Municipality of Arada
Arada or La Arada is a municipality in the department of Santa Barbara in Honduras.
History
Arada was a village within the Municipality of Santa Barbara, and its justifications for becoming independent, in addition to those established by the law at the time, were «that said village is more than four leagues away from Santa Barbara and that the mighty Ulua River lies in between, making communication with the municipal center difficult for several months.»
Due to the various reasons stated, it was granted municipality status on June 22, 1900, which means it will celebrate a century of municipal existence next year. However, it wasn’t until January 4, 1901, that the First Municipal Corporation took office, composed of Agapito Rodríguez as Mayor, Rosendo Figueroa as First Councilor, Francisco Madrid as Second Councilor, José de Jesús Reyes as Municipal Syndic, and Miguel Argueta as Municipal Secretary. Due to the lack of its own building, the municipality operated in the house of Mr. José de Jesús Reyes.
Origin of the Name
The ancient inhabitants of what is now the El Ocotal Village, seeing that they were located on rocky soil unsuitable for agriculture, had to search for fertile and suitable land for their crops. They chose the land currently occupied by the urban center.
These farmers would travel to their work areas at dawn and return to their homes by sunset. To make the most of the land, they used oxen teams to plow and cultivate the fields. From this activity, the phrase «let’s go to the arada» («arada» meaning plow in Spanish) emerged, which became the official name of the place. The farmers of the then-village «El Ocotal» decided to shorten the distance between their homes and work and settled near their fields. The first houses were built in the El Pimental neighborhood, creating a new place that is still called «Arada» to this day.
Location
Arada is located at an elevation of 432 meters above sea level. Its geographic coordinates are 14° 51′ north and 88° 18′ west. The municipality of Arada is situated in the southern part of the Department of Santa Barbara. It borders the municipalities of San Nicolás and San Vicente Centenario to the north, El Níspero to the south, Santa Barbara to the east, and La Unión, Lempira, and San Nicolás, Santa Barbara to the west.
Territorial Organization
It has a land area of 108.00 square kilometers and consists of 14 villages, 42 hamlets, and 14 neighborhoods. Its villages include Cuchilla, Dantos, Jimilile, Las Marías, El Ocotal, El Ocotillo, El Palmo, Los Planes, El Tular, Zorca, Caulotales, Brisas de Oro, Candelaria, and Buena Vista.
Its neighborhoods are: El Centro, El Campo, El Farolito, Arriba, El Tanque, La Pesa, La Vega, Brisas del Sur, El Puente, El Carmen, La Loma, El Barrito, La Leona, and La Palca.
