Dr. Adriel Obar Meimban writes in his book “La Union, The Making of a Province (1850-1921) Page 85, “Three friar chroniclers in 1848, 1892 and 1901 furnish different dates of pueblo foundations. They commonly agree over some cases while in others they have variant dates.” These three friars were Julian Martin, Salvador Font and Elviro Perez.
San Juan is one municipality where these three friars differ in opinion on the dates of its foundation. Martin claimed San Juan was founded in 1806, Font recorded 1803 while Perez claimed it was established in 1585.
Whichever is the exact date of its founding, it is a fact that San Juan was already a town when La Union was created as a province in 1850 and one of the 12 original municipalities that comprised it.
The town of San Juan, formerly called Baratao or Baltao was formally accepted as a Ministerio de Baratao was composed of a federation of settlements of towns, namely the settlements of Bauang, Mapatnag, Allangigan and Dayawan; the settlements of San Miguel de Bacnotan, San Juan Bautista de Baltao, San Guillermo de Dalangdang, San Vicente de Balanac and the settlement named Bona or Boa. The center of the Ministerio was at San Juan Bautista de Baltao, now San Juan.
In 1587, Baratao became the center of an encomienda that belonged to Captain Bernardo Sandi. At that time, Father Agustin Niño arrived and transfered the Ministerio to Bauang. The transfer of the Ministerio from San Juan Bautista de Baratao to Bauang made San Juan an alternative visita (a settlement without a parish priest) of Bauang and Bacnotan. It was only in 1807 that a permanent parish priest was assigned to San Juan.
During the revolution of 1896, the whole town was razed to the ground. After the Spanish-American War, Filipino priest took over the spiritual needs of the parish. Reverend Mariano Gaerlan, a native of San Juan, was the first Filipino priest to be assigned in this town. He supervised the reconstruction of the church that was burned during the revolution. His successor Reverend Eustaquio Ocampo continued the construction of the church until it was finished. At that time San Juan ceased to be a parish. The parish priest assigned in San Fernando took over the spiritual needs of the people. Later in 1918, San Juan became a parish again.
Jose delos Angeles was the first Captain Municipal of San Juan in 1782.
During the Second World War, the entire town of San Juan was devastated. The economy of the town was disrupted. After the War, however, San Juan underwent rehabilitation.
Today, San Juan with a total area of 5,186 hectares is the most sought after municipality in the province for a residential area due to its proximity to San Fernando city. It is also home to world class resorts and hotels along the four kilometer shoreline facing the China Sea. The beaches along Urbiztondo are also ideal for surfing and have been favorite venues for international and local surfing competitions.
Barangay Taboc is also famous for its pottery making industry where clay products ranging from home and garden decorations where the indigenous dalikan (clay hearth) are produced.
Agriculture remains to be the main source of livelihood of the people of San Juan. With an area of 4,968 hectares, 1,765 hectares are planted with rice, 722 hectares with tobacco and corn and the rest are planted with vegetables and root crops. The rest of the total land area is timberland and pastureland.
A 30-hectare land, called Hill 118, in Barangay Urbiztondo, San Juan is also the site of the proposed relocation of the Philippines Air force from the Wallace Air Station.
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