Bayamon, Puerto Rico - Definition and Overview

Bayamón (not to be confused with Bayamo, Cuba) is a city in northern Puerto Rico.

Bayamón is part of the metropolitan area of San Juan and is the island's second most populous city. The city lies in a fertile valley in which sugar, tobacco, grapefruit, vegetables, and coffee are raised. The first hydraulic sugar mill on the island was built in Bayamón about 1548, and sugar has continued to be a valuable commodity. Sugar mills are among Bayamon's chief industrial establishments; others are iron foundries, brick yards, ice plants, dairies, and an oil refinery. Manufactures have included auto parts, machinery, precision tools, watches and clocks, canned foods, tin cans, tobacco products, clothing, and zippers. Merchandise is transported by truck to the Port of San Juan.

History

Called "El Pueblo del Chicharrón". Juan Ramírez de Arrellano established Bayamón as a town in May 22, 1772. Derives its name from a local Indian chief Bahamon, others claim that the name came from the Taíno word Bayamongo, which is the name of one of the rivers that cross the city.

Flag History

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The white and blue represent the waters of the Río Bayamón [Ri'o Bayamo'n] and remind us that the first hydraulic mill in Puerto Rico was built along this river. The cross refers to the one on the CoA, the Calvary Cross [Cruz de Calvario], itself representing the Holy Cross to be found in the municipality's first church. On March 29, 1977, the Municipal Assembly of Bayamón officially approved the flag and corrected the errors which existed in the the city code following the Resolution No. 59 dated April 8, 1971. The current flag of Bayamón, the official white field of Bayamón, was embroidered by Mrs. Gloria M. León.

Other Information

Bayamón, Puerto Rico, is one of Puerto Rico's largest cities situated in what is considered to be the Metropolitan Area. Founded in 1772, the city of Bayamón was named after taino Indian chief or cacique. It shares its metropolitan area status with San Juan, Guaynabo, Toa Baja, Cataño and Carolina.

Bayamón was always a progressive city. The only reason that, unlike Ponce, Aguadilla and Mayagüez, it doesn't count with an airport is probably its proximity to San Juan.

Bayamón's most progressive times came during the tenure of Ramón Luis Rivera as mayor. He lasted in the city hall from 1976 to 2001. Rivera was asked by his party, the New Progressist Party, to run for governor, but the main reason why he didn't do that was his lack of understanding of English. However, he thought of Bayamón as his piece of art, and he shaped it into an incredible city in which to live.

During his tenure, he built many exotic touristic attractions that Bayamoneses, Puerto Ricans and international tourists have enjoyed for years. These include El Parque del tren, which is a park featuring what was, until 2001, Puerto Rico's only working train, and an example of a DC-3 that used to fly for United Airlines. However El Parque del Tren was destroyed. A suspension bridge believed to be one of only 3 of its type in all of Puerto Rico and a science park known as Parque De Las Ciencias which many people have described as the Disney World of the Caribbean, and last but not least, city hall itself.

It shall be noted, that Bayamón's suspension bridge is a pedestrian bridge only; in other words, people cross an avenue on this bridge, it was not built for automobile use.

Rivera built a city hall that is a building that crosses over an avenue, and is believed to be the only one of its class around the world. Visitors inside the building can look down and see cars passing right under their legs. The building has a bridge that connects people from one side of it to the other.

Bayamón is also one of the cities to host the Tren Urbano in 2003. Tren Urbano is Puerto Rico's second working passenger train, after Bayamón's park trensito.

Famous Bayamoneses include Francisco Oller, Chuito el de Bayamón, and world boxing champions Hector 'Macho' Camacho and Daniel Santos.

The famous boxing fight between Alexis Arguello and Alfredo Escalera (their first; their equally legendary rematch was held in Rimini, Italy) was held there in 1978.

The Vaqueros de Bayamón are the city's BSN representatives and the team with the most championships in history, with 13.

There is also a 'Vaqueros' baseball team, but this one hasn't had as much luck as their basketball counterparts.

External links

Official Sites

• City of Bayamón (http://www.municipiodebayamon.com/)

Education Colleges / Schools / Universities

• University of Puerto Rico in Bayamón (http://www.uprb.edu/)
• Inter-American University of Puerto Rico - Bayamón Campus  (http://bc.inter.edu/)
• Bayamón Central University (http://www.ucb.edu.pr/)
• American University of Puerto Rico (http://www.aupr.edu/)
• Caribbean University (http://www.caribbean.edu/)
• Universidad Central del Caribe (http://www.uccaribe.edu/)