Villa de Santa María de Guadianilla

Villa de Santa María de Guadianilla, today Guayanilla, dates to the 16th century in 1511 and is attributed to Miguel de Toro. Its first settlement stood in the Quebradas neighborhood with its council and municipal administration until 1556, when San Germán was moved from the Guaorabo de Añasco River to this place because of constant attacks by Caribbean Indians and French corsairs. On May 12, 1571, Rodrigo Ortiz Vélez, mayor and lieutenant to war of Villa de Santa María de Guadianilla, acting by royal provision, gathered residents in the Consejo neighborhood and moved the inhabitants to the hills of Santa Marta in San Germán, becoming its founder, first mayor, and lieutenant to war. Many residents refused to move and remained scattered in the Consejo, Sierra Baja, and Macaná neighborhoods. Among them was Domingo Pacheco de Matos, who later repelled a Dutch attack on January 11, 1703, with twenty lancers. His son Fernando Pacheco de Matos of the Guadianilla site became founder, first mayor, and lieutenant to war of Yauco on February 29, 1756. Population growth and strong economic development led the Guadianilla site, represented by twenty-eight founders, to seek independence from Yauco before Governor Miguel de la Torre, which was granted on February 27, 1833. It is remembered as one of the first European settlements in Puerto Rico, and Reverend José María Nazario y Cancel wrote in 1876 that Christopher Columbus arrived at its port, Aguebana lived nearby, and Antigua Guaydía, the first Spanish town on the island, was founded nearby.

Guayanilla, Puerto Rico · United States