Ponce City Hall
Encyclopedia
The Ponce City Hall is located on Calle Degetau
, across from Plaza Las Delicias
in the Ponce Historic Zone
in Ponce
, Puerto Rico
. The building serves as the seat of the executive branch of government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce, including the office of the Mayor of Ponce. It is the oldest colonial building in the city, dating to 1840. The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
in 1986 as Casa Alcaldía de Ponce-City Hall.
of the City Hall was the place where executions took place.
The last public hanging on the island happened in its courtyard. It has been visited by four U.S. presidents, and three of them actually gave a speech from the City Hall's front balcony: Theodore Roosevelt
, Herbert Hoover
, and Franklin Roosevelt. George H. W. Bush
visited, as well.
. The facade is said to be constructed of "simple but elegant lines." Its large front facade clock was acquired in England in 1877 at the time the city was given its city charter by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The interior has two courtyard
s designed in the typical architecture of the time and a spacious stairway leads to the main hall of the Municipal Legislature and the office of the mayor.
As the first gobernmental structure in the city, the building incorporates elements designed to display its authoritative role. In fact, the design is contemporary to the 1848 addition to the Royal Palace (La Fortaleza
) in San Juan and displays defensive, military characteristics, such as the butressed street wall, similar to those of the Fortaleza. Most importantly, the vocabulary utilized is purely the Neoclassical Isabelino of the Spanish 19th century, representative of the works performed by the Royal Corps of Engineers of Spain and satisfying the demands of the growing aristocratic population of Ponce.
According to the Laws of the Indies, established in the 16th century to regulate the colonization of towns in the Americas, a settlement was to be planned around a central plaza, with the Holy Catholic church facing westward and the town hall or "Cabildo" (seat of government power) either opposite or adjacent, emphasizing the major and joint role of the church and state in Hispanic society. Located at the southern fringe of the plaza, at the center of the block between Calle Marina and Calle Cristina, the City Hall dominates the street wall between buildings of similar character and demonstrates faithfully the Spanish concept of the urban plaza. Although the interior has been altered during the 20th century in response to the growing needs of the municipal government, the exterior has maintained its individual and contextual integrity. Along with the Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Guadalupe
in the town plaza
, the Ponce City Hall forms an essential element of the urban concept of plaza in Ponce, a Spanish colonial town flourishing during the 19th century.
structure at the south side of the Plaza Degetau, occupying a lot at the center of the block between Calle Marina and Calle Cristina. The building's neoclassical austerity and strong symmetrical character are typical of 19th century Spanish civil architecture.
The main facade consists of two stories, divided into five bays: a three bay central section flanked by and only slightly projecting single-bay section on either side. At the ground level, a very distinctive feature of the City Hall is the continuous, projecting water table which creates the appearance of a fortification
wall. The central entrance consists of a wide rectangular void, framed by an elliptical archivolt molding. This composition is emphasized by a frontispiece consisting of flanking pairs of banded pilasters supporting decorative brackets which, in turn, support a balustered balcony accessed through the second level. The single bay sections have smooth rustication only at the ground floor, terminating at a continuous string course which divides this level from the upper.
All openings other than the main entrance and the second and fourth bays at ground level are articulated with full-height, wooden, double doors with louvre panels. The central entrance houses decorative, wrought-iron railings and its flanking windows begin at a height of approximately four feet. At the upper level bays, baluster rails create balconettes. Planar surrounds frame the window openings, extending above to incorporate separate architrave moldings.
A continuous cornice and parapet
extend across the facade. A pedimented frontispiece composed of a clock
, flanked by pairs of small pairs of Tuscan pilaster
s, capped by an entableture and supported at either side by a scroll element emphasizes the central bay above the running cornice. In addition, a weather vane
rises up above the pediment, further strengthening the symmetrical quality of the facade.
, the town square of Ponce, which contains the historic Parque de Bombas
and the Ponce Cathedral
. The street it is on is called Calle Degetau
.
In 1986 the property was bounded to the North, 27.16 meters long, by Villa and Comercio streets; to the South, 27.10 meters long, by Luna Street; to the West, 75.00 meters long, by the properties of Moscoso Brothers and a lot owned by Mario Mercado Succession (Estate); and to the East, 79.10 meters long, by the properties Sanchez Frasquero Succession (Estate) and a lot owned by Ponce Municipal Government.
was home to one of Ponce's largest general store
s. The Moscoso addition is used by executive offices of the Mayor. The original city hall building is now (in 2010) bounded West by the old Moscoso building which has since been incorporated as Ponce Municipal Government offices, and bounded East by the old El Cometa building which has since also been incorporated by the Municipal Government to become the headquarters of the Legislature of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce.
Federico Degetau
Federico Degetau y González, born in Ponce was a Puerto Rican politician, lawyer, writer, author, and the first Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States House of Representatives.-Early years:...
, across from Plaza Las Delicias
Plaza Las Delicias
Plaza Las Delicias is the main plaza in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located within Plaza Las Delicias. Plaza Las Delicias is actually composed of...
in the Ponce Historic Zone
Ponce Historic Zone
The Ponce Historic Zone is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico with construction that dates to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The zone was originally designated in 1962, and then it only included the center core of the city, but it has since been expanded to...
in Ponce
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. The building serves as the seat of the executive branch of government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce, including the office of the Mayor of Ponce. It is the oldest colonial building in the city, dating to 1840. The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1986 as Casa Alcaldía de Ponce-City Hall.
History
The Ponce City Hall has one of the most unusual histories of any city hall throughout the world, because it was a jail until the end of the 19th century. Rooms currently used as offices were jail cells before, and the courtyardCourtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
of the City Hall was the place where executions took place.
The last public hanging on the island happened in its courtyard. It has been visited by four U.S. presidents, and three of them actually gave a speech from the City Hall's front balcony: Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
, and Franklin Roosevelt. George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
visited, as well.
Design and construction
Construction of the building started in 1844 and was completed in 1847. Engineering and architectural design for the building was directed by Francisco Gil Capó under the oversight of Mayor Salvador de VivesSalvador de Vives
Salvador de Vives Rodó was a Puerto Rican politician and Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico from 1840 to 1842 and then again from 1844 to 1845. He was the son of Quirse Vives and Ana Maria Rodo. He was a wealthy coffee plantation owner who established the now historic Hacienda Buena Vista. Under de...
. The facade is said to be constructed of "simple but elegant lines." Its large front facade clock was acquired in England in 1877 at the time the city was given its city charter by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The interior has two courtyard
Courtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
s designed in the typical architecture of the time and a spacious stairway leads to the main hall of the Municipal Legislature and the office of the mayor.
Significance
By 1848, the population of the Spanish settlement at Ponce had grown sufficiently to merit recognition as a city by Queen Isabel II. The construction of the City Hall coincides with this decree, thus qualifying the building as a landmark to the founding of Ponce.As the first gobernmental structure in the city, the building incorporates elements designed to display its authoritative role. In fact, the design is contemporary to the 1848 addition to the Royal Palace (La Fortaleza
La Fortaleza
La Fortaleza is the current official residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico. It was built between 1533 and 1540 to defend the harbor of San Juan. The structure is also known as Palacio de Santa Catalina . It is the oldest executive mansion in the New World...
) in San Juan and displays defensive, military characteristics, such as the butressed street wall, similar to those of the Fortaleza. Most importantly, the vocabulary utilized is purely the Neoclassical Isabelino of the Spanish 19th century, representative of the works performed by the Royal Corps of Engineers of Spain and satisfying the demands of the growing aristocratic population of Ponce.
According to the Laws of the Indies, established in the 16th century to regulate the colonization of towns in the Americas, a settlement was to be planned around a central plaza, with the Holy Catholic church facing westward and the town hall or "Cabildo" (seat of government power) either opposite or adjacent, emphasizing the major and joint role of the church and state in Hispanic society. Located at the southern fringe of the plaza, at the center of the block between Calle Marina and Calle Cristina, the City Hall dominates the street wall between buildings of similar character and demonstrates faithfully the Spanish concept of the urban plaza. Although the interior has been altered during the 20th century in response to the growing needs of the municipal government, the exterior has maintained its individual and contextual integrity. Along with the Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Guadalupe
Ponce Cathedral
The Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe or simply, Ponce Cathedral, is the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ponce located in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico. The cathedral lies in the middle of Ponce's town square, known as Plaza Las Delicias, located at the center of the Ponce Historic...
in the town plaza
Plaza Las Delicias
Plaza Las Delicias is the main plaza in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located within Plaza Las Delicias. Plaza Las Delicias is actually composed of...
, the Ponce City Hall forms an essential element of the urban concept of plaza in Ponce, a Spanish colonial town flourishing during the 19th century.
Physical appearance
The building is an attached, plastered masonryMasonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
structure at the south side of the Plaza Degetau, occupying a lot at the center of the block between Calle Marina and Calle Cristina. The building's neoclassical austerity and strong symmetrical character are typical of 19th century Spanish civil architecture.
The main facade consists of two stories, divided into five bays: a three bay central section flanked by and only slightly projecting single-bay section on either side. At the ground level, a very distinctive feature of the City Hall is the continuous, projecting water table which creates the appearance of a fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
wall. The central entrance consists of a wide rectangular void, framed by an elliptical archivolt molding. This composition is emphasized by a frontispiece consisting of flanking pairs of banded pilasters supporting decorative brackets which, in turn, support a balustered balcony accessed through the second level. The single bay sections have smooth rustication only at the ground floor, terminating at a continuous string course which divides this level from the upper.
All openings other than the main entrance and the second and fourth bays at ground level are articulated with full-height, wooden, double doors with louvre panels. The central entrance houses decorative, wrought-iron railings and its flanking windows begin at a height of approximately four feet. At the upper level bays, baluster rails create balconettes. Planar surrounds frame the window openings, extending above to incorporate separate architrave moldings.
A continuous cornice and parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
extend across the facade. A pedimented frontispiece composed of a clock
Clock
A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece...
, flanked by pairs of small pairs of Tuscan pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s, capped by an entableture and supported at either side by a scroll element emphasizes the central bay above the running cornice. In addition, a weather vane
Weather vane
A weather vane is an instrument for showing the direction of the wind. They are typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building....
rises up above the pediment, further strengthening the symmetrical quality of the facade.
Uses
In addition to government offices, the Ponce City hall today is the common location for a number of other activities and events, including the famous annual Ponce CarnivalLocation
It fronts onto the Plaza Las DeliciasPlaza Las Delicias
Plaza Las Delicias is the main plaza in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The square is notable for its fountains and for the various monuments it contains. The historic Parque de Bombas and Ponce Cathedral buildings are located within Plaza Las Delicias. Plaza Las Delicias is actually composed of...
, the town square of Ponce, which contains the historic Parque de Bombas
Parque de Bombas
Parque de Bombas is a historic firehouse building in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is one of Puerto Rico's most notable buildings, with some considering it "by far the most easily recognized landmark in the Island". It is located at the Plaza Las Delicias town square, directly behind the Ponce Cathedral...
and the Ponce Cathedral
Ponce Cathedral
The Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe or simply, Ponce Cathedral, is the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ponce located in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico. The cathedral lies in the middle of Ponce's town square, known as Plaza Las Delicias, located at the center of the Ponce Historic...
. The street it is on is called Calle Degetau
Federico Degetau
Federico Degetau y González, born in Ponce was a Puerto Rican politician, lawyer, writer, author, and the first Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico to the United States House of Representatives.-Early years:...
.
In 1986 the property was bounded to the North, 27.16 meters long, by Villa and Comercio streets; to the South, 27.10 meters long, by Luna Street; to the West, 75.00 meters long, by the properties of Moscoso Brothers and a lot owned by Mario Mercado Succession (Estate); and to the East, 79.10 meters long, by the properties Sanchez Frasquero Succession (Estate) and a lot owned by Ponce Municipal Government.
Today
In 1905 the Ponce City Hall stood above all other surrounding structures. Today's Ponce City Hall complex includes the adjacent buildings of Moscoso and El Cometa. The Legislature of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce occupies the old El Cometa building which during the 20th centuryCentury
A century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
was home to one of Ponce's largest general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
s. The Moscoso addition is used by executive offices of the Mayor. The original city hall building is now (in 2010) bounded West by the old Moscoso building which has since been incorporated as Ponce Municipal Government offices, and bounded East by the old El Cometa building which has since also been incorporated by the Municipal Government to become the headquarters of the Legislature of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce.
External links
- National Parks Service Images
- The downtown Ponce "Farmacias Moscoso" building, now part of City Hall. The building used to be called "The Porto Rico Drug Company" before it was renamed "Moscoso Hermano and Co., Inc.", the name it currently displays in addition to "Edificio Municipal" (Municipal Building). Accessed January 5, 2011.