Vayas 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' ...

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 Playa, Bucana, Canas and Capitanejo, Vayas is also one of Ponce's five coastal barrios. Together with Capitanejo, Vayas is also one of two rural coastal barrios in the municipality. It was organized in 1831, at which time it was divided into Vayas Norte and Vayas Sur; in 1878 the two were subsequently merged into today's Vayas.

History

Barrio Vayas is one of the oldest barrios in Ponce, dating from the 1780s. Its name can be seen spelled as "Bayas", "Vallas, and even "Ballas", but the official name is nowadays spelled "Vayas". It is believed that name came from the stakes used by farmers to mark the extension of their lands, in the times when those lands were used for pasturing herds.

Location

Vayas is a rural, coastal barrio located in the southern region of the municipality, east of downtown Ponce, 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 ...

. It is located at 18.0107°N 66.5567°W, with an elevation of 43 feet. 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 edges or boundary (a type of fencing) to cordon off a land area or barrio.

Boundaries

It is bounded on the North by PR-1 and La Esperanza Street, on the South by the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

, on the West by Bucara Street/Los Caobos Avenue,

PR-52 Puerto Rico Highway 52 (PR-52), a major toll road in Puerto Rico, is also known as . It was formerly called . It runs from PR-1 in southwest Río Piedras and heads south until it intersects with highway PR-2 in Ponce. At its north end, the sh ...

(roughly), and the Costa Caribe Country Club East Access Road, and on the East by

Río Inabón Río Inabón is one of the List of rivers of Ponce, 14 rivers in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. With a length of some , it is Ponce's second longest river after Río Jacaguas. It is fed by the Río Anón, Río Guayo (which itself is f ...

.U.S. Geological Survey. Topographic Map of Ponce. Map Styles: Map and Shaded. Trails.com. From: USGS. Topo Map. Projection: NAD83/WGS84.
Retrieved 25 February 2010. In terms of barrio-to-barrio boundaries, Vayas is bounded in the North by Sabanetas and

Coto Laurel Coto Laurel (''Barrio Coto Laurel'') is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Anón, Marueño, Guaraguao, Quebrada Limon, Real, and San Patricio, and the coastal barrios of Canas and Capitanejo, Coto ...

, in the South by the

, in the West by Bucaná, and in the East by Capitanejo. Mercedita Airport.JPG,

Mercedita Airport Mercedita International Airport (AIM) () is an international airport located three nautical miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The airport covers 270 '' cuerdas'' (approx. 262.2 acres) of land ...

in Barrio Vayas Destileria Serralles administrative offices, PR-5506, Barrio Vayas, Ponce, Puerto Rico, looking northeast (DSC05078).jpg, Destileria Serralles

Features and demographics

Unlike most other barrios of Ponce, Vayas' landscape is entirely flat. Vayas has the third longest coastline of all five of Ponce's coastal barrios, after Canas and Playa. Vayas has of land area and of water area. In 2000, the population of Vayas was 1,338 persons, and it had a density of 188 persons per square mile.Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Office of Territorial Planning. (Municipio Autonomo de Ponce. Oficina de Ordenacion Territorial.) Mapa de Localizacion Limite de Barrios de Ponce.
Retrieved 20 February 2010. In 2010, the population of Vayas was 901 persons, and it had a density of 127.1 persons per square mile. The main roads serving barrio Vayas are

and PR-1.

Notable landmarks

Vayas barrio is home to Ponce's

and Destileria Serralles. The community of Vayas Torres is among the communities located in Barrio Vayas.Eli Oquendo-Rodriguez. ''Barrios de Ponce: Noticias y microhistorias de ocho comunidades ponceñas en la historia, siglos XVI al XIX.'' 2019. p. 209.

Notable people from Vayas

Carmín Vega Carmín Vega (born 6 September 1955) is a Puerto Rican singer and comedian. She has been called "the woman with a thousand voices and a thousand faces".

, comedian from the Mercedita sector of Barrio Vayas.

References

External links

''Management Plan for La Esperanza Nature Preserve in Ponce, Puerto Rico.''
Matthew Bourque, Drew Digeser, Stephen Partridge, Hussein Yatim. Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Worcester, Massachusetts. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2013. {{Subject bar, auto=y, d=y Barrio Vayas 1831 establishments in Puerto Rico Populated coastal places in Puerto Rico