Village Info
Our Village History
Sinajana was in existence before the arrival of Spanish Missionaries in 1668 and was bordered by the areas now known as Cha'ot and Otdot villages. Sinajana was comprised of fifty-three historic localities or districts (distritu). This ancient village was the domain on the Hineti, a Chamorro who was loyal to the Spanish and Marianas Mission, and was baptized Don Ignacio de Hineti. On July 23, 1684, at the climax of the Chamorro-Spanish Wars, the Hineti joined with the Spaniards and recruited about fifty Chamorros, armed with lances, to secure the Spanish stockade and the Spanish flag in Hagåtña from Chamorro homeland defenders. For this, he was rewarded the position and title of Sergeant Major by Spanish Governor, Captain General D. Antonio de Saravia.
The last Spanish census taken in 1897, listed 133 residents in Sinajana. Their family names still exist today including: Quidachay, Fegurgur, Atoigue, Taisague, Concepcion, Agualo, San Nicolas, Dela Rosa, Taimanglo Gogo, Quichocho, Aguigui, Naputi, Lujan, Tedtaotao, Achaigua, Mantanane, Navaro, Castro, Crisostomo, Balajadia and Fejaran.
Although, Pre-World War II, Sinajana was an agriculture village, at one time operating as the Coffee Capitol of the island and supplying all of civilian Guam, much has changed with modern urbanization. The destruction of Hagåtña during WWII sent thousands in search of homes, and Sinajana absorbed many families when the U.S. Military Government erected temporary housing in the village. By 1950, the population had swelled to 3,000.
St. Jude Thaddeus Junior High School, built in 1955 under the guidance of the Sinajana Pastor, Fr. Raymond Demers, had the distinction of being the only school on island built entirely through "Happy Labor." More than five hundred men from the village volunteered for the construction. The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, from Lacross, Wisconsin, administered the school at the request of then Bishop, Bishop Apollinaris WIlliam Baumgartner, who the school is now named after.
In 1962, Supertyphoon Karen destroyed eighty percent of the village structures. The next decade ushered in an onslaught of unimaginable change known as the Urban Renewal, which forced the lives of those families who lost their link to the old concept of Sinajana village life.
Points of Interest
Bishop Baumgartner Memorial School
This Kindergarten to Eighth Grade school is part of the Guam Catholic School System. The school, formerly known as St. Jude Catholic School, was renamed in honor of Bishop Apollinaris William Baumgartner, OFM Cap, DD who came to Guam on October 23, 1945. Bishop Baumgartner was instrumental in laying the foundation of the island's Catholic School System.
C.L. Taitano Elementary School
This school is on of the twenty-five elementary schools of the Guam Public School System. It was established as Sinajana Elementary School and was renamed in 1970 in honor of the late Carlos Lizama Taitano who was a public servant and civic leader.
St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church
St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church is located in the heart of the village directly across from the Sinajana Mayor's Office and the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority (GHURA), was recently re-built and rededicated after Supertyphoon Pongsona partially destroyed it on December 8, 2002.
