Central Guánica

Central Guánica

View of the Central Guánica, circa 1910
Location of Central Guánica
Country	Puerto Rico
City	Guánica
Coordinates	17.9685°N 66.9296°W / 17.9685; -66.9296
Refinery details
Owner(s)	South Puerto Rico Sugar Company (1901-1967) Gulf and Western Industries (1967-1970s)
Commissioned	1901 (1901)
Decommissioned	1982 (1982)

Central Guánica was a sugar mill located in Ensenada Barrio in the municipality of Guánica, Puerto Rico. It was one of the largest sugar mills in the Caribbean, and until World War I, it was one of the largest mills in the world. It ceased operations in 1982.

History

Its owners, the South Puerto Rico Sugar Company of New Jersey, began construction of the Central Guánica sugar mill in 1901. The Central Guánica was one of the first corporations to organize a company town in Puerto Rico around the sugar mill. The town included a hospital, school and housing facilities.

In 1967, South Puerto Rico Sugar Company was acquired by Gulf and Western Industries, which later sold the sugar mill during the 1970s.

In 2002, the government of Puerto Rico declared the two chimneys of the sugar mill as historic monuments.

Gallery

• 
  South Puerto Rico Sugar Company common stock certificate
• 
  Carloads of sugar cane at the mill (1942)
• 
  Freight train used in hauling cane to the mill from loading stations (1942)
• 
  Sugar cane worker in the vicinity of Guánica, Puerto Rico (1942)
• 
  Inside the mill (circa 1910 and 1935)

See also

• Central Coloso
• Central Cortada
• Central San Vicente