Adjuntas, Puerto Rico - History

History

Although there are petroglyphs and traces of Taíno people in Adjuntas, there is no proof that the region was dominated by a specific cacique. Nearby caciques like Guarionex and Urayoán could've had some control over the area.

According to historian Aurelio Tió, during the Spanish colonization of Puerto Rico in the 16th Century, it is believed that a Spanish interpreter called Juan González settled in the region. Also, historian Cayetano Coll y Toste wrote a leyend about Spanish people looking for gold in the region of Adjuntas.

As the colonization progressed, Adjuntas became part of the San Blas de Illescas de Coamo village, which was founded in 1579 and became the most important settlement in the south. It is believed that the name "Adjuntas" derives from the term of "being close" to Coamo. As population shifted to Ponce, Adjuntas became more linked to that town, and then to Utuado, being a ward of this municipality in 1739.

With 20 families established in the region, the residents of Adjuntas vouched for the settlement to be officially recognized. The town of Adjuntas was then founded in August 11, 1815, with Diego Maldonado being elected as its representative. A city hall and public square were built shortly after.

Adjuntas was one of the main cities where the Anusim, Maranos, and other Sephardi Jews settled. Many of these families were of the Torres, Perez or Peretz, and Bennazzar families among others. Berberena and Mozarabes settled there too.

Taíno families from neighboring Utuado can also be found in this area, along with escaped cimarrones, or African slaves, who intermarried with the Taíno. DNA genetic evidence shows that many Africans fled up the Camino Real into the mountains to escape the sugar plantations of Ponce. The Mandinka, Wolof & Fulani mtDNA African haplotype, L1b, is present here. Taíno haplogroups A & C can also be found in this area.

After the mid-19th century, Adjuntas welcomed many immigrants from the Mediterranean islands Corsica and Majorca. Some of them established coffee plantations. During the last decades of the 19th Century, the coffee produced in Adjuntas was exported to Europe, United States and even the Vatican.

Adjuntas was proclaimed a "villa", or a first order municipality, by the Spanish Government Monarchy in 1894. Several years after, the town was occupied by the United States Army forces during the Spanish American War of 1898 and was visited by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.

The discovery of rich deposits of copper, gold and other minerals during the 1960s motivated some local community and environmental leaders to oppose the mining. By the 1990s, they convinced the Puerto Rican government to take a stand against the mining industry, on behalf of conservation. Today, instead of mining, with the leadership of Casa Pueblo, a community organization, Adjuntas leads the preservation of natural resources movement in Puerto Rico.