Barrigada

Catholic church: San Vicente

Fiesta: Early April
 

Barrigada is a land-locked village located near the center of the island on Guam's limestone plateau. It stretches from the cliffline overlooking Harmon Industrial Park in the East to Mt. Barrigada in the north. Upscale homes have been developed on Mt. Barrigada along an area known as Barrigada Heights overlooking Tiyan, the interior hills of Guam and the Philippine sea. To the south is the village of Mongmong-Toto-Maite and to the east is the village Mangilao.

In the past, Barrigada was a popular ranching area for people from Hagåtña. Today some parts of the village still have a rural feel attributed to the long winding roads that make their way through hills, valleys, dense vegetation and wetlands. Nevertheless, the village of Barrigada is now a heavily populated residential area bordered by considerable commercial development along routes 8 (Purple Heart Memorial Highway), 10 (Vietnam Veterans Highway) and 16 (US Army Corps Drive). The recently returned former federally-designated land located in Tiyan (formerly the Naval Air Station, Guam) has become the site of some government of Guam offices, private businesses, and residential homes.

History

Little is known about the ancient villages that were scattered through central Guam. However, early archaeological studies on Guam found a large number of latte stones in the region now called Tiyan, which suggests that the area was well populated. Chamorros were forced out of this region during the Spanish-Chamorro Wars of the late seventeenth century. However, it was not long until Chamorros started using the area for ranching, hunting, and for grazing cattle.

During the early twentieth century, the village of Barrigada was established near the current location of P.C. Lujan school which was surrounded by scattered ranches. Some of the island's best soil was located at Tiyan, which was ideal for corn. Early in the US Naval Era a deep well was drilled here to attract farmers to settle and by 1924 there were enough people to warrant the construction of Barrigada's first school. By 1940, about 875 people lived in the municipality of Barrigada, which at the time also included what is now Mangilao and Toto.