From the late 1600s, when Guam first became a Spanish colony, Agana (as it was then known) was the principal town and the administrative center. For 200 years, town life reflected the mix of cultural influences, Chamorro and Spanish, on the local population. With the establishment of US naval rule in 1900, the town itself, like the rest of the island, underwent changes. At first the changes were minor, but in time they escalated. A half century later, after the destruction of World War II, the town was redesigned even as it was rebuilt. Agana, like the rest of the island, would never be the same again.