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Cayey ((:kaˈʝei)) is a mountain municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Central Mountain range, north of Salinas and Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east of Aibonito and Salinas; and west of San Lorenzo. Cayey is spread over 21 wards plus Cayey Pueblo, the downtown area and the administrative center of the city. It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area. Cayey is notable for its surrounding mountains. The city has been actively growing since the 1990s, evidenced by its designation as a Metropolitan Area by the U.S. Census Bureau. It has experienced significant growth in commerce, and many major retailers, such as Wal-Mart have opened stores in this city. A new coliseum and hospital facilities have also been built. Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble are two major corporations that have manufacturing facilities in the town. Cayey is also host to one of the campuses of the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. ==History== Cayey was founded on August 17, 1773 by Juan Mata Vázquez, who became its first mayor. It is said that Cayey derives its name from the Taino Indian word for "a place of waters". Its original name was "Cayey de Muesas" in honor of Miguel de Muesas, the then governor of Puerto Rico. The town is located in a valley nestled between Puerto Rico's Cordillera Central mountain range and the Sierra de Cayey at roughly the midpoint of routes PR-1 and PR-52. The routes lead to a road that provides a panoramic view of the island. Cayey's economy has and remains agriculturally based on tobacco, sugar cane and general fruits. Unfortunately, its agricultural economy that evolved starting in the 1950s has diminished considerably to date. Most of its agricultural products are imported from other islands in the Caribbean or mainland United States. During the first half of the 20th century,〔Life in Cayey during the first part of the 20th century, and the last part of the 19th century, is exquisitely detailed in "Obras Completas" by Cayey's native son Miguel Melendez Muñoz〕 Cayey was basically an agricultural area of small farmers and local haciendas dedicated to the farming of crops for the local market. During the 1920s and 1930s farmers increasingly lost their land to absentee landowners, mostly American companies, that turned to the cultivation of sugar cane and, to a lesser extent, tobacco for export. In the 1950s and 1960s some manufacturing concerns established plants in Cayey taking advantage of tax incentives offered by "Operation Bootstrap", Puerto Rico's industrialization program. An industrial base, in 1947 Cayey saw the beginning of industrial entrepreneurship. There were three factories in town, the Caribe Flower Co. in the Palo Seco neighborhood, a Baseball Factory in the Toita neighborhood, and a Uniform Factory in the back of the High School. These factories employed mostly females. By 1950 the men that worked agriculture became excess population and began to migrate to the United States or join the military. In 1950 with the approval of Fomento Industrial and Operation Bootstrap there was a boom of light factories in Cayey. The Gordonshire Knitting Mill in the Guayama road had twelve large building and ran two shifts with more than 1,000 employees, and the Consolidated Cigar Corporation across from the road from the Reparto Montellano neighborhood operated three shifts employing over 2,500 from Cayey and surrounding towns. An education base that began in the early to mid-1950s when the Inter-American University opened a branch in Cayey providing teacher training through a night class scheme. In 1967 the University of Puerto Rico opened a campus in the former Henry Barracks Military Reservation, and in the early 1980s El Turabo University, subsidiary of the Ana G. Mendez conglomerate opened a campus in the old Tabaco Factory at the entrance of town. The Interamerican University will be opening a Graduate campus in front of the Plaza (Center of town), and there are conversations with a foreign educational concern to open a technology campus using the buildings left over by the Gordonshire Knitting Mills. There is three major private schools: Radians School, the long established Colegio de Nuestra Senora de la Merced and La Milagrosa School. Cayey's health care base expanded in the mid-1960s with the Mennoite Medical Center and a Municipal Hospital along with laboratories, and urgent care centers that cater to the poor and the elderly. With the construction of the Interstate (route 52), Cayey has evolved into a "bedroom community" with gated housing developments, located just 30 minutes away from San Juan and 45 minutes away from Ponce. With pleasant weather and good private schools, Cayey has become a premium location for the affluent. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cayey, Puerto Rico」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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