The paper investigates and documents the raise and the decay of Sugarcane Mills a productive territorial system, a settlement system, composed by architectural warehouse, harbors and railway infrastructures in Puerto Rico. The Sugarcane Mills characterized the identity, the history and the economy of the island for more than 100 years together with their architectural elements and the workers housing settlements (formal and informal). By 1940, there were 44 mills in operation in Puerto Rico. They were – and still are – dislocated along the coasts next to logistic harbor and in the inner agricultural land. They were served by dedicated railway tracks connecting the productive areas to the coastal line. In the 1940s, however, the mills began to weaken, due to various factors. Between 1951 and 1968, 17 mills ceased operations. At the end of the 1960s, the government tried to rescue the industry through a recovery program and in 1973 created the Sugar Corporation. Despite the fact that the government became the principal sugar producer in Puerto Rico, the mills, both privately and publicly funded, were shut down, one by one. In 2000, operations ceased at the last mills still functioning: Roig in Yabucoa and Coloso, which had operated for nearly 100 years in the municipality of Aguada. The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico has already consider the problem of Sugar Mill preservation although the economic diffi culties are relevant. The paper will provide evidence of other similar case studies discussing the problem of preservation in other countries were the economic and social situation is different, considering also the most recent post-hurricane disaster events.

Puerto Rico: tra Caribe e Sud America, prospettive di sviluppo del patrimonio infrastrutturale e produttivo in una gestione pianificata dell’emergenza post uragano / Canella, Gentucca; Del Monaco, Anna. - (2019), pp. 851-864.

Puerto Rico: tra Caribe e Sud America, prospettive di sviluppo del patrimonio infrastrutturale e produttivo in una gestione pianificata dell’emergenza post uragano

CANELLA, Gentucca;Del Monaco, Anna
2019

Abstract

The paper investigates and documents the raise and the decay of Sugarcane Mills a productive territorial system, a settlement system, composed by architectural warehouse, harbors and railway infrastructures in Puerto Rico. The Sugarcane Mills characterized the identity, the history and the economy of the island for more than 100 years together with their architectural elements and the workers housing settlements (formal and informal). By 1940, there were 44 mills in operation in Puerto Rico. They were – and still are – dislocated along the coasts next to logistic harbor and in the inner agricultural land. They were served by dedicated railway tracks connecting the productive areas to the coastal line. In the 1940s, however, the mills began to weaken, due to various factors. Between 1951 and 1968, 17 mills ceased operations. At the end of the 1960s, the government tried to rescue the industry through a recovery program and in 1973 created the Sugar Corporation. Despite the fact that the government became the principal sugar producer in Puerto Rico, the mills, both privately and publicly funded, were shut down, one by one. In 2000, operations ceased at the last mills still functioning: Roig in Yabucoa and Coloso, which had operated for nearly 100 years in the municipality of Aguada. The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico has already consider the problem of Sugar Mill preservation although the economic diffi culties are relevant. The paper will provide evidence of other similar case studies discussing the problem of preservation in other countries were the economic and social situation is different, considering also the most recent post-hurricane disaster events.
2019
Reading Built Spaces. Cities in the making and future urban form
978-88-941188-6-5
sugarcane mills; industrial archaeology; preservation; territorial settlements
02 Pubblicazione su volume::02a Capitolo o Articolo
Puerto Rico: tra Caribe e Sud America, prospettive di sviluppo del patrimonio infrastrutturale e produttivo in una gestione pianificata dell’emergenza post uragano / Canella, Gentucca; Del Monaco, Anna. - (2019), pp. 851-864.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1302152
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