Bucaná, Ponce Explained

Official Name:	Bucaná
Native Name Lang:	es
Settlement Type:	Barrio
Pushpin Map:	Caribbean
Pushpin Map Caption:	Location of Puerto Rico
Coordinates Footnotes:	^[1]
Subdivision Type:	Commonwealth
Subdivision Name:	Puerto Rico
Subdivision Type1:	Municipality
Subdivision Name1:	Ponce
Unit Pref:	Imperial
Area Total Sq Mi:	2.16
Area Land Sq Mi:	1.37
Area Water Sq Mi:	0.79
Population As Of:	2010
Population Note:	Source: 2010 Census
Population Total:	3630
Population Density Sq Mi:	2669.1
Timezone:	AST
Utc Offset:	-4
Elevation Ft:	0

Bucaná is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Together with Canas, Playa, Vayas, and Capitanejo, Bucaná is one of the municipality's five coastal barrios. The name of this barrio is of native Indian origin.^[2] It was founded in 1831.^[3]

History

Prior to being established as a barrio of Ponce, around 1597, the bay of Ponce had a small place populated by Christian European settlers that was called Bucaná.^[4] In 1800, Bucaná was known as Coto Bucaná,^[5] a type of grant of land suitable for farming to a resident by the Spanish king in recognition for some service provided by the resident to the King.^[6]

Location

Bucaná is an urban barrio located in the southern section of the municipality, within the Ponce city limits, and southeast of the traditional center of the city, Plaza Las Delicias. The toponymy, or origin of the name, alludes to the river that makes its way through it, Río Bucaná.^[7]

Boundaries

It is bounded on the North by Marginal Street/PR-578 (one block north of PR-1), on the South by the Caribbean Sea, on the West by Rio Bucana, PR-2 (roughly), Rio Portugues, and the Portugues-Bucana Rivers Channel, and on the East by Bucara Street/Los Caobos Avenue, PR-52 (roughly), and the Costa Caribe Country Club East Access Road.^[8]

In terms of barrio-to-barrio boundaries, Bucaná is bounded in the North by Sabanetas, in the South by the Caribbean Sea, in the West by San Anton and Playa, and in the East by Vayas.^[9]

Demographics

Bucaná has 1.34sqmi of land area and 0.81sqmi of water area. In 2000, the population of Bucaná was 3,963 persons, with a density of 2,958 persons per square mile.^{[10] [11]} In 2010, the population of Bucaná was 3,630 persons, with a density of 2,669.10 persons per square mile.^[12] It has the shortest coastline of all five of Ponce's coastal barrios.

The communities of Los Caobos and Camino del Sur are found in Bucana.^[13]

Major roads in barrio Bucana are PR-1, PR-578 and PR-52.^[14]

Landmarks

Barrio Bucaná is home to the Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park.

See also

• List of communities in Puerto Rico

External links

• Management Plan for La Esperanza Nature Preserve in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Matthew Bourque, Drew Digeser, Stephen Partridge, Hussein Yatim. Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Worcester, Massachusttes. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2013.

Notes and References

1. Web site: US Gazetteer 2019. US Census . US Government.
2. Sunny A. Cabrera Salcedo. Hacia un Estudio Integral de la Toponimia del Municipio de Ponce, Puerto Rico. Ph. D. dissertation. May 1999. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Graduate School. Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Page 54.
3. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~poncepr/barrios.html Barrios de Ponce.
4. http://www2.pr.gov/oech/oech/Documents/Lo%20mas%20Reciente/Libros%20Municipios/Ponce.pdf Ponce: Notas para su Historia (second Edition).
5. http://edicionesdigitales.info/biblioteca/historiaponce.pdf Verdadera Y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce.
6. http://edicionesdigitales.info/biblioteca/historiaponce.pdf Verdadera Y Auténtica Historia de la Ciudad de Ponce.
7. Government of the Municipality of Ponce. Periodico "El Señorial". Special issue: Carnaval Ponceño 2013. February 2013. Page 17. Ponce, Puerto Rico.
8. http://www.gis.otg.gobierno.pr/webcensus/ General Purpose Population Data, Census 2000. Unidad de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, Área de Tecnología de Información Gubernamental, Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto. Gobierno de Puerto Rico.
9. http://www.visitponce.com/oficina_permisos/Anuncio/Barriosdeponce.pdf Mapa de Localizacion Limite de Barrios de Ponce. Oficina de Ordenacion Territorial. Municipio Autonomo de Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico.
10. http://boricuaonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=99999999&limit=1&limitstart=1 BoricuaOnline. Source: US Census Bureau.
11. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=05000US72113&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-PH1&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-redoLog=false&-format=CO-2&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_GCTPH1_CO2 Ponce Municipio, Puerto Rico -- County Subdivision and Place: GCT-PH1. Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2000 (Data Set: Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF 1) 100-Percent Data)
12. Book: Puerto Rico:2010:population and housing unit counts.pdf . 2010. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau.
13. http://www.visitponce.com/oficina_permisos/Anuncio/Barriosdeponce.pdf Mapa de Localizacion Limite de Barrios de Ponce. Oficina de Ordenacion Territorial. Municipio Autonomo de Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico.
14. http://www.gis.otg.gobierno.pr/webcensus/ General Purpose Population Data, Census 2000. Unidad de Sistemas de Información Geográfica, Área de Tecnología de Información Gubernamental, Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto. Gobierno de Puerto Rico.