Hacienda Mercedita

Abandoned Central Mercedita sugar refinery office building. Note the Snow White Sugar sign and decal on the left of the building facade.

Hacienda Mercedita was a 300-acre (120 ha) sugarcane plantation in Ponce, Puerto Rico, founded in 1861, by Juan Serrallés Colón.[1][2][3] Today Hacienda Mercedita no longer grows sugarcane and its lands are instead used for growing mangoes, grasses, landscape plants and palms, coconut palms, bananas, and seeds.[4]

The Hacienda was the administrative center of the large sugarcane mill called Central Mercedita as well as that of its cane sugar refinery plant which packaged the Snow White brand sugar at its nearby packaging plant.[5] Hacienda Mercedita was also the site of origin of a rum production in 1865 that became the successful Destilería Serrallés rum distillery producing Don Q and other spirits.[6] After operating continuously since 1949,[a] Central Mercedita closed down in December 1994, and its sugar mill site is abandoned and in ruins.[7] The Serrallés rum distillery, however, is an expanding and successful company still operating from the same original location, in barrio Vayas, southeast of the intersection of routes PR-10 and PR-52.[8] Central Mercedita, where the local sugar cane was processed, is now owned by Puerto Rico's Autoridad de Tierras (English: Land Authority).[9] Though Hacienda Mercedita was located in a different barrio, Sabanetas, its location was next to the rum distillery, the two being separated only by La Esperanza street (PR-5506).

  1. ^ 300 acre
  2. ^ Foundation date. Puerto Rico’s New History by James L. Deitz.
  3. ^ "Founder". Archived from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  4. ^ La Sucesión Juan Serrallés, Inc., festeja sus primeros 150 años de historia. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Year 33. Issue 1630. Pages 20-21. 23 February 2015.
  5. ^ "Snow White sugar refinery". Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  6. ^ "Serrallés Rum History begins in 1865". Archived from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  7. ^ Central Mercedita closes its doors Archived 2008-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Map Showing Susceptibility to Rainfall-triggered Landslides in the Municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico: Scientific Investigations Map I-2818. By Mattew C. Larsen, Marylin Santiago, Randall Jibson, and Eduardo Questell. USGS. 2004. Geopolitical Map of the Municipality showing Central Mercedita is located southeast of PR-10 and PR-52. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  9. ^ En el Senado: Promuevem la Central como Centro Agropecuario. Jason Rodriguez Grafal. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 14 October 2009. Page 6.


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