The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico.
16th and 17th centuries
1508 – Cacique Agüeybaná, the cacique who led the region of which Ponce was a part, greets Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León on his arrival to the island of Puerto Rico.
1511 – Agüeybaná II, the cacique of the area that would later be known as Ponce, leads the Taíno rebellion of 1511 against the Spanish invaders but later dies of battle wounds.
1646 – The area settled by the Spanish colonists is first referred to by the name of "Ponce".
1670 – A chapel is erected in the middle of the Spanish settlement and dedicated in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
1692 – The Spanish settlement at Ponce is recognized as a hamlet by the Spanish King Carlos II.
1712 – The populated place is chartered as El Poblado de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Ponce (The village of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Ponce).
1742 – The English attack Ponce and the invasion is repealed by local citizens.
1787 – The 1787 Boricua earthquake cracks the walls of the Our Lady of Guadalupe church.
1812 – First Constitutional mayor takes office, José Ortíz de la Renta.
1820 – A large fire that "almost destroyed the early Ponce settlement" takes place, prompting Governor Miguel de la Torre to order that "every male from 16 to 60 years old must become a [volunteer] firefighter".
1831 – The first known division of the village into barrios
1833 – Hacienda Buena Vista is established.
1839 – The town's chapel is demolished and a new church with two octagonal towers is built in its place.
1843 – Mayor Juan Rondón inaugurates the Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro cemetery (then called Cementerio Civil) and he is also first person to be buried in it.
1845 – A fire in Barrio La Playa destroys most of the sea-front settlement
1846 – The Ponce City Hall is built to be used as a jail.
1848 – Granted the status of villa (town).
1858 – Carnaval de Ponce starts its annual celebration.
1857 – Construction of Carretera Central (today's PR-14 and PR-1), joining Ponce and San Juan, begins.
1863:
Plaza de Mercado Isabel Segunda is completed
Santo Asilo de Damas is founded in by Sister Francisca Paz Cabrera
1864 – Teatro La Perla, so named to honor the Virgin of Montserrat (who was known as "The Pearl of the Mediterranean.") opens with La Campana de la Almudaina.
1877 – Granted status of city.
1882 – Great Agricultural and Financial Fair.
1870:
Juan Bertoli builds a home for mayor Ermelindo Salazar which would later become Centro Cultural de Ponce Carmen Solá de Pereira
Ponce Municipal Library, Puerto Rico's oldest public library, opens as Gabinete de Lectura.
1873 – Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad, the first Anglican church anywhere in Latin America, is built.
1876 – Hurricane San Felipe hits Ponce as a Category 4 hurricane.
1885 – Hospital Tricoche opens after an endowment by Valentin Tricoche.
1886 – Leaders of the Partido Autonomista Puertorriqueño deliver their Plan de Ponce manifesto, also known as Plan Autonomista de Ponce.
1887 – The Spanish activate the Caja de Muertos Light followed, two years later, by the Cardona Island Light.
1889 – Cardona Island Light is lit by the Spaniards
1894 – The Spanish military barracks at Ponce are built
1895:
Hotel Meliá opens its doors as a 9-room lodging house on a two-story structure
Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño is established.
1897:
The Spanish military opens a military hospital in Ponce
Manuel V. Domenech designs the Rosaly-Batiz Residence for Ponce mayor, Pedro Juan Rosaly.
1898:
Largest city in the island, Ponce has a population of 22,000.
The United States declares war on Spain, invades Puerto Rico, and American General Miles takes the city without resistance as its citizens preferred its beautiful architecture not be destroyed by bombardment.
1899:
Manuel V. Domenech unveils Residencia Armstrong-Poventud across from the Ponce Cathedral.
25 January 1899 – The "El Polvorin" fire threatens to burn down the city
Hurricane San Ciriaco kills 500 people in the city and causes coffee harvest damage from which the coffee industry never recovered.
1901 – Both Cementerio Católico San Vicente de Paul and Cementerio Civil de Ponce are established
1902 – Ponce High School is founded
1907:
The Puerto Rico Episcopal Church founds Hospital San Lucas.
The Methodist Church builds Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Ponce in the city; next year it builds Iglesia Metodista Unida de La Playa de Ponce
1909 – El Día is founded as "El Diario de Puerto Rico; it would be renamed "El Nuevo Día" in 1970 upon its relocation to San Juan
1910:
Campo Atlético Charles H. Terry is inaugurated
The Partido Nacionalista de Puerto Rico meetinghouse where the Ponce Massacre would take place 27 years later is built
Blas Silva designs the Residencia Subirá.
1911:
Casa Salazar-Candal and Casa Serrallés are built
The tomb-monument Monumento a los heroes de El Polvorín is erected
Alfredo B. Wiechers completes building his home, later termed Casa Wiechers-Villaronga.
1913 – Casa Oppenheimer and Casa Font-Ubides are built.
1917 – Banco de Ponce opens for business.
1918 – The 1918 San Fermín earthquake does major damage to the Teatro La Perla, closing it until 1941, and the Catedral Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, bring down its two iconic towers
1919 – Puerto Rico Iron Works and Rovira Biscuits Corporation start production
1922 – Antiguo Casino de Ponce opens its doors.
1924:
The Beaux-Arts-style Banco Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño and Banco de Ponce buildings are erected.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ponce is established.
1925 – Dr. Manuel de la Pila Iglesias establishes Clinica Dr. Pila
1926:
Casa Rosita Serrallés is built
Colegio Ponceño de Varones opens its doors
Mercado de las Carnes is built to supplement the meat market needs of Plaza de Mercado Isabel Segunda
1927 – Casa Fernando Luis Toro is built in La Alhambra, "the first upper-class suburban development ever built in Puerto Rico."
1928 – Hurricane San Felipe Segundo impacts Ponce and surrounding areas at Category 5 force.
1930 – Castillo Serrallés is built.
1931 – Teatro Fox Delicias shows its first movie.
1932:
The building later renamed the Luis A. Ferré United States Courthouse and Post Office Building opens as a post office and federal courthouse on Calle Atocha.
Hurricane San Ciprian launches against the Ponce area destroying citrus, sugar, coffee, tobacco, and other harvests.
1934 – Bosque Estatal Toro Negro is established with 6,800 cuerdas
1937 – US-appointed governor, the Continental Blanton Winship order the infamous Masacre de Ponce, which takes place at Calle Marina and Calle Aurora.
1940 – WPAB begins transmission
1941:
Club Náutico de Ponce is formed
Luis A. Ferre founds Ponce Cement, Inc.
1946 – Hospital Oncológico Andrés Grillasca is established.
1948:
Colegio San Conrado is founded
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico starts courses at Colegio San Conrado
A replacement to the original monument-obelisk Monumento a los heroes de El Polvorín, destroyed by the 1918 San Fermín earthquake is erected
1949 – Estadio Francisco Montaner opens as a baseball park
1954 – Enrique "Quique" Lucca Caraballo forms La Sonora Ponceña
1955:
The Ponce YMCA Building is built and starts its offerings to the youth
Mercedita Airport starts operations as a commercial airfield
1956:
Parque de la Abolición is built together with Concha Acústica de Ponce and the Monumento a la abolición de la esclavitud
Ateneo de Ponce is established
1958:
WRIK-TV Channel 7, starts transmitting
Centro Comercial Santa Maria opens in the Mariani sector of Barrio Canas Urbano
1959 – Luis A. Ferré opens Museo de Arte de Ponce at the Ermelindo Salazar Residence with 72 works of art.
1960 – The Hotel Ponce Intercontinental opens its doors.
1961 – Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law, the first private law school in the Island, is established
1962:
Zona Histórica de Ponce is first designated.
Industrias Vassallo starts operation molding plastics
Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico opens a branch in Ponce
1963 – Centro Cultural de Ponce Carmen Solá de Pereira starts functioning.
1964 – Los Chinos de Ponce start selling ice cream at King's Cream, across Plaza Las Delicias.
1970 – The University of Puerto Rico opens a campus in Ponce, University of Puerto Rico, Ponce Campus
1972:
ColiseoJuan Pachín Vicéns, now Auditorio Juan Pachín Vicéns debuts
Prinair Flight 191 crashes on its approach to Mercedita Airport killing five people.
1977:
Ponce School of Medicine starts operation as part of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, but shortly thereafter emerges as an independent institution
Policía Municipal de Ponce is established
1978 – Two young independentista men are murdered at Cerro Maravilla in an ambush by Puerto Rico Police at Cerro Maravilla in Barrio Anón.
1980:
Parque del Retiro is established on Calle Villa.
Caja de Muertos is designated a nature reserve.
Cruce a Nado Internacional kicks off its annual sporting event
1981 – The momouth Plaza de Mercado Juan Bigas building opens, replacing Plaza de Mercado Isabel Segunda, but would close 26 years later to become Ponce Servicios.
1983 – Coro de Niños de Ponce debuts.
1985 – The Ponce en Marcha Plan is drafted by Governor Rafael Hernández Colón
1984 – Cruceta del Vigía and Parque de la Ceiba open to the public.
1985 – The Mameyes Landslide tragedy buries over 100 Ponceños while they slept in Barrio Portugues Urbano.
1986 – Bienal de Arte de Ponce starts its biannual expositions.
1987 – Three museums open their doors: Casa Paoli, Museo Hacienda Buena Vista, and Museo de la Masacre de Ponce.
1990 – Four museums open their doors: Museo de la Música Puertorriqueña, Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro, Parque de Bombas, Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center
1991:
Museo Castillo Serrallés starts operation as a museum
Parque Pedro Albizu Campos is inaugurated
Paseo Atocha is converted from Calle Atoche to a pedestrian mall
Residencia Armstrong-Poventud opens as a museum of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña
1992:
The city celebrates its 300 anniversary
Centro Cultural de Ponce Carmen Solá de Pereira is established at the former Residencia Ermelindo Salazar
Museo de la Historia de Ponce occupies the Casa Serralles as a museum
Museo Francisco "Pancho" Coimbre opens its doors at the former Campo Atletico Charles H. Terry
Parque del Tricentenario's construction is completed
Commercial shopping mall Plaza del Caribe is inaugurated
Villa Pesquera is organized under the initiative of Mayor Rafael Cordero Santiago
1993:
Las Justas annual sports event are moved from San Juan to the city of Ponce.
The city hosts the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games.
Grand Prix de Ponce starts an annual racing event.
1995 – Parque Urbano Dora Colón Clavell opens.
1996:
Bosque Estatal de Cerrillos is formed with 200 cuerdas of land. It is the only state forest entirely within the municipality
Museo de la Arquitectura Ponceña opens the former Casa Wiechers-Villaronga to the public
1998 – Paseo Tablado La Guancha is expanded into a multi-use La Guancha recreational complex with boarwalk, beach, tennis courts and observation tower.
2001 – Denise Quiñones wins the Miss Universe 2001 beauty pageant.
2004:
Bolera de Ponce reopens as Bolera Caribe; would later host the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games
Letras de Ponce are unvelied
2006:
Museo del Autonomismo Puertorriqueño opens at Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro under mayor Francisco Zayas Seijo
Parque Luis A. Wito Morales opens adjacent to the Bosque Estatal de Cerrillos
2007:
Ponce Grand Prix de Atletismo commences annual track and field competitions at Paquito Montaner
Biblioteca Municipal Mariana Suárez de Longo opens at its permanent home on Bulevar Miguel Pou
2008:
Festival Nacional de la Quenepa begins its yearly celebrations.
The Government of Puerto Rico declares Punta Cucharas in Ponce's Barrio Canas a Nature Reserve
2009 – Ponce Ramada Hotel opens at the former Casa Saurí house.
2011:
FC Leones soccer team forms and starts playing at Estadio Paquito Montaner
Parque Lineal Veredas del Labrador Phase I opens.
2012:
Día Mundial de Ponce and the Ponce Jazz Festival are first observed.
Parque Ecológico Urbano is inaugurated.
2013 – Ponce Servicios opens as the largest municipal office building.
Timeline of Ponce, Puerto Rico, history Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
