The struggle to form the Naranjito town began in 1810. After a series of major incidents with powerful political interests of the time, on December 3, 1824, Don Braulio Morales successfully founded the town of Naranjito. The town was founded in the neighborhood of the same name, on a land donated by Doña Manuela Rivera and Don Braulio Morales. Morales was named "Captain Settler" and at the same time was appointed mayor of the town in development. The name "Naranjito" is derived from a small orange tree that served as a reference point for travelers looking for in the shortest way to the town of Toa Alta. At the time of its foundation, Naranjito consisted of five wards/districts, "Lomas", "Guadiana", "Achiote", "Nuevo" and "Cedro". "Cedro" was divided in 1853 in "Cedro Arriba" and "Cedro Abajo", also having the urban zone composed by "San Miguel", "San Antonio" and "San Cristobal" districts.
Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Naranjito is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a barrio referred to as "el pueblo".
Barrios in turn are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores. The types of sectores may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.
Special Communities
Of the 742 places on the list of Comunidades Especiales de Puerto Rico, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Naranjito: La Pajona in Cedro Arriba, Las Parcelas in Lomas García, Los Pampers in Lomas García, Sector Benito Nieves/Los Quilés in Lomas García, Comunidad Lago La Plata, La Colina, San Antonio y San Cristóbal, Casco Urbano, Parcelas Hevia, Sector Mulitas, Comunidad Cayito Ríos, Lomas Jaguas, Los Pelusa in Cedro Abajo, Comunidades Riíto 1 y II in Cedro Arriba, Comunidad El Palmar, Los López in Cedro Abajo, Fondo del Saco in Achiote and La Sabana in Cedro Abajo.
Traditionally the main agricultural crops of Naranjito are coffee and the tobacco. In recent years have borne fruits such as bananas, oranges, papayas, and other tropical fruits; also in the town the poultry factory has been very popular, specifically the dairy cattle. Naranjito has many factories, most of these factories make garments.
Culture
Festivals and events
Naranjito celebrates its patron saint festival in September. The Fiestas Patronales de San Miguel Arcangel is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment. Other festivals and events celebrated in Naranjito include:
Mothers Day - May
San Antonio Day - June
Chango Festival - June
Anon Festival - June
Volleyball Tournament - February - June
San Miguel Arcangel Day - September
Turkey marathon - November
Sports
The Naranjito Changos, better known as Los Changos De Naranjito, are a professional male volleyball team based in Naranjito. The team is one of the most successful sports franchises in Puerto Rico.
Naranjito's flag consists of an orange flag crossed by two narrow green stripes close to the superior and inferior edges. The orange color in the flag symbolizes the town of Naranjito, while the green symbolizes its green mountains.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms is a red cross, the symbol of San Miguel de Arcángel, Patron of Naranjito. The globe with the cross symbolizes the power and sovereignty of God. The gold and red stripes that appear in the second and third quarters, constitute the primitive baton of the Guadiana lineage. The lily twigs are a tribute of San Antonio de Padua, confessor and doctor of the Church. The orange tree represents the small tree that gave the town's name, Naranjito. The crown is symbol of moral unit of the town.
A foot pursuit of the movie Fast & Furious 5 in which Dominic Toretto, Mia Toretto and Brian O'Connor are chased across favela rooftops by Luke Hobbs and his team was filmed over the course of a week in the small hillside town of Naranjito, Puerto Rico. The scene was considered difficult to shoot, as pathways were slippery from moist tropical heat and the scene involved actors and stunt doubles running while avoiding dogs, chickens and other stray animals loose in the area. To capture the scene, a 420-foot cable-camera rig was used to allow for a fast moving, birds-eye view of the action, and cameras on cranes were set up on rooftops and in alleyways. Walker and Brewster made multiple takes of the conclusion of the scene, requiring them to jump nearly 30 feet from a building onto a waiting safety mat. In total the production employed 236 technicians, 13,145 extras, and generated 16,824 room nights at hotels, contributing $27 million to the Puerto Rican community.
