This ingenio was reportedly established ca. 1830 at barrio Florida Afuera of Manatí by Spanish immigrant from Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands Cristóbal Martinez Hernández (1812-1907).  Its name has also been reported as Hacienda Cardona by the National Historic Preservation Office, but no information has been found regarding this name.  José Ferreras Pagán does not list either Hacienda Cardona nor Ingenio Santa Agueda in his 1902 book Biografía de las Riquezas de Puerto Rico.  It is reasonable to believe then, that it was not operating as a sugar factory in 1902.

It is unknown when Cristobal emigrated to Puerto Rico, but the reported date that this sugar factory was established by him is not likely since in 1830 Cristobal was only eighteen years old.   It is reasonable to believe though that the correct name of the hacienda was Santa Agueda, which may have been given by Martinez in honor of the well known area of the same name in the island of Gran Canaria where he hailed from.  We doubt it was in honor of his daughter Agueda since she was not born until 1881, however her name being the same as the hacienda seems to support the assumption.

Cristobal married twice, from his first marriage to Angela Negrón he had eleven children: Gregorio, Julián, Andres Corsino (1867- 1943), Anacleta (1868-1904), Silvestre, Angela, Lorenzo, Narcisa (1872-1963), Cristobal, Agueda (1881- ) and Petrona Martinez Negrón.  From his second marriage to Manuela Cardona Martin he had  Antonio (1893-1893), Isabel (1898-1960), Eugenia (1901-1936) Marinez Cardona.  In the 1930 census Cristobal’s son Andrés Corsino Martinez Negrón is reported as a mixed products (frutos menores) farmer in Barrio Bajura Adentro of Manatí. It is probable Andres Corsino’s farming activity in 1930 was at lands once belonging to Hacienda Agueda.  It is interesting to note that there are many sugar farmers reported in the same Barrio Bajura Adentro in that census.  This suggests a substantial amount of land was dedicated to growing sugarcane therefore supporting the existence of this sugar factory.  By 1930 sugarcane grown in the area was most likely processed at one of the nearby sugar mills, probably Central Monserrate.

Today these remains lie within the municipal boundary of the town of Florida but during its existence it was located within the Manatí municipal boundaries. The town of Florida was established in 1971 from land previously belonging to the municipalities of Barceloneta and Manati, thus during its existence it was in Manatí. The aerial pictures below were taken in October 2022 by Carlos Alemán who made us aware of the existence of these ruins and who allowed us to publish the photos.