Dededo

Catholic church: Santa Barbara

Fiesta: Early December
 

Village description

Dededo is Guam's second largest and most populous village, encompassing thirty square miles of northwestern Guam. Most of Dededo is located on Guam's limestone plateau and sits above the Northern Aquifer, an important fresh water resource for the island as it provides for about eighty percent of Guam's drinking water.

The main sections of this northern village lie on either side of Route 1, officially known as Marine Corps Drive, Guam's main thoroughfare. From a small pre-war farming community, it has become a major commercial and residential center.

Dededo is home to the Micronesia Mall, the largest shopping mall in Micronesia, located at the corner of Route 1 and Route 16 (Army Corps Drive). Along Route 16 there are several small stores and other businesses that cater to the area's Filipino residents. Also along this strip is a two-story McDonald's restaurant, the Guam Power Authority main business office, and the gated Iglesia Ni Cristo Church. Along Fatima Road, off the highway, there are several vegetable stands selling local crop products.

Village history

The history of Dededo is complicated by the fact that the boundaries of the village have changed considerably during the twentieth century. During the Early American period, the northern half of present-day Dededo was the village of Machanao. Most of Machanao became Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Communications Station, and Machanao is no longer a village, but a section of Dededo. The pre-war village of Dededo extended further south to include what are now the villages of Tamuning-Tumon-Harmon while the village center of old Dededo was located in present day Harmon between the two-story McDonald's and the San Miguel Brewery building.

Dededo began in the early twentieth century as an area of widely spread ranches centered in what is now the Harmon Industrial Park. Among the agricultural products of the area were copra, timber, fruits, vegetables and cattle. The village center, which included a Padre San Vitores School (opened in 1929) and Santa Barbara Church were located in the vicinity of the present-day Harmon McDonald's Restaurant. Fishing also played an important role in the life of many Dededo residents since the village was only a short bull cart or horse back ride from Tumon Bay. There were also two stores that served the community where residents could exchange farm produce, especially copra, for various goods. By 1941, at the outbreak of World War I, 1,529 people lived Dededo and the surrounding ranch areas of Tumon and Tamuning.