Editing Caguas, Puerto Rico (section)

==History==
The area of the [[Caguas Valley|Valley of Caguas]] was first settled by the [[Saladoid|Saladoid culture]], an [[Arawak]] culture which originated in northern South America (today [[Venezuela]]), approximately between the years 100 BCE to 600 CE. Findings from the Cagüitas archaeological site (CS-2) indicate that the area was later inhabited by various pre-[[Taíno]] (Ostionoid) cultures which first developed agriculture in the valley, primarily the cultivation of [[cassava]], and hunted now extinct species such as [[Puerto Rican hutia|hutias]].

As with the rest of Puerto Rico, the [[Taíno]]s were the primary group living in the valley at the time of the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish arrival]]. The Spanish [[conquistador]]s further developed the agriculture in the valley, while also establishing mines in search of [[gold]], [[silver]] and [[copper]]. Most of the native Taínos living in the area were either forced out or taken as slaves and moved to the Real Hacienda del Toa (in modern-day [[Toa Alta, Puerto Rico|Toa Alta]] and [[Toa Baja, Puerto Rico|Toa Baja]]). Most of the valley was later cleared of its original vegetation for the development of cattle farms such as ''Hato de Bairoa'', ''Hato de Caguax'' and ''Hato de Gurabo''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Katia Gil|first=de Lamadrid Pesant|url=https://issuu.com/katia-gildelamadrid/docs/caguas-transformaciones-territoriales|title=Caguas: Transformaciones territoriales desde el período colonial hasta 1952|publisher=Universidad del Turabo|year=2012|location=Gurabo, Puerto Rico|pages=24–26|language=Spanish}}</ref>

Caguas was officially founded on January 1, 1775, as '''San Sebastián del Piñal de Caguax''', with the name later being shortened and modernized to its current form. The site of the historic [[Caguas barrio-pueblo|downtown]] area of Caguas and its central square dates to 1779. In 1820, the settlement was granted the title of ''Villa'' and it was granted city rights in 1894. [[Sugarcane]] was the primary crop during this time and important sugarcane plantations and refineries were those of Central Santa Juana (close to modern day [[Plaza Centro Mall|Plaza Centro]]) and Central Santa Catalina (modern day [[Las Catalinas Mall]]). The [[Carretera Central (Puerto Rico)|Carretera Central]], which is the first paved road to cross Puerto Rico from north to south connecting [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]] to [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]], was built during the last two decades of the 19th century,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Memoria Viva: la Carretera Central de Puerto Rico|url=https://www.noticel.com/top-stories/memoria-viva/vida/20190609/memoria-viva-la-carretera-central-de-puerto-rico/|access-date=2021-10-21|website=www.noticel.com|language=en-US}}</ref> made Caguas more accessible therefore causing the population of the town to grow even more.[[File:Caguas - Typical scene.jpg|left|thumb|Postcard from 1912 showing a typical street in Caguas at the beginning of the 20th century]]Puerto Rico was ceded by [[Spain]] in the aftermath of the [[Spanish–American War]] under the terms of the [[Treaty of Paris of 1898]] and became a territory of the United States. In 1899, the [[United States Department of War]] conducted a [[census]] of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Caguas was 19,857.<ref name="OfficeSanger1900">{{cite book|author1=Joseph Prentiss Sanger|author2=Henry Gannett|author3=Walter Francis Willcox|title=Informe sobre el censo de Puerto Rico, 1899, United States. War Dept. Porto Rico Census Office|url=https://archive.org/details/informesobreelc00joangoog|year=1900|publisher=Imprenta del gobierno|page=[https://archive.org/details/informesobreelc00joangoog/page/n252 161]|language=es|access-date=2020-06-07|archive-date=2012-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115044918/https://archive.org/details/informesobreelc00joangoog|url-status=live}}</ref>

The city grew considerably in size during the 1970s<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-02-13|title=American FactFinder - Results|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk|access-date=2021-09-06|website=archive.ph|archive-date=February 13, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213114938/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk|url-status=dead}}</ref> and quickly became an [[exurb]] of San Juan to the north due to its location. The region of Caguas became an important [[Pharmaceuticals industry|pharmaceuticals]] manufacturing center during this time. Pharmaceutical companies originally came to Puerto Rico in the late 1960s and 1970s to take advantage of the now-expired federal tax incentive known as ''Section 936''. This incentive allowed U.S.-based manufacturers to send all profits from local plants to stateside parent plants without having to pay any federal taxes.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Samame|first=Juan Carlos|title=Historia|url=https://caguas.gov.pr/historia/|access-date=2021-10-11|website=Municipio de Caguas|language=en-US}}</ref>

Although not typically seen as part of the colloquial ''Área Metro'' of San Juan ([[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]], [[Cataño, Puerto Rico|Cataño]], [[Bayamón, Puerto Rico|Bayamón]], [[Guaynabo, Puerto Rico|Guaynabo]] and [[Carolina, Puerto Rico|Carolina]]), the municipality of Caguas is located in the census-based [[San Juan metropolitan area|San Juan Metropolitan Area]] due to its role as a [[commuter town]]. The average commute time for residents of the municipality is 30.5 minutes.<ref name="Caguas, PR {{!}} Data USA">{{Cite web|title=Caguas, PR {{!}} Data USA|url=https://datausa.io/profile/geo/caguas-pr|access-date=2021-09-06|website=datausa.io|language=en}}</ref> Caguas is the fourth most populous city in the San Juan Metropolitan region and the most populous city in Puerto Rico that is not located in a coastal area.

On August 7, 2002, Caguas was the site of the [[List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (2000–2009)|2002 USAF Hercules air disaster]], where all 10 military personnel on board lost their lives after an airplane carrying them struck a mountain in the south of the municipality.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20020807-0|title=ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed MC-130H Hercules 90-0161 Caguas|first=Harro|last=Ranter|website=Aviation-safety.net|access-date=15 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024012708/http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20020807-0|archive-date=2012-10-24|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Hurricane Maria]] on September 20, 2017, triggered numerous landslides in Caguas with its wind and rain. Rivers were breached causing flooding of low-lying areas, and infrastructure and homes were destroyed. The hurricane caused $90 million in damages in Caguas.<ref name="USGS_Maria_Landslides">{{cite web |title=Preliminary Locations of Landslide Impacts from Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico |url=https://landslides.usgs.gov/research/featured/2017/maria-pr/ |website=USGS Landslide Hazards Program |publisher=USGS |access-date=2019-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303143147/https://landslides.usgs.gov/research/featured/2017/maria-pr/ |archive-date=2019-03-03 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="USGS_Maria_Landslides map">{{cite web |title=Preliminary Locations of Landslide Impacts from Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico |url=https://landslides.usgs.gov/research/featured/2017/maria-pr/images/PR_Maria_LS_density_map.pdf |website=USGS Landslide Hazards Program |publisher=USGS |access-date=2019-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303143147/https://landslides.usgs.gov/research/featured/2017/maria-pr/images/PR_Maria_LS_density_map.pdf |archive-date=2019-03-03 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ENDI Maria 2019">{{cite news | title=María, un nombre que no vamos a olvidar. María dejó en Caguas daños por más de $90 millones | trans-title= María, a name we'll never forget.  $90 million in damages in Caguas left by María |newspaper=El Nuevo Día | date=2019-06-13 | url=https://huracanmaria.elnuevodia.com/2017/municipio/caguas/ | language=es | access-date=2021-05-15}}</ref> More specifically, 40 homes were left without a roof and 30 were flooded in the Morales neighborhood. ''Escuela Segunda Unidad Diego Vázquez'' and the ''Centro Multiusos'' flooded as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-29 |title=Minuto a minuto: AEE restablece parcialmente la energía en el aeropuerto |url=https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/notas/minuto-a-minuto-aee-restablece-parcialmente-la-energia-en-el-aeropuerto/ |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=El Nuevo Día |language=spanish}}</ref>