Ponce Firehouse
Description
Lateral view of the Ponce Firehouse. The building is mostly constructed of wood, with design influences from Neo-Arabic and Gothic styles. It features a central open section and two two-story side towers. Additionally, it has narrow rectangular windows with fanlight and lambrequins decorating the roof. It is painted with horizontal stripes of two colors. The park abuts the back of the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Church (Catholic), from which its dome with a lantern is visible. Both buildings are located in Las Delicias Square. There is a group of men gathered in front of the fire station, among them, two soldiers can be distinguished.| Origin Name |
Box 428, Folder 3, Photo 4914
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| Relation |
San Juan National Historic Site (NPS) > San Juan NHS Resource Records Collection > Series VIII Visual Materiales 1788-2017, Subseries B Photographs 1890 - 2011 > Box 428 - Folder 3 - 1898 Collection (30) - Undated
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| Geographical Coverage |
Ponce
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| Date |
[1898/1899?]
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| Descriptive Notes |
Title assigned by the cataloging team.
The general description, date, or geographical coverage has information furnished by the San Juan National Historic Site, Puerto Rico.
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| Descripción decolonial |
Since its conception as pavilion for the Exhibition Fair of Ponce, in 1882, the Firehouse makes part of the construction of a Puerto Rican cultural identity. Initially it served in the activity coordinated by the creole elite of the municipality to position it as an international commerce axis outside of the capital city during the Spanish colonial period. At that moment, the identity of the elite, influenced by the eurocentrism dictated from the government institutions, organizes the Fair as an event to exhibit the products manufactured locally taking advantage of the commerce generated between the harbor area of Ponce and other countries. The celebration of horse races, dance balls at the casino and literary evenings, amongst other activities, mirror the social dynamics of a privileged elite which emulates the behavior and customs imposed along centuries of Spanish colonial acculturation, while their concern of presenting internationally the products manufactured in the island denote the construction of a self-perception by the creole who recognizes their otherness and seeks to participate of the power relations which govern the colony. After the Fair, the building serves as a firehouse until it is transformed into a museum, in 1990. At this new facet, it also takes part in the formation of a Puerto Rican cultural identity by keeping alive the memory of the firefighters who, defying the orders given by the military government of the United States in the island, served during the fire that consumed the army’s arsenal in 1899.
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| Colaborador |
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| Historical Background | |
| Architectural Subject |
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| Decolonial Subject | |
| Rights |
The PRAHA does not own the rights to this resource. The user must contact the repository or archive that holds the physical document to determine the restrictions that may apply under the Copyright and Intellectual Property Law or by agreements agreed with donors.
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| Editor |
Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín
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| Resource Format |
JPEG
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| Resource Type |
Image
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