An old cave complex at Sumay indicates that the location was inhabited prior to contact with Europeans, but is not well documented. In June 1678, amid the
Spanish-Chamorro Wars where Spain attempted to solidify control of the island, Governor
Juan Antonio de Salas led a military column to Sumay and the nearby village of Orote, which were both considered hotbeds of anti-Spanish resistance, setting fire to homes. While the Spanish relocated much of the population into centralized villages during their rule, Sumay was allowed to continue. In 1734, Governor
Francisco de Cárdenas Pacheco opened up new anchorages in
Apra Harbor to better protect ships from attack. Sumay eventually became a thriving port town, in particular during the height of Pacific
whaling in the 1800s.
American period at the Maxwell School in Sumay, ca. 1930 After the American
Capture of Guam in 1898, Sumay continued its existence as an economically important village in a strategic location on the island. On August 7, 1899, a Naval Governorship was established The
Marine Barracks Guam was formally established at Sumay in 1901. In 1903, the
Commercial Pacific Cable Company laid
submarine communications cable for
telegraph through
a station at Sumay, linking the United States to Asia, and each to Guam, for the first time. Sumay was Guam's second most populous village in the
1920 census. In 1922, dredged materials from the harbor were used to fill the coastline at Sumay and a seawall was constructed, meaning that the village no longer followed the shoreline. Scouting Squadron 1 of the new
United States Marine Corps Aviation, organized as Flight L out of
Parris Island, arrived at Sumay. Comprising 10 pilots and 90 enlisted men, Pan American also built Guam's first hotel in the village for its wealthy Clipper passengers in March 1936 with supplies brought by the . Governor
George McMillin wrote, The residents of Sumay had fled during the bombing, many to a ranch named Apla at the current location of the Navy Exchange and Commissary. Many families became separated during the confusion. Several days after the surrender of American forces on December 10, 1941, the Japanese forces evicted the residents of Sumay in order to turn it into a garrison, and residents were forbidden to return without permission. Five girls from Sumay were raped during eviction. During the
Japanese occupation of Guam, some Sumay residents were conscripted into constructing
Orote Field, and Santa Marian Guadalupe Church was turned into an auditorium for the Japanese military. Meanwhile, Admiral
Chester Nimitz requested 55% of Guam be set aside for military use, including all of Sumay. In 1945, the U.S. military gave the Sumay residents in Apla two resettlement options: to Agat or to a "temporary" refugee camp in the nearby hills of what is now
Sånta Rita-Sumai, originally called just Santa Rita. Sumay residents chose the second option, moving through 1945 and 1946 to an undeveloped area with no roads, running water, or electricity. In 1946, the U.S. Congress passed Public Law 594,
The Guam Acquisition of Lands Act, allowing the U.S. Navy to acquire any and all lands it deemed necessary on the island. In 1948, the military filed Civil Case No. 5-49 in the
Superior Court of Guam, declaring a
taking of all of Sumay, totaling 245 private and commercial plots, for little or no compensation. In 1972, the
Legislature of Guam passed a resolution recognizing the suffering of the people of Sumay and a housing division in Santa Rita called New Sumay was constructed; this subdivision is now referred to as Santa Rosa or Hyundai. The Sumay Memorial Park was dedicated in 1983 on the site of the old church. The cemetery, a cross from the village church, and ruins of a few structures are all that remain of the village. == Notable residents ==