The name Caimito comes from the
Caimito tree, which is common in the region. The word
caimito is possibly a
Spanish adaptation (
-ito being the Spanish
diminutive) of the
Taino word
caima, possibly related to the Carib
acayouman, meaning crocodile (see
caiman). Assigned as a suburb of
Río Piedras in 1835 by
Pedro Tomás de Córdova, who was
Captain General of Puerto Rico from 1816 to 1836, Caimito consisted of 3,595.30 acres or land or roughly 5.16 square miles. Caimito comprises the former barrios of Caimito Alto and Caimito Bajo, which were last documented in the 1899 census. Caimito was part of Rio Piedras until 1951 when it was merged as a barrio of the municipality of San Juan. Historian Dr.
Fernando Picó S.J., wrote a book about the history and genealogy of the area, published in 1989, called
Vivir en Caimito. The neighborhood commissioner (
comisario de barrio was the main representative of Caimito to the Mayor of
Río Piedras. By the 19th century, they were the main local representatives of an absent state. Most of them were not originally from Caimito, but instead were people who had settled there, usually businessmen and farmers. This position was not compensated properly but they garnered some power and prestige.
List of comisarios de barrio in Caimito during the 19th century ==Geography==