Its founding fathers named the city Puntarenas (Sandy Point) after the many kilometers of sandy Pacific coast surrounding it. The city can look back on a long and eventful history. The Spanish conquistadors who colonized the region in 1522 named it Puerto Major de Puntarenas. The major obstacle to its development was its distance from San Jose.
It would take another three centuries before merchants and traders could reach Puntarenas over land. The road between the central highlands and Puntarenas was not completed until 1846. After that the harbor city grew rapidly and was declared a free port in 1847. At that time planters had to transport their coffee from the highlands to the port in ox carts. It was then shipped first to Chile, then around Cape Horn to Europe. The far shorter route from Costa Rica's Caribbean ports was still only a theoretical possibility as neither roads nor railways had been built.
Puntarenas remained Costa Rica's most important harbor until 1890, when the Atlantic Railroad from San Jose to Puerto Limo was completed. Once rail transportation to the Caribbean was available, Puntarenas lost much of its importance. That changed once again in 1910, when the railroad from San Jose to Puntarenas was finished. The port city once again prospered. By the turn of the century, streetcars were in operation on the narrow spit of land.
In 1927, the city had 6,700 inhabitants. Numerous bordellos were opened to satisfy the needs of sailors in the large mother-of-pearl fleet that operated from the port. These establishments give Puntarenas its unique ambience, which it retains to this day.
In 1981, the government began construction of a new harbor facility, approximately 20 kilometers further south at Puerto Calderato, to accommodate large freighters and cruise ships because the facilities in Puntarenas were no longer sufficient. The move resulted in an economic setback from which the city has still not recovered. To this day, Puntarenas has the highest rate of unemployment in Costa Rica. Those who do have jobs still live, directly or indirectly, from the sea. They fish or work in the canneries processing corvina (corbina), shrimp, lobster or tuna fish.
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