migrants made fortunes in Ponce, like the owner of this restored coffee plantation (Hacienda Buena Vista) founded in 1833 and today one of many points of interest in the municipality
Some of these immigrants made considerable fortunes in coffee, corn and sugarcane harvesting, rum production, banking and finance, the importing of industrial machinery, iron foundries and other enterprises. At the time of the American invasion of the Island in 1898, Ponce was already a thriving city, boasting the Island's main financial center, the Island's first communications link to another country, the best capitalized financial institutions, and even its own currency. It had consular offices for England, Germany, the Netherlands, and other nations.
While Europe was celebrating its Belle �poque (Victorian era), Ponce followed suit with its own exposition fair, the Ponce Fair. Following trends set in Europe and elsewhere, in 1877, Don Miguel Rosich conceptualized an exposition fair for Ponce. This was approved in 1880, and the exposition fair was held in the city in 1882, where several industrial and agricultural advancements were shown. "It is important to establish a relationship between the European exhibitions that I have mentioned and the Ponce Fair, as the Fair was meant as a showcase of the advancements of the day: Agriculture, Trade, Industry, and the Arts. Just as with the 1878 World's Fair in Paris, the electric grid of the city of Ponce was inaugurated on the first day of the Ponce Fair. In this occasion the Plaza Las Delicias and various other buildings, including the Mercantile Union Building, the Ponce Casino, and some of Ponce's homes were illuminated with the incandescent light bulb for the first time".
Ponce in the 20th century
U.S. troopships and convoy at Playa de Ponce, in 1898, coincided with a period of economic stagnation for Ponce
At the time of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Puerto Rico in 1898 during the
