Aranda (Aranda's Bridge). Then, an esplanade was built along across the wetlands, towards the west in an effort to connect Bogotá with the port of
Honda along the Magdalena River. This way, Honda was then connected to
Fontibón and the "Avenida de Encomienda", nowadays Calle 13 (Avenida del Centenario).
Simón Bolívar and his troops camped in the Hacienda of Aranda in 1814 during the
wars of independence from Spain. In 1898 the southern line of the
Railway of Bogotá was established which connected Bogota with the
Tequendama Falls area as part of the development of the region. The area was until the beginning of the 20th century a rural area of many haciendas.
Urbanization By 1944, the rapid expansion of
Bogotá towards the south reached the Puente Aranda area, the Aranda bridge was demolished to build
Avenida de Las Américas, a project supported by the
Colombian Society of Architects, which would join Calle 13 and dividing into two ways; Calle 13 towards
Fontibón and Avenida de Las Américas towards the locality of
Kennedy. The area where these two ways intersect is the site of the new Aranda bridge and the name of the neighborhood of Puente Aranda surrounding the crossing. The area then had a rapid residential and industrial development, with numerous small manufacturing businesses basing their operations in the area. Puente Aranda was zonified and consolidated with the Pilot Plan for Bogotá in 1951. In 1963, Puente Aranda and its neighboring
barrios were declared sectors of Bogota only after
Chapinero which had been named a zone in 1954. Since then, Puente Aranda has been producing industrial products as textiles, chemicals, metallurgy, food and services. Puente Aranda then extended to conurbate with the localities of
Fontibón and
Kennedy to the west, and
Antonio Nariño and
Rafael Uribe Uribe to the south. In 1972, the "Special District of Bogotá" was created and divided the city into 16 zones, each of them served by a minor city hall. This was done in an effort to begin establishing a
Metropolitan Area for Bogotá. The 16 mayors, heading the different zones, were appointed by the
Mayor of Bogotá. This system was ratified in an agreement in the year 1977. With the
Colombian Constitution of 1991, the Special District became the
Capital District dividing Bogotá into 20 localities and its minor city hall became a local city hall with its city council and a local administrative board. == Demography ==