Cayey

Sister cities

• Middletown

History

Cayey was founded on August 17, 1773, by Juan Mata Vázquez, who became its first mayor. It is popularly said that Cayey derives its name from the Taíno word for "a place of waters". It was named 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 popular drive that provides panoramic views of the island from its highest points. Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and became a territory of the United States. In 1899, the United States Department of War conducted a census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Cayey was 14,442. An education base began in the early to mid-1950s when the Interamerican 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 tobacco factory at the entrance of town. The Interamerican University will be opening a Graduate campus in front of the main town square (downtown), 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 are 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 Mennonite Medical Center and a Municipal Hospital along with laboratories,…

Geography

Cayey is located in a valley surrounded by the Sierra de Cayey, a branching mountain range of the Cordillera Central where the Carite Forest Reserve is located, and the main ranges of the Cordillera Central to the west. Because of its location, Cayey is known for its mountains, its cool weather and its misty mornings, especially in winter. During Spanish colonial rule, Spanish soldiers assigned to Puerto Rico were sent to Cayey. Its cool weather resembled the weather of Spain and soldiers could become acclimated to the tropical weather. In winter, it is not unusual for the temperature to drop into the . The Carite Forest Reserve *Rivers are: Río Grande de Loíza, Río Guavate, Río Jájome, Río de la Plata and Río Maton. Cayey's climate is humid, rainy and mild compared to lower-elevation areas of the island, the area of the town is nearly high, so the climate is subtropical high. In summer average high Temperatures are around to and to in winter, and low around to in summer and to in winter. The record maximum temperature is and minimum . The average annual rainfall is 100 inches (2,540 mm) and maximum rainfall record in 24 hours is 20.87 inches (530 mm) of rain. The golden coquí (Eleutherodactylus jasperi; Spanish: coquí dorado) is a rare and possibly extinct leptodactylid frog species [https://www.britannica.com/science/endemic-species endemic] to Puerto Rico. Native to the municipality of Cayey, golden coquís have only been found in areas of dense bromeliad growth in the Sierra de Cayey between 2,123 and 2,575 feet (647 and 785 meters) above sea level. They get their name from the song the male coquis sing at night. The golden coqui is the smallest of the coqui frogs in Puerto Rico. Mature adult coquis are roughly the size of a dime.…

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