PONCE, PEARL OF THE SOUTH
THE HISTORIC DISTRICT OF PONCE
Antonio Dabán RamÃrez de Arellano, the Governor of Puerto Rico from 1893 to 1895, ordered municipal authorities throughout the Island to segregate their urban centers into three zones: stone construction, fire resistant construction, and non-fire-resistant construction, for fire control purposes.
This led to a mandate that indicated that no structure could be built, rebuilt, or restored within a minimum of 50 meters from the city’s downtown unless it was stoned-built, or it was to be upgraded to a stone-built structure. According to Historian Carmelo Rosario Natal, that is the roots of what almost 70 years later would become the Historic District of Ponce.
​
On June 20th, 1960, Governor Luis Muñoz MarÃn amended the law regarding Historic Districts in Puerto Rico. The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture approved the Governor’s resolution and made it possible for Ponce’s Historic District to be designated.
The Historic District of Ponce included a list of 22 contiguous areas, specific buildings, structures, statues, fountains, plazas, streets, and sectors. It also included and designated an area in barrio La Playa, which is a neighborhood located on the Caribbean Sea shore.
STRUCTURES WITHIN THE HISTORIC DISTRICT OF PONCE ARE CLASSIFIED INTO FOUR CATEGORIES
I
Structures with monumental historic value, and part of the city's heritage.
II
Structures that, while lacking a monumental historic value, possess some qualities of historic, architectural, or cultural interest.
III
Structures of contextual values. These are those structures that may not possess historic, architectural, or cultural value individually, but do enhance the area when they are considered contextually, as part of a larger group, as part of urban characteristic.
IV
Unclassified Structures. Those structures that exist within the historic district whose value has not yet been assessed.
THE HISTORIC DISTRICT OF PONCE CONSISTS OF THREE DISTINCT SUB-DISTRICTS
I
District of the First Order: Area immediately surrounding Plaza Las Delicias. This is the original Historic District of Ponce, designated in 1962.
II
District of the Second Order: This area was added in 1989, around the perimeter of Plaza Las Delicias.
III
District of the Third Order: communities added in 1992: Bélgica, Clausells, Cantera, Mariani and La Alhambra. These communities are close to Plaza Las Delicias, and were founded in the late 19th century, therefore they contain buildings with significant historic value.