Central Coloso
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Central Coloso, also known as Coloso Sugar Cane Refinery, was a long-running
sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...
refinery in Aguada,
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
. The
refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...
was established in late 19th century becoming one of the biggest sugar emporiums in the island. It remained operational until 2003, becoming the last sugarcane refinery to cease operations on the island.


History


Early years

The Coloso origins begin in the 19th century, specifically towards the end of the 1820s when the ''Caño de las Nasas'' estate was founded in Aguada. That estate functioned with a cattle-operated
sugar mill A sugar cane mill is a factory that processes sugar cane to produce raw sugar or plantation white sugar. Some sugar mills are situated next to a back-end refinery, that turns raw sugar into (refined) white sugar. The term is also used to refer ...
producing approximately 100 sugar barrels a day. In the late 1860s, Emilio Vadí acquired the estate and changed its name to Coloso. In 1875, he changed it into sugar cane refinery.


Peak in operations

Upon turning Coloso into a sugarcane refinery, Emilio Vadí mechanized most of the production process. As a result, he produced 1,000 sugar barrels a day. That name increased during the 1870s. In 1879, Vadí made a partnership with German entrepreneur H. Kuster. Still, due to high debts and the crisis in the sugarcane industry in the late 19th century, Kuster & Vadí sold Coloso to José Arnell Massó in 1897. After buying Central Coloso, Arnell Massó consolidated it with other refinery and sugar mills he had acquired between 1885 and 1895. He also transported the machinery from one of those refineries, Central Monserrate, to Coloso. As a result of this, Central Coloso ended up covering 4,370 acres, of which approximately 500 were cultivated annually. Coloso also processed sugar that other farmers grew. In 1902, a total of 20,000 sugar sacks were processed. During the peak crop time, workers at Coloso reached 1,500. In 1904, French investors acquired Coloso and incorporated it under the name of ''Sucrerie Centrale Coloso de Porto Rico''. In 1915, it was bought by ''West Puerto Rico Sugar Company''. In 1921, it became ''Central Coloso, Inc.'' At this point, it had around 291 acres. During the next decades, Coloso continued a program of expansion and modernization. In 1952, Coloso had a milling capacity of 5,000 tons of sugar daily. That year, sugar production peaked in the island. In 1961, Coloso reached the highest sugar production tonnage at 73,554 tons.


Decline and privatization

The sugar industry started struggling towards the middle of the 20th century due to several reasons: high cost of production, declining sale prices, credit restrictions, and strikes among workers. Another factor was the industrialization of the island, which caused the shift of the local economy to move away from agriculture. Central Coloso continued to be administered as a private industry until 1972 when the
Government of Puerto Rico The government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, organized under the Constitution of Puerto Rico since 1952, is a republican democracy modeled after the Federal Government of the United States. Under a system of separation of powers, the ...
leased it as part of a program to rehabilitate the sugarcane industry. In 1976, the government acquired Central Coloso through the ''Corporación Azucarera de Puerto Rico''. This agency was created with the purpose of developing, improving, and intensifying the industry. During the 1980s, most of the sugar mills and refineries in the island had ceased operations, but Coloso maintained a considerable production tonnage. In 1986, sugarcane production was handed down to private companies. In the 1990s, the government started implementing a program of
privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
of the ''Corporación Azucarera''. In 1998, Coloso became the last operating sugarcane refinery in the island when Central Roig in
Yabucoa Yabucoa () is a town and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern region, north of Maunabo; south of San Lorenzo, Las Piedras and Humacao; and east of Patillas. Yabucoa is spread over 9 barrios and Yabucoa Pueblo (the downtown ar ...
ceased operations. After that, property and assets were transferred to private companies ending in 2000. Coloso continued to process limited sugarcane until 2003 when it officially ceased operations.


Legacy

Since 1999, Law #275 declared the Central Coloso industrial complex as a historic monument. In 2000, Law #142 declared the Coloso Valley where the refinery is located as an agricultural reserve. Both the refinery and the valley are currently property of the
Institute of Puerto Rican Culture An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...
. The Coloso Bridge, used for the transport of sugarcane across the
Culebrinas River The Culebrinas River (; pron. koo-le-BREE-nahs), is a river in northwest Puerto Rico. It originates in southwestern Lares for till it empties into the Mona Passage south of downtown Aguadilla. It goes through Lares, San Sebastián, Moca, Aguad ...
, was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on December 29, 2010.


Property deeds to residents

In 2016, twenty-one families were given property title deeds to Central Coloso land, where they had lived for more than five decades.


Gallery

Alcantarilla ferroviaria, tramo Coloso, Aguada, Puerto Rico.jpg, Bridge and track for the train going to Coloso Sugarmill in Aguada


See also

* Central Cortada *
Central Guánica Central Guánica was a sugar mill located in Ensenada, Guánica, Puerto Rico, Ensenada Barrio in the municipality of Guánica, Puerto Rico. It was one of the largest sugar mills in the Caribbean, and until World War I, it was one of the largest mi ...
* Central San Vicente * Puente de Coloso *
Sugar plantations in the Caribbean Sugar plantations in the Caribbean were a major part of the economy of the islands in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Most Caribbean, Caribbean islands were covered with Sugarcane, sugar cane fields and mills for refining the crop. The main ...


References

*''La sociedad del azúcar en Puerto Rico'', 1870–1910; Ramos Mattei, Andrés, Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1988. *''El verdor y dulce de nuestra caña de azúcar''; Zayas Rivera, Duhamel, 2004. *''Trasfondo histórico de la hacienda azucarera puertorriqueña: 1523–1942''; Oficina Estatal de Conservación Histórica. {{reflist


External links


Central Coloso
on Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico Industrial buildings and structures in Puerto Rico Aguada, Puerto Rico Sugar refineries Sugar industry of Puerto Rico 1820s establishments in Puerto Rico