Draft:The Central Columbia Sugar Factory

Central Columbia abt. 1920

The Central Columbia Sugar Factory was a business created in Maunabo, Puerto Rico after Hurricane San Ciriaco destroyed the area sugar plantations in 1899. It was founded to modernize the sugar industry and replace the 19c ingenios of the individual plantations. Jointly owned by the three largest haciendas in Maunabo, the Garonne, the Bordelaise and the Orleanaise, the ownership shares were distributed according to the size of the respective landholdings -- the C & J Fantauzzi Company (50%), the Clauzel and Verges Company (33.33%), and the Heirs of Otto Riefkohl (16.7%) respectively. The 1903 constitution provided for a twenty year agreement that served the sugar growers of Maunabo and a few from nearby Patillas. In 1928 the factory was destroyed by Hurricane Felipe and, following a liquidation sale in 1929, ownership passed exclusively to the Fantauzzi Company. The Columbia became a trucking way station for Maunabo sugars that were now to be processed at their Central Lafayette factory in Arroyo. In 1936 the Fantauzzi Company sold the Central Lafayette and its extensive landholdings in Arroyo, Patillas and Maunabo to the Puerto Rican Reconstruction Agency for 3.8 million dollars. The Central Columbia continued as a way station under government ownership until closing in 1974. Today the ruins of the central are a local landmark.

Establishment

The Central Columbia was 6.8 acres of land and numerous buildings located along the Maunabo River just one half a kilometer southeast of the town. The land for the factory was ceded by the Hacienda Garonne and in turn the two other owners ceded equivalent sugar lands to equalize the transaction. The Fantauzzi Company was a French firm headquartered in Paris that was founded by Corsican immigrants Antonio Fantauzzi and his two nephews, Jose and Francisco in the early 1850s in Arroyo. The Clauzel family was French and founder Benjamin Clauzel arrived in Guayama, Puerto Rico from Martinique soon after the Cedula de Gracias in 1818. The heirs of his son Marcelin Clauzel lived in Bordeaux. The Verges family was French-Spanish-American family of merchants and was related to the Clauzels through marriage. The Vergeses lived in Maunabo, Arroyo and Boston. The Riefkohls arrived in Maunabo in the 1850s, the family was led by Otto Julius Riefkohl a merchant from Langendorf, Germany. They lived in Maunabo, Patillas and Arroyo. At he time of the founding of the factory, the Verges and Riefkohl families were linked by both marriage and business as their family holdings were the neighboring coastal plantations Bordelaise and Orleanaise in barrio. Emajagua.

The founding documents of the Central Columbia between 1899 and 1903 laid out a practical plan for its operation. Every sugar grower was required to transport at their own expense the canes to the factory for inspection and weighing. All area landowners were charged a 5% charge to process the sugar and this could be paid in cash or the product itself. The administration of the factory was to be a professional hired for a one year term by the majority agreement of the owners. The administrator's term could be renewed. The account books of the central were to be available to each of the owners at any time and maintained by accountants using modern accounting methods. In case of an ownership vote that resulted in a tie, all matters were then subjected to neutral arbitration. Each of the owners pledged to not acquire additional sugar properties in Maunabo to preserve the equilibrium of ownership interest for the twenty year period.

Central Columbia Description 1902

Facilities and Equipment

The Central Columbia 1905

The Central Columbia 1905

The main factory building was constructed of galvanized iron. In addition there was a large sugar storage building made of mampostería. There were houses for the administrator and foreman as well as a dormitory for the workers. There was a warehouse– “rancho para carretería”-- for the vehicles and equipment. The two grinding mills were purchased from the Cail Co. of Paris and the rest of the factory's specialized equipment from the McOnie Company of Scotland. In the 1920s the facilities included a narrow gauge railroad connecting the Columbia and Hacienda Garonne with the Fantauzzi’s Felicita and Providencia properties in Patillas as well as a bridge across the Maunabo River. In 1933 the PR iron Works of Ponce built a replacement steel truss bridge that survived until the 1990s .

Production

The 1899 and 1900 much diminished harvests were processed at the Hacienda Bordelaise. In 1901 the first year of operation, the Columbia processed 20,000 sacks of sugar, the fifth highest amount on the island. Thereafter it developed into a medium sized central producing on average 6,000 tons per year. The facory's capacity was limited by the geography of Maunabo. To the east was a mountainous route to Yabucoa, to the north the Sierra Pantdura and to the south the ocean. The only sugar plantations from outside Maunabo that sent sugars were from neighboring Patillas such as the Hacienda Merle. Unlike many of the new centrales constructed in Puerto Rico in the American period, the Columbia was unable to extend its reach to new areas.

Workforce

Impact of Hurricane Felipe

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