Barranquitas, Puerto Rico

Barranquitas (Spanish pronunciation: [baraŋˈkitas]) is a small mountain municipality located in the central region of Puerto Rico, south of Corozal and Naranjito; north of Coamo and Aibonito; west of Comerío and Cidra; and east of Orocovis. Barranquitas is spread over 6 barrios and Barranquitas Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Barranquitas

Municipio Autónomo de Barranquitas
Town and Municipality
National Artisans Fair in Barranquita's plaza in 2008
Flag
Coat of arms
Nicknames: 
"La Cuna de Próceres", "Cuna Feria de Artesanías", "El Altar de la Patria", "El Pueblo de Luis Muñoz Rivera"
Anthem: "Aquí en el centro de nuestra tierra"
Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Barranquitas Municipality
Coordinates: 18°11′12″N 66°18′23″W
Commonwealth Puerto Rico
Founded1803
Barrios
Government
 • MayorElliot Colón Blanco (PNP)
 • Senatorial dist.6 - Guayama
 • Representative dist.26 and 28
Area
 • Total33.21 sq mi (86.01 km2)
 • Land33 sq mi (86 km2)
 • Water0.004 sq mi (.01 km2)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total30,318
 • Density910/sq mi (350/km2)
Demonym(s)Barranquiteños
Time zoneUTC-4 (AST)
ZIP Code
00794
Area code(s)787/939
Major routes
Websitehttp://barranquitaspr.net/pueblo/

Barranquitas is about one hour by winding roads from San Juan, the capital. It is nestled amid hills and mountains, and nearby, between Barranquitas and Aibonito, is located the "Cañón de San Cristóbal" (Saint Cristopher Canyon); one of the deepest canyons in the Indies. For years, the overlook was used as a municipal garbage; in the last decade, the refuse was removed and the site restored.

History
Comerío to Barranquitas Road c. 1900-1917

Barranquitas's local Taino Indian Cacique (Chief) was called Orocobix and his yucayeque or tribe was known as the Jatibonicu Taino.

The town was founded in 1803 by Antonio Aponte Ramos.[1] Early in the 20th century, Barranquitas residents, known as Barranquiteños, had a short but legendary territory war with residents of the city of Comerío.

Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017 triggered numerous landslides in Barranquitas with the significant amount of rainfall.[2][3] Many residents did not receive help for weeks after the hurricane made landfall as entry into the municipality was hampered by downed trees and telephone poles, and landslides.[4]

  • Returning home with water and food provided by FEMA on Oct. 17, 2017
  • Returning home with water
  • Elderly were especially vulnerable after Hurricane Maria left the island with no power
  • A resident on a horse after the hurricane
  • US Army transport vehicle carrying food and water provided by FEMA on Oct. 17, 2017
  • Volunteer distributing water after Hurricane Maria on Oct. 18, 2017

Geography

Barranquitas is a landlocked municipality in the middle of the Cordillera Central of Puerto Rico, the main mountain range that crosses the island from west to east. It is bordered by the municipalities of Corozal, Naranjito, Coamo, Aibonito, Orocovis, and Comerío. Barranquitas has a surface area of 34 square miles (88.4 km2).[1]

The terrain is mostly mountainous. Some of the peaks found in the municipality are La Torrecilla and Farallón. Barranquitas is also the site of the San Cristóbal Canyon.[5]

Water features

Rivers of Barranquitas include the Río de Barranquitas, Río Grande de Manatí, Piñonas, Río Hondo, and Río Usabón.

There are 14 bridges in Barranquitas.[6]

Barrios
Subdivisions of Barranquitas.

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Barranquitas is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a small barrio referred to as "el pueblo", near the center of the municipality.[7][8][9][10]

  1. Barrancas
  2. Barranquitas barrio-pueblo[11]
  3. Cañabón
  4. Helechal
  5. Honduras
  6. Palo Hincado
  7. Quebrada Grande
  8. Quebradillas

Sectors

Barrios (which are like minor civil divisions)[11] and subbarrios,[12] in turn, are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores (sectors in English). The types of sectores may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.[13][14][15]

Special Communities
Main article: Puerto Rico Office for Socioeconomic and Community Development

Comunidades Especiales de Puerto Rico (Special Communities of Puerto Rico) are marginalized communities whose citizens are experiencing a certain amount of social exclusion. A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of the commonwealth. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Barranquitas: El Amparo neighborhood, Cañabón barrio, La Vega neighborhood, Calle Abajo (Calle Melitón Pérez), La Loma, La Torre, Los Pinos, Quebrada Grande barrio, and Tres Caminos.[16]

Energy consortium

An Energy Consortium was signed in late February, 2019 by Villalba, Orocovis, Morovis, Ciales and Barranquitas municipalities. The consortium is the first of its kind on the commonwealth and intends to have these municipalities work together, to safeguard their communities, in the event of a catastrophe, by creating resilient, and efficient energy networks with backups.[17]

Tourism

Landmarks

Barranquitas is the burial place of two prominent Puerto Rican politicians; Luis Muñoz Rivera (who was born in the town) and his son, Governor Luis Muñoz Marín (who was born in San Juan). This has made Barranquitas a popular tourist attraction among Puerto Ricans. The birthplace of Muñoz Rivera has been converted into a museum. The mausoleum of the Muñoz Rivera family is a place of interest. Among those buried there are Muñoz Rivera and his son and daughter-in-law, Luis Muñoz Marín, and his second wife Inés Mendoza de Muñoz.

Other known places of interest in Barranquitas are the San Cristóbal Canyon, and the ruins of Hacienda Margarita. El Cortijo Castle is an old, historical structure, which is currently a museum. Camp Morton is a popular spot for activities and for retirement.

Culture
National Artisans Fair in the town's plaza in 2008

Festivals and events
Mural in Barranquitas that says "a country without art is a country without culture"

Barranquitas celebrates its patron saint festival in June. The Fiestas Patronales de San Antonio de Padua is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.[1][18]

Other festivals and events celebrated in Barranquitas include:

  • Celeriac Festival or Festival del Apio – April/May
  • National Crafts Fair of Barranquitas – July and has been celebrated for over 50 years
  • Viva Mi Calle Festival – November
  • Lighting of Christmas Tree – December

Sports

Barranquitas doesn't have professional sports teams, but there are some amateur sports teams based in the city. The most popular amateur sport is baseball. The team of Barranquitas is known as the "Proceres" (is an adjective for an important person in history) due to the fact that the town has been the birthplace for many historical figures. The other popular sport is volleyball.

Economy

Agriculture
Tobacco growing in vicinity of Barranquitas, Puerto Rico (1941)

Some of the crops grown in Barranquitas are coffee, fruits, and vegetables. The main crop in Barranquitas is the Apio. The Apio is a root vegetable (from the legume Apios tuberosa / Apios Americana), and it is eaten like potatoes. Not to be confused with celeriac.

Industry

Footwear and clothing is manufactured in Barranguitas.

Demographics

Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and became a territory of the United States. In 1899, the United States conducted its first census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Barranquitas was 8,103.

Historical population
CensusPop.%±
19008,103—
191010,50329.6%
192011,60010.4%
193014,90128.5%
194017,09614.7%
195017,6053.0%
196018,9787.8%
197020,1186.0%
198021,6397.6%
199025,60518.3%
200028,90912.9%
201030,3184.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[19]
1899 (shown as 1900)[20] 1910-1930[21]
1930-1950[22] 1960-2000[23] 2010[9]

Many of the Puerto Ricans born in the town are known to have light-colored eyes and have strong European features. Some also have an apparent mestizo look to them. The reason for this phenomenon is due to the migration of many Taino Indians during the Spanish colonization. Many Tainos fled to the mountainous region to escape slavery. Many poor Spanish and other European immigrants moved to this region as well and settled as coffee growers. Eventually, the Taino and European immigrants intermarried and created what is called the "mestizo".

Government
Main article: Mayoralty in Puerto Rico

All municipalities in Puerto Rico are administered by a mayor, elected every four years. The current mayor of Barranquitas is Francisco López, of the New Progressive Party (PNP). He was elected at the 1996 general elections, and re-elected in the last 4 general elections.

The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district VI, which is represented by two senators. In 2012, Miguel Pereira Castillo and Angel M. Rodríguez were elected as District Senators.[24]

Symbols

Flag

The flag of the municipality consists of three horizontal stripes; white on the upper edge representing the silver enamel of the town's shield, green in the center representing the vegetation and yellow on the lower edge representing the gold enamel of the ravines of the San Cristóbal Canyon.[25]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Barranquitas has silver, a canyon, two ravines, gold slopes, a tree, gold leaves, a bell and a crown. The ravines are reminders of the San Cristóbal Canyon, located in the territorial boundary of Barranquitas and Aibonito, a neighboring municipality. The yagrumo trees are characteristic of the high mountainous areas of Puerto Rico and symbolize the elevation of Barranquitas.[25]

Education

The Interamerican University of Puerto Rico has a campus in Barranquitas.[26]

All public schools in Puerto Rico are administered by the Puerto Rico Department of Education. The schools located in Barranquitas are the following:[27] Many of the schools in Barranquitas educate children on agriculture and cultivating crops.[28]

School Level Barrio Public Location(s) Coords
Escuela La TorreK-6CañabónYesCarr 770 km 2 (mile marker 1.2) Hm 1 (yard marker 110) Sector La Torre

18.207048°N 66.338311°W / 18.207048; -66.338311 (Escuela La Torre)

Escuela Cañabón AbajoK-6BarrancasYesCarr 172
Escuela Mana AbajoK-6BarrancasYesCarr 771 km 9 (mile marker 5.6) Hm 2 (yard marker 220) Sector Mana Abajo

18.235955°N 66.306095°W / 18.235955; -66.306095 (Escuela Mana Abajo)

Escuela El PortónK-6HondurasYesCarr 156 km 17 (mile marker 11) Hm 7 (yard marker 770) Sector El Portón

18.191368°N 66.306278°W / 18.191368; -66.306278 (Escuela El Portón))

Escuela El FarallónK-6QuebradillasYesCarr 152 km 7 (mile marker 4.3) Hm 6 (yard marker 660)

18.237845°N 66.293371°W / 18.237845; -66.293371 (Escuela El Farallón)

Escuela Sinforoso AponteK-6QuebradillasYesCarr 152 km 7 (mile marker 4.3) Hm 6 (yard marker 660)

18.212475°N 66.290946°W / 18.212475; -66.290946 (Escuela Sinforoso Aponte))

Escuela Petroamérica PagánK-6PuebloYesCalle Muñoz Rivera #14

18.186292°N 66.307554°W / 18.186292; -66.307554 (Escuela Petroamérica Pagán)

Escuela La Vega (Stephen S. Huse)K-6PuebloYesCarr 771 km 0 (mile marker 0) Hm 3 (yard marker 330) Bda La Vega

18.190083°N 66.315011°W / 18.190083; -66.315011 (Escuela La Vega (Stephen S. Huse))

Escuela S.U. Palo Hincado (Federico Degetau)K-9Palo HincadoYesCarr 156 km 11 (mile marker 6.8) Hm 4 (yard marker 440)

18.189742°N 66.342675°W / 18.189742; -66.342675 (Escuela S.U. Palo Hincado (Federico Degetau))

Escuela S.U. La Loma (Antonio Vázquez Ramos)K-9Quebrada GrandeYesCarr 156 km 20 (mile marker 12) Hm 1 (yard marker 110)

18.184485°N 66.277771°W / 18.184485; -66.277771 (Escuela S.U. La Loma (Antonio Vázquez Ramos))

Escuela S.U. HelechalK-9HelechalYesCarr 162 km 7 (mile marker 4.3) Hm 4 (yard marker 440)

18.169233°N 66.314842°W / 18.169233; -66.314842 (Escuela S.U. Helechal)

Escuela S.U. Lajitas (Ramon T Rivera)K-9BarrancasYesCarr 771 km 5 (mile marker 3.1) Hm 4 (yard marker 440)

18.223767°N 66.31327°W / 18.223767; -66.31327 (Escuela S.U. Lajitas (Ramon T Rivera))

Escuela Pedro Laboy7-9QuebradillasYesCarr 152 km 6 (mile marker 3.7) Hm 5 (yard marker 550)

18.23034°N 66.284873°W / 18.23034; -66.284873 (Escuela Pedro Laboy)

Escuela José Berríos Berdecia7-9PuebloYesCalle Melitón Pereles

18.187759°N 66.309088°W / 18.187759; -66.309088 (Escuela José Berríos Berdecia)

Escuela Pablo Colón Berdecia (Superior Vocational)10-12PuebloYesCalle Barcelo Final

18.186302°N 66.301289°W / 18.186302; -66.301289 (Escuela Pablo Colón Berdecia (Superior Vocational))

Escuela Luis Muñoz Marín (Superior Commerce)10-12QuebradillasYesCalle A Sector Nuevo

18.191551°N 66.307908°W / 18.191551; -66.307908 (Escuela Luis Muñoz Marín (Superior Commerce))

San Francisco de Asís SchoolK-9HelechalNoCarr 719 km 2 (mile marker 1.2) Hm 5 (yard marker 550) Sector Hoya Honda

18.168068°N 66.30937°W / 18.168068; -66.30937 (San Francisco School)

See also

References
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