Location: Mayagüez
Date Established: 1890
Date Ceased Operations: 1977
Annual Production Graph
Average Annual Production: 27,431 Tons
Best Production Year: 1951/59,500 Tons
Family Ownership: Nadal, Sanchez de Larragoiti, Valdés, Ramirez de Arellano, Garcia Mendez
Corporate Ownership: Central Altagracia Inc., Ana Maria Sugar Co.

 The origin of Central Igualdad goes back all the way to 1866 when Blas Nadal Cuebas (1839-1903) installed a steam mill in his Hacienda Altagracia, later known as "Hacienda Vapor Viejo" because it was the first steam mill in the area.  Blas was the son of Ramón Nadal Gros (1809-1865) who owned Hacienda Estebania.  In her book Mayaguez: Notas Para Su Historia, Silvia Aguiló Ramos states that by 1878 Mayagüez had a central sugar mill, Altagracia, owned by Juan Sanchez Lallaroity (sic).  Thus, it appears that the property passed from Nadal to Juan Sanchez de Larragoiti on or before 1878.  In his 1902 book Biografia de las Riquezas de Puerto Rico, José Ferreras Pagán states that Central Altagracia was destroyed by Hurricane San Ciriaco of 1899 and as a result, its owner at the time deeded it back to Sanchez de Larragoiti who rebuilt it.

Joaquin Luis Gonzague De Corazo Sanchez de Larragoiti (1845-1907) was a Spanish immigrant from Cádiz.  In 1868 he married Carmen Angela Camps Blanch in Mayagüez.  According to its webpage, on December 5, 1895, Sul América Companhia Nacional de Seguros de Vida was founded in Rio de Janeiro by Joaquin Sanchez de Larragoiti.  Sanchez de Larragoiti was a longtime resident of Rio de Janeiro and Paris where he died in the suburb of Suresnes.  The November 5, 1897 edition of La Gaceta de Puerto Rico published an edict announcing the sale at public auction of Hacienda Altagracia as the result of a legal action brought by Joaquin Sanchez de Larragoiti against Fernando Patxot Blanch for collection of 55,306 pesos plus interest.  It is rasonable to believe that Patxot may be the owner referred to by Ferreras Pagán.  It is also reasonable to believe that there may have been a family relationship between Sanchez de Larragoiti's wife and Patxot given both their mothers were of last name Blanch. 

The Federal Reports transcription of the court case Wilson vs. Altagracia state that previous to 1905, Altagracia Sugar Central "consisted of a relatively small sugar mill of a somewhat ancient pattern and twenty two cuerdas of ground upon which it is situated, with perhaps some other personal property.  At that time it belonged to a man named Joaquin Sanchez de Larragoiti who was then a resident of Paris, France."  The transcription also states that on January 18, 1905 Sanchez de Larragoiti, while residing in Paris, leased the lands he owned to his nephew Salvador Castelló Camps for ten years.  Castelló Camps was the son of Spanish immigrant from Catalonia Agustin Castelló Busquets and Josefa Camps Blanch.  Additional family relationship existed as Salvador's brother Gerardo Castelló Camps was married to Asunción Blanch Camps.

Around six months after it was executed, Sanchez de Larragoiti lease to Salvador Castelló Camps was extended to twenty years.  Subsequently, on or about July 1905 Castelló assigned the lease to Frederick Cornwell as trustee and for the benefit of the newly formed Central Altagracia, Inc. incorporated in Maine.  The members of the Board of Directors of Central Altagracia, Inc. were Cornwell, Pres., David Wilson, Vice President, Noah Brooks Kent Pettingill Secretary/Treasurer, Frank M. Hamilton, E. B. Commons and Eng. Robert Wilson (nephew of David Wilson) and Gerardo Castelló Camps, Vocals. 

The December 21, 1906 edition of the periodical La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico  published a synopsis of the events mentioned above.  It stated that in 1904 Salvador Castelló went to Paris where he negotiated with Joaquin Sanchez, owner of twenty acres planted with sugarcane and a sugar factory located in Mayagüez, by virtue of which negotiation Castelló had the right to commercially expolit the referenced property.  Upon his return to Puerto Rico, Castelló retained certain rights and assigned the rest to Frederick Cornwell, an attorney resident of Mayagüez.

The incorporators of Central Altagracia, Inc. invested around $200,000 to replace and/or upgrade the existing equipment.  Central Altagracia, Inc. began operating the sugar mill in October 1905 and according to the corporate By-Laws, a monthly Board meeting was to be held and reports made of the business financial condition and operational results.  By December 1906 only the meeting of December 1905 had been held and no accounting of the financial condition and operational results were ever given to the Board members.  La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico rported that differences between owners and administrators resulted in a quarrel involving guns which had to be controlled by the police.

David D. Wilson filed the court case Wilson vs. Altagracia requesting a court appointed receiver alleging mismanagement and incompetence on the part of Cornwell.  The case was decided by the court in March 2007 not appointing a receiver, stating instead that the issues were more due to incompatibility between Wilson and Cornwell.  An ensuing libel suit seeking damages of $100,000 was brought by Central Altagracia, Inc. against David D. Wilson which was decided in August, 1909 in favor of Mr. Wilson.

The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer publication edition of December 4, 1909 states that “Central Altagracia has gone into the hands of a special Master in Chancery who advertises the sale of the property as a going concern for the 27th.  The lease only of the Central, which is for twenty years from 1905, is offered for sale.  This lease was made in favor of Salvador Castetto (sic) of Mayagüez, who re-leased same to the Central Altagracia, Inc.  Also all machinery, equipment, live stock, real estate, etc. put in afterwards by the Central Altagracia will be put up for sale as well.” In 1909, Spanish immigrant from Infiesta, Asturias Ramón Valdés Cobián (1856-1913) and his wife Encarnación Cobián Romeu acquired and became sole owner of the sugar mill.  He then changed its name to Ana Maria Sugar Co. in honor of his only surviving daughter Ana Maria Valdés Cobián born in 1891.​

In 1925, Alfredo Ramirez de Arellano Rosell partnered with Juan Angel Tió and Luis A. Fajardo Cardona to acquire Ana Maria Sugar Co. from Valdés and changed the name to Central Igualdad, Inc., probably because of the Ramirez de Arellano Hacienda La Igualdad in Guanica, or some say because the partnership was equally shared between the three.   The board of directors as stated on a letterhead dated October 25, 1934 was Alfredo Ramirez de Arellano, President; Luis A. Fajardo, Vice President; Miguel Angel García Méndez, Secretary; Alfonso Valdez, Assistant Secretary and Ubaldino Ramirez de Arellano, Treasurer.

​In the court case Central Igualdad, Inc. vs. Secretario de Hacienda de PR decided by the PR Supreme Court in 1961, it is stated that between 1943 and 1945 Central Igualdad, Inc. capital was represented by 13,000 shares outstanding, distributed between Alfredo Ramirez de Arellano Rosell 66%, Josefa Bartoli de Ramirez de Arellano (wife of Alfredo Ramirez de Arellano Rosell) 0.30%, Emilia Piñan Bras (widow of Luis A Fajardo Cardona) 18.7%, Raquel Fajardo de Ross (daughter of Luis A. Fajardo Cardona and Emilia Piñan Bras) 6.2%, Miguel Angel Garcia Mendez 8.7% and Alfredo Ramirez de Arellano Bartoli (son of Alfredo Ramirez de Arellano Rosell and Josefa Bartoli) 0.1%.  It is also stated that in 1946 Alfredo Ramirez de Arellano Rosell distributed among his children a substantial number of his shares.  Later on, Miguel Angel Garcia Mendez, who was married to Fredeswinda Ramirez de Arellano Bartoli, daughter of Alfredo Ramirez de Arellano Rosell, took control of Central Igualdad until it was acquired by the Corporación Azucarera de Puerto Rico. 

Central Igualdad was one of only six sugar mills in Puerto Rico that refined sugar, it produced "Brillante" brand refined sugar for sale in the local market.  In 1971 the Sugar Corporation leased the sugar mill and the refinery and in 1974 acquired both.  The refinery was shut down that same year and the sugar mill was shut down in 1977. 

The weigh station for the for the incoming trucks loaded with sugarcane can be seen In one of the pictures, the fuel tanks in the background of that picture also belonged to the mill.  The house pictured was inhabited by the sugar mill's chemist.  It is still owned by descendants of the chemist who at the time of our visit in 2015 were in the process of restoring it to its original condition.