1574 to 1670 the town of Gumaca was ruled by Spanish friars. Then from 1671 to 1893 the town was ruled by Spanish and Filipino Gobernadorcillos. From 1893 to 1900 the town executives came to be known as Capitan Municipal and from 1901 the head of the town was elected by the people and came to be known as Presidente Municipal. Later in 1936 this title was changed to Municipal Mayor. The brief history of Gumaca had no mention of any law, decree or Republic Act which created the municipality and there was no mother municipality where Gumaca came from. As for its daughter towns, Lopez is the most notable among them, being one of the largest and the most progressive in that part of the province. From the early 1980s to the 1990s, there were calls to rename the town as Tañada, after nationalist and past Senator Lorenzo Tañada, with his son Wigberto Tañada proposing to have a poll once elected congressman of Quezon's fourth district; the renaming eventually did not push through. Geography Barangays Gumaca is politically subdivided into 59 barangays: Climate Demographics Economy Transportation By land The municipality is connected with Manila by the Pan-Philippine Highway and daily rail services to and from Naga & Legazpi are provided by the Philippine National Railways. In order to spur development in the municipality, The Toll Regulatory Board declared Toll Road 5 the extension of South Luzon Expressway. A 420-kilometer, four lane expressway starting from the terminal point of the now under construction SLEX Toll Road 4 at Barangay Mayao, Lucena City in Quezon to Matnog, Sorsogon, near the Matnog Ferry Terminal. On August 25, 2020, San Miguel Corporation announced that they will invest the project which will reduce travel time from Lucena to Matnog from 9 hours to 5.5 hours. Another expressway that will serve Gumaca is the Quezon-Bicol Expressway (QuBEx), which will link between Lucena and San Fernando, Camarines Sur. Tourism San Diego de Alcala Fortress (Kutang San Diego) Recognized by the National Historical Commission as a national treasure since 1981, this fortress was constructed by the Spaniards under the leadership of Franciscan priest Fray Francisco Coste. It was erected to help guard the town against pirates attacking from Lamon Bay, as well as from Dutch intruders during the 1700s. One can see some of the cannons still intact at the fort. According to some accounts, there used