Creation
The Dominican Missionaries first established the town of Mangatarem as a visita in 1827. Then it was elevated into pueblo or town in 1835.
BRIEF HISTORY
Mangatarem derived its name from the combined Ilocano words, “manga” and “tirem” which connotes mango and oyster. According to legend, the name, Mangatarem was attributed to two woodcutters who met each other in a wooded area. The area is now the present site of the población. One of them had with him mango, while the other had oyster. When both men had known about this, they eagerly exclaimed, “manga ken tirem”, “manga ken tirem”, thus the name, Manga ken Tirem, or Mangatarem.”