Piti was an ancient CHamoru settlement before the arrival of Europeans. Its name likely derives from the CHamoru word puti, meaning to hurt or ache. However, the village was not strategically important on the island until the Spanish began to improve Apra Harbor in the early 1700s. After the 1740s and when the winds were favorable, most ships anchored in Apra Harbor and ferried their cargo to shore in small boats. From there, it was pulled in two-wheeled carts from Piti to the government store in Hagåtña. The crushed limestone road between Piti and Hagåtña was the only real road on Guam in this period. While pre-contact Chamorus had grown rice in natural swamps, the Spanish introduced the first rice paddy fields in Piti in the 1830s. Cultivation of rice in Piti continued through World War II. While Piti served as the main port entry for Guam, the village of Sumay, located on the southern shore of Apra Harbor, was the favored stop for the whaling ships of the early nineteenth century.
