San Antón
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San Antón is one of the 31
barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...
s of the
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
of
Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...
. Along with
Canas Urbano Canas Urbano is one of the 31 barrio of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Machuelo Abajo, Magueyes Urbano, Portugués Urbano, and San Antón, Canas Urbano is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that are no ...
,
Machuelo Abajo Machuelo Abajo is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Magueyes Urbano, Portugués Urbano, and San Antón, Machuelo Abajo is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that ar ...
, Magueyes Urbano, and
Portugués Urbano Portugués Urbano is one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Machuelo Abajo, Magueyes Urbano, and San Antón, Portugués Urbano is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that ar ...
, San Antón is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that are now also part of the urban zone of the city of Ponce. It is totally enclosed within the Ponce city limits. It was founded in 1818.


History

San Antón is one of Ponce's oldest barrios. It is believed that this is where
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
colonists first settled. It sits on the western bank of
Rio Portugues Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...
. The name San Antón comes from the small chapel that Don Antonio Abad Rodríguez Berrios ordered to be built towards the end of the 16th century to honor San Antonio Abad. It was organized in 1831. In 2010, the Government of Puerto Rico declared it "''Cuna de la Plena''" (English: Birthplace of the
plena Plena is a genre of music and dance native to Puerto Rico. Origins The plena genre originated in Barrio San Antón, Ponce, Puerto Rico, around 1900. It was influenced by the bomba style of music. Originally, sung texts were not associated wit ...
).


Location

San Antón is an urban barrio located in the southern section of the municipality, within the Ponce city limits, and southeast of the traditional center of the city,
Plaza Las Delicias Plaza Las Delicias is the main plaza in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ponce, Puerto Rico. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are locate ...
. The
toponymy Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper na ...
, or origin of the name, is related to the Catholic Church saint San Antonio Abad.


Boundaries

San Anton is bounded on the North by Boulevard Miguel Pou/ PR-1 and Nine Street (Calle 9) of Urb. Jardines Fagot, on the South by PR-2, on the West by
Rio Portugues Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...
, Emilio Fagot Avenue, and Boulevard Miguel Pou/ PR-1, and on the East by PR-2 (roughly) and Rio Bucana. In terms of barrio-to-barrio boundaries, San Antón is bounded in the North by
Machuelo Abajo Machuelo Abajo is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Magueyes Urbano, Portugués Urbano, and San Antón, Machuelo Abajo is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that ar ...
and Sabanetas, in the South by Playa, in the West by Cuarto, Quinto, and
Canas Urbano Canas Urbano is one of the 31 barrio of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Machuelo Abajo, Magueyes Urbano, Portugués Urbano, and San Antón, Canas Urbano is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that are no ...
, and in the East by Sabanetas and Bucaná.


Demographics

San Antón has an estimated of land area and of water area. In 2000, the population of San Antón was 11,271 persons, representing an estimated population density of 6,630 persons per square mile. In 2010, the population of San Antón was 10,992 persons, and it had a density of 9,727.4 persons per square mile. The communities of Caracoles, Constancia, Jardinet Fagot, Valle Verde, and San Anton (proper) are located in this barrio.


San Anton proper


The neighborhood

Houses in this neighborhood are small, wooden houses, looking "as if they were a '
relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...
from the past" when contrasted with the modern, middle-class suburban homes in other parts of the Ponce, such as Constancia, which is next to the old, original San Anton proper, which is still standing.Revolutionary Ideas in Planning: Identity, Power & Place @ The Margins By Wanda I. Mills, Department of Urban Planning, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Proceedings of the 1998 National Planning Conference. AIC Press. 1998.
The two residential communities exist side-by-side along the fringes in urban Ponce. Compared to other nearby communities San Anton steadfastly clings to its traditions.


History

The 1950s introduced a period of economic transformation, and the emergence of the Ponce middle class. The era was characterized by the transition from agricultural capitalism to industrial capitalism. Immediately following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the federal government encouraged the growth of industries,
highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...
s and development
infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...
,
mass-produced Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...
single family homes and
urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...
in Ponce and the rest of Puerto Rico. The rural agricultural lands that once encircled San Anton were rapidly absorbed and behind was left but a skeleton of the community that this neighborhood once was. San Anton is often referred to as the "barrio of the freed slaves." The barrio houses the remaining progeny of the largest concentration of freed blacks in southern Puerto Rico. Surnames there such as Roque, Cabrera, Franceschi, Tricoche, Arce and Oppenheimer link the predominantly black residents of this barrio to their 19th century European and Creole "estate owners." The barrio is located in close proximity to what were
sugar cane 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 ...
fields and three major central sugar
mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...
s, Mercedita, Hacienda La Fe, and Hacienda Teresa. When the enslaved peoples received their freedom in 1873, the former masters passed on land rights to some residents; while others migrated to San Anton from nearby
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
or distant
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
islands. Besides its working class contributions, San Anton is recognized nationally and internationally for its contributions to the development of the Puerto Rican popular music of Bomba and
Plena Plena is a genre of music and dance native to Puerto Rico. Origins The plena genre originated in Barrio San Antón, Ponce, Puerto Rico, around 1900. It was influenced by the bomba style of music. Originally, sung texts were not associated wit ...
. Over the years, the community also offered up a disproportionate number of accomplished artists, athletes and popular hero(ine)s. By the early 1960s, however, pivotal political decisions gave way to a massive "development" program, which encouraged the disintegration of the larger San Anton barrio and produced a decline in its cultural production. Most of the residents were displaced to newly constructed housing projects, while others migrated north to the
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...
Metropolitan center or to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.


Transition

The remnants of the San Anton of old were described in the 1960s as "dilapidated wooden houses shielded with scraps of
galvanized Galvanization ( also spelled galvanisation) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are coated by submerging them in a bath o ...
sheeting, crooked alleys, abandoned open spaces, stagnant water" and other such phrases. By 1992, the area's zoning was changed from medium density residential zoning (R-3), to the category of "Conceptual Development/ Redevelopment Area". This change implied a shift from medium density residential (no retail businesses) to an open category that allowed for commercial, industrial, residential, or combined land use. A connector road was scheduled to pass through the community, in order to connect the regional highway network to nearby vacant lands. One author notes that given these changes, it was obvious that time and development had placed the residents of this barrio in a position of no return. "Regional infrastructural expansion, the potential increase in area property values, the community's proximity to the central business district and major transportation routes, the area's mature landscape, and relatively undeveloped lands are sure to encourage speculation and future commercial development."


The 'Ponce en Marcha' plan

In the early 1990s the city of Ponce was undergoing a massive revitalization program, known as "Ponce en Marcha." The "Ponce en Marcha" plan sought to recuperate the Ponce's urban center, and restore the architectural qualities of the city's golden age of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The program encompassed the historic zone, transportation routes,
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
, and improvements to the urban infrastructure. The city also targeted several low-income communities for revitalization. These included the popular neighborhoods of Arenas de Betances (at Mayor Street) and
25 de Enero Street Calle 25 de Enero (lit., 25 January Street) is a street and historic Victorian block located in barrio Segundo in Ponce, Puerto Rico, built to house Ponce's volunteer firemen and their families, after the historic fire that took place in the ci ...
. Although, the San Anton neighborhood was also programmed for revitalization, a question of legitimacy quickly arose, questioning whether San Anton had revitalization merit. "The municipal government proposed to "align" (urbanize) the existing residential structures in San Anton while maintaining the typology of "how San Anton appeared in the days of yesteryear." By allotting individual parcels, the Office of Housing and Community Development reasoned that San Anton would become more efficient and modernized. In reality, this view implied reorganizing San Anton's spatial patterns to suit the administrative interests of the Ponce municipal government. The municipal government was less concerned about the tangible and invisible spatial characteristics of the barrio that encouraged security, social contact, relationships, and the perpetuation of local understandings among its residents. One dissenting urban planner asserted that: "It is certain that the San Anton barrio is one of the poorest communities in Ponce, and that it is at an advanced state of physical degradation. However, one cannot overlook the need to conserve the neighborhood's social and urban characteristics. San Anton's 'organic' development patterns have contributed significantly to the community's quality of life which is conserved to this day, and which contemporary urban developments are often unable to achieve"


Resident complaints

Residents revolted against the government's plans for their community. For example, San Anton resident and school teacher Maria Judith Banchs Cabrera described San Anton's spatial and social traditions indicating that every family yard has its own particular characteristics, and way of life, which have developed over the years and that these understandings bypass the findings any sociological report that the municipality may have engaged in. It became clear to the municipal government that if they removed a person from their property, they would be taking them away from their origins, their ancestors, and thus aligning the properties would cause problems. It recognized that most architects did not understand this sociological element.


Today

In the end the City had to yield to most resident demands. The residents, for their part, seeing the benefits that revitalization elsewhere in Ponce had brought to those communities conceded to giving it a try also and, by 1998, the neighborhood was revitalized. By 2000 approximately 40 San Anton households moved into their new homes which still conserved the spatial arrangement the residents were used to. New water lines were installed, and street lighting, sidewalks, and cul-de-sac layouts are now an integral part of San Anton.


Legacy

A music video by local recording star,
Ednita Nazario Edna María Nazario Figueroa (born April 11, 1955) is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer who has achieved stardom both at home and abroad. She has been in the music business from a young age and has released twenty-three studio albums, seven live ...
, was filmed against the backdrop of the renewed community.


Notable landmarks

San Anton is home to the Ceiba Tree Park. San Anton proper has a small park named "Rafael "Caró" Maldonado".


Notable people from San Antón

* Isabel la Negra * Jorge Roque * Felix Maldonado * Luis Antonio ("Mambo") de León Tricoche *
Wichie Torres Wichie Torres (29 March 1952 – 7 February 2020) was a Puerto Rican oil canvas painter. He was an exponent of the costumbrismo movement. He is also the first person in the Central America and Caribbean region to have ever undergone two indepe ...
* Juan "Papo" Franceschi * Otto VelezFundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades. ''Ponce Ciudad Museo 2001.'' 2001. p. 114.


Gallery

File:Restaurante La Casa del Chef, Mall Centro del Sur, Bo. San Anton, Ponce, PR, mirando hacia el suroeste (DSC01438).jpg, Puerto Rican food restaurant on the campus of
Centro del Sur Mall Centro del Sur Mall is a shopping mall in Ponce, Puerto Rico. At the time of its inauguration in 1962,Carmelo Rosario Natal. ''Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945-2002.'' Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Auton ...
File:Parque Ecologico Urbano, entrada, mirando hacia el oeste, en Ponce, Puerto Rico (DSC07243).JPG, Ecology-themed park on Bulevar Miguel Pou File:Ponce Municipal Library in Barrio San Anton, Ponce, Puerto Rico (6218397557).jpg, Ponce Municipal Library on Bulevar Miguel Pou


See also

*
List of communities in Puerto Rico In the archipelago and island of Puerto Rico, there are 78 municipalities serving as second-level administrative divisions, and 902 barrios proper, consisting of 828 barrios and 74 barrios-pueblos, serving as third-level divisions. Barrios are s ...


References


Further reading


''AN ACT- To recognize San Antón Ward of the Municipality of Ponce as a place of historic and cultural interest, and designate it as the “Cradle of Plena,” and to provide for coordination between the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and the Municipality of Ponce to implement the provisions of this Act, and to promote the historic and cultural values of this community.'' Puerto Rico House of Representatives Bill No. 1392. Act # 91 of 2010. Approved July 26, 2010.
* ''Scripts of Blackness: Race, Cultural Nationalism, and U.S. Colonialism in Puerto Rico.'' Isar P. Godreau. University of Illinois Press. 2015. * ''Globalization and Race: Transformations in the Cultural Production of Blackness.'' Kamari Maxine Clarke and Deborah A. Thomas, editors. Duke University Press. 2006.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:San Anton African diaspora in Puerto Rico Barrio San Antón 1831 establishments in Puerto Rico