Aguirre was once a municipality, until it was merged into Salinas during the 1990s. Before that, Aguirre was Puerto Rico's smallest municipality, a distinction now held by Cataño near San Juan.
For many years, Aguirre's main economical support came from the Central Azucarera de Aguirre, a local sugar factory. Aguirre still has a "central" but this one is operated by the Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica de Puerto Rico, a government energy company. On Monday, July 25, 2016, there was a fire at the plant when there was an unnoticed petroleum leak. No one was injured, but the central's plants were unworkable for the following three weeks.[8]
Old building in Aguirre
The Central Azucarera de Aguirre was placed on the 2020 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund organization. The organization will use the site as a focal educational resource to train people in Puerto Rico on building with wood.[9]
U.S. Decennial Census 1899 (shown as 1900)[10] 1910-1930[11] 1930-1950[12] 1980-2000[13] 2010[14]
Transportation
Aguirre, like the rest of Salinas, is accessible by car and other wheeled vehicles through Puerto Rico Highway 1, which connects the country's two largest cities of San Juan and Ponce. The nearest commercial airport is Mercedita Airport in Ponce, while the nearest airport with multiple international flights is Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan.
