SANTURCE, SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

'Santurce' is a district or ''barrio'' in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The name Santurce comes from Basque, and in that language it is written as ''Sant Urtzi'' , which literally translates to St. George.

Contents

Geography

History

Subdivision

Transportation

Culture

Places of interest

Notable Inhabitants

Sports

References

Geography

Santurce is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean in the north, with more than five km of beaches from the Condado peninsula in the west, to a point 600 m east of “Punta Las Marías”, where it borders on Isla Verde district of Carolina, and “Laguna San José” and its northern embayment, “Laguna Los Corozos” to the east.
To the south by “Caño de Martín Peña”, and the northern barrios of former municipio Río Piedras (Hato Rey Norte, Hato Rey Central, Oriente),
and to the west with the “Bahia of San Juan”, where three bridges; “Puente Dos Hermanos” (Ave. Ashford), “Puente G. Esteves” (Ave. Ponce de León) and “Puente San Antonio” (Ave. Fernandes Juncos) connect Santurce with “La Isleta” (small island) where Old San Juan is located.

History

Originally settled by the native Tainos, the area later became home to a significant population of slaves of African ancestry who arrived from the neighboring Danish Virgin Islands. Due to the abundance of crabs found in the area, the district became commonly known as “Cangrejos” (the Spanish word for crabs). Throughout the centuries, the district continued to grow due to its location at the crossroads between San Juan and its southern suburbs.
In 1876, Pablo Ubarri, an engineer from the Basque Country region of Spain arrived on the island to help in the construction of a railroad system and a steam tramway between San Juan and the town of Rio Piedras trough the center of “Cangrejos” which prompted the colonization of the district. Many years after his arrival he is granted the title of Count of Santurce by the Spanish Crown. With his newly acquired title and influence, the district is renamed after his title. The neighboring Condado also received its present-name from Ubarri's title, as the district’s name literally translates to “county” (which in medieval tradition is land granted by a monarch to a count).^[1]
During most of the 1930s and up to the 1950s, Santurce along with neighboring district Miramar becomes one of the most vibrant areas of the capital. However, by the 1970s, most of the district had fallen into decay and it hasn’t been able to recapture the luster and vibrance it once had.
Today, the district is starting to see a resurgence in importance and life as many business and local establishments such as bars, clubs, and restaurants have opened their doors to locals and tourists alike due to the importance of trade and tourism in San Juan.

Subdivision

Santurce is subdivided into 40 “sub-barrios”. Many of the “sub-barrios” belong to belong sub-sectors.

''Sub-barrio''	Land Area (m²)	Population (Census 2000)	Density km-2
Alto del Cabro	156717	1164	7427,4
Bayola	71645	564	7872,1
Bolívar	163417	1223	7483,9
Buenos Aires	446986	1303	2915,1
Campo Alegre	123061	942	7654,7
Chícharo	75355	722	9581,3
Condadito	62470	748	11973,7
Condado	824791	6170	7480,7
Figueroa	350927	1016	2895,2
Gandul	167753	2035	12130,9
Herrera	123369	1841	14922,7
Hipódromo	268195	2017	7520,6
Hoare	363490	3	8,3
Isla Grande1)	2039968	753	369,1
La Zona	379687	1280	3371,2
Las Casas2)	803500	6775	8431,9
Las Marías	242223	1172	4838,5
Las Palmas	316171	2772	8767,4
Loíza	323012	2139	6622
Machuchal	140008	1212	8656,6
María Moczó	106196	1964	18494,1
Marruecos	267165	0	0
Martín Peña	185692	415	2234,9
Melilla	129544	926	7148,2
Merhoff	300801	2992	9946,8
Minillas	215963	1484	6871,5
Miramar	632154	5440	8605,5
Monteflores	172397	1657	9611,5
Barrio Obrero	1034200	11467	11087,8
Ocean Park	520891	1976	3793,5
Parque	299804	3251	10843,8
Pozo del Hato	176987	137	774,1
Pulguero	131613	1196	9087,2
Sagrado Corazón	345472	1646	4764,5
San Juan Moderno	91500	1083	11836,1
San Mateo	168864	1989	11778,7
Seboruco	167887	2198	13092,1
Shanghai	686961	11331	16494,4
Tras Talleres	168076	2453	14594,6
Villa Palmeras	163389	2648	16206,7
Santurce	13568557	94067	6932,7

¹⁾ recently named Puerto Rico Convention Center
²⁾ including “Isla Guachinanga” in the “Laguna San José”

Transportation

Santurce is served by a metro system called “Tren Urbano” (Urban Train), with the Sagrado Corazón station located on the central-south-east section of the district, an area known as “Parada 27” (Stop 27), which evokes the names of the old trolley stops. Various bus lines (guaguas) operated by the Metropolitan Bus Authority (Autoridad Metropolitana de Autobuses or AMA in Spanish) provide service in the area as well.

Culture

Places of interest

★ Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferre - Award wining fine arts center is a modern architectural masterpiece.

★ Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico - The Puerto Rican Art Museum

★ Museo de Arte Contemporaneo - Museum of Contemporary Art

★ Plaza del Mercado de Santurce - Historic Marketplace

★ Plaza del Condado - Charming neighborhood square

Notable Inhabitants

★ Pura Belpré - author

★ Carlito, WWE Raw - professional wrestler

★ Jessica Cristina - Merengue artist

★ José Ferrer - actor/director/producer

★ Antonin Nechodoma - architect, (Born in Prague,Czechoslovakia, resided in Santurce)

★ Joaquin Phoenix - actor

★ Benicio del Toro - actor

★ Carlos Ponce - actor/singer

★ Daniel Santos - singer

★ Jorge Posada - New York Yankees baseball player

★ Arturo Alfonso Schomburg - historian

★ Angel Tomás, Cordero Jr. - race jockey

★ Pablo Ubarri - Engineer / entrepreneur, (Born in Vizcaya,
Basque Country region of Spain, resided in Santurce)

Sports

Santurce currently has a basketball team and in the past had a baseball team for over 70 years. Both teams are known as the Santurce Crabbers, because of the original name of the district.
Santurce was one of the original teams in Puerto Rico's Professional Baseball League. They were the first Puerto Rican team to win the Caribbean World Series (in 1951) and the first to win a second Series (in 1953). In total, Santurce won 12 domestic titles from 1951 until 2000, and five Caribbean World Series. However, after several years of declining attendance, the team moved to Manatí in 2004.
In basketball, the Crabbers currently play in the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum (Coliseo de Puerto Rico) for important games and the Coliseo Mario Morales for games against teams from small towns. The attendance for games at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico is usually between 7,000 and 12,000 and for games in the Coliseo Mario Morales is between 500 and 1,000. They have won 7 tittles (1962, 1966, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003) and have been runners-up 4 times (1942, 1951, 1952, 1964 and 2006).

References

1. Cangrejos - Santurce - Authors; Aníbal Sepúlveda, Jorge Carbonell, Centro de Investigaciones CARIMAR, Oficina Estatal de Preservación Histórica. (Spanish)