e Ponce Massacre Museum on Marina Street. An open-air park in the city, the Pedro Albizu Campos Park, is dedicated to the memory of the leader of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. As a result of this event, Ponce has been identified as "the birthplace of Puerto Rican national identity." Ponce history in general is illustrated at the Ponce History Museum, on the block bordered by Isabel, Mayor, Cristina, and Salud streets in the historic downtown area.
Despite this tragedy, Ponce has continued to be a hub of political activity on the island, being the founding site of several major political parties. It has also been the birthplace of several important political figures of the island, including Luis A. Ferr� and Rafael Hern�ndez Col�n, both former governors of Puerto Rico, as well as the childhood town of governor Roberto Sanchez Vilella.
On October 7, 1985, Ponce was the scene of a major tragedy, when at least 129 people lost their lives to a mudslide in a sector of Barrio Portugu�s Urbano called Mameyes. International help was needed to rescue people and recover corpses. The United States and many other countries, including Mexico, France, and Venezuela, sent economic, human, and machinery relief. The commonwealth government, subsequently, relocated hundreds of people to a new community built on stable ground. In 2005, the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction of the United States reported that the Mameyes landslide held the record for having inflicted "the greatest loss of life by a single landslide" up to that year.
Recent history
Ponce has improved its economy in the last years. In recent years, Ponce has solidified its position as the second most important city of Puerto Rico based on its economic progress and increasing population. Today, the city of Ponce is the second largest in Puerto Rico outside of the San Juan metropolitan area. It continues to live up to its nicknames: La Perla
