San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico

San Lorenzo (Spanish pronunciation: [san loˈɾenso], Saint Lawrence) is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the eastern central region, north of Patillas and Yabucoa; south of Gurabo; east of Caguas and Cayey; and west of Juncos and Las Piedras. San Lorenzo is spread over twelve barrios and San Lorenzo Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

San Lorenzo

Municipio Autónomo de San Lorenzo
Town and Municipality
Hills and valley in San Lorenzo
Flag
Coat of arms
Nicknames: 
"Pueblo de Los Samaritanos", ("Town of Samaritans"), "La Tierra de Leyendas", ("Land of Legends")
Anthem: "Son tus campos de bellísimo verdor"
Map of Puerto Rico highlighting San Lorenzo Municipality
Coordinates: 18°11′24″N 65°58′7″W
Commonwealth Puerto Rico
Founded1737
Founded byValeriano Muñoz de Oneca
Barrios
Government
 • MayorJoe Román (PPD)
 • Senatorial dist.7 - Humacao
 • Representative dist.33
Area
 • Total53.3 sq mi (138.07 km2)
 • Land53.3 sq mi (138 km2)
 • Water0.0 sq mi (0.07 km2)  0%%
Population
 (2011)
 • Total41,947
 • Density790/sq mi (300/km2)
Demonym(s)Sanlorenceños
Time zoneUTC−4 (AST)
ZIP Code
00754
Area code(s)787/939
Major routes

San Lorenzo is called "The town of the Samaritans" and "Land of Legends." The patron of the municipality is Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes. The surrounding areas produce tobacco and sugar cane.

History

San Lorenzo was founded in 1737 under the name San Miguel de Hato Grande by Valeriano Muñoz de Oneca from Seville, Spain. The original settlers of the then-village were the Muñoz de Oneca, López de Alicea, and Sánchez de Cos families. The church was erected in 1811.

Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017 triggered numerous landslides in San Lorenzo with the significant amount of rainfall.[1][2]

  • South Atlantic Division (SAD) USACE in San Lorenzo
  • USACE working to restore power in San Lorenzo, 7 months after Hurricane Maria
  • USACE restoring power to San Lorenzo in April, 2018

Geography

San Lorenzo is located in the eastern central region, north of Patillas and Yabucoa; south of Gurabo; east of Caguas and Cayey; and west of Juncos and Las Piedras.[3]

Rivers

Barrios
Subdivisions of San Lorenzo.

Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, San Lorenzo is subdivided into barrios and barrios are further divided into sectors. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a barrio referred to as "el pueblo".[4][5][6][7]

  1. Cayaguas
  2. Cerro Gordo
  3. Espino
  4. Florida
  5. Hato
  6. Jagual
  7. Quebrada
  8. Quebrada Arenas
  9. Quebrada Honda
  10. Quemados
  11. San Lorenzo barrio-pueblo[8]

Sectors
Further information: List of barrios and sectors of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico

Barrios (which are like minor civil divisions)[8] 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.[9][10][11]

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 San Lorenzo: Roosevelt neighborhood, El Bosque, La Marina, Parcelas Jagual (Nuevas y Viejas), Parcelas Quemados and Sector Los Oquendo.[12] Between 2013 and until their arrest by the FBI in 2019, dozens of drug traffickers were operating in the Roosevelt neighborhood and near the Lorenzana public housing residential units in San Lorenzo.[13]

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
190013,433—
191014,2786.3%
192018,13627.0%
193023,47929.5%
194026,62713.4%
195029,2489.8%
196027,950−4.4%
197027,755−0.7%
198032,42816.8%
199035,1638.4%
200040,99716.6%
201041,0580.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[14]
1899 (shown as 1900)[15] 1910-1930[16]
1930-1950[17] 1960-2000[18] 2010[6]

Tourism

Landmarks and places of interest
  • Priscilla Flores Theater
  • Santuario de la Virgen del Carmen en la Santa Montaña (Holy Mountain)[19][20][21]
  • Gallera San Carlos
  • Río Grande de Loíza
  • Iglesia Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes (church); a National Historic Site; built in 1737 and renovated in 1993.

Economy
Agriculture

The economy of San Lorenzo, founded in the herd, that is, livestock farming, later included the cultivation of sugar cane, which was processed in this period in a steam-driven farm and five oxen. Coffee and fruits are also cultivated in the municipality. Timber production, which was very rich, had declined by the uncontrolled exploitation of forests.

Industry

Clothing, pharmaceuticals, footwear, electromechanical equipment, industrial and household paints

Culture

Festivals and events

San Lorenzo celebrates its patron saint festival in September. The Fiestas Patronales Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.[3]

Other festivals and events celebrated in San Lorenzo include:

  • Three Kings Caroling-January
  • Cavalcade Moncho Roldán-January
  • Candelaria Celebrations-February
  • Kite Festival-March
  • Cross Celebrations-May
  • Embroidering and Weave Festival-September
  • Passion Fruit Festival-November

Sports
  • Double-A (baseball) team Los Samaritanos[22] - National Champions in 1975, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002[23]
  • Agustin Reyes Half Marathon

Government
Main article: Mayoralty in Puerto Rico

Like all municipalities in Puerto Rico, San Lorenzo is administered by a mayor. The current mayor is José Román Abreu(Joe), from the Popular Democratic Party (PPD). Román was elected at the 2000 general election.

The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district VII, which is represented by two Senators. In 2012, Jorge Suárez and José Luis Dalmau were elected as District Senators.[24]

Transportation

There are 49 bridges in San Lorenzo.[25]

Symbols

Flag

The flag of San Lorenzo is divided in four rectangles of equal size, two rectangles are yellow and the other two are striped with red and yellow stripes.[26]

Coat of arms

The grill is the traditional symbol of San Lorenzo, deacon and martyr, patron of the town, because in a grill he underwent the martyrdom, slowly burned to death. The hill or mountain represent the Gregorio Hill, which dominates the San Lorenzo panorama. The cross is one of the heraldic attributes of San Miguel Arcángel.[26]

Notable natives and residents
  • Chayanne- Singer and actor
  • Ernestina Reyes "La Calandria" - Singer
  • José Tous Soto-Former Speaker House of Representatives
  • Antonio Fernós-Isern- Former resident Commissioner
  • José Aponte Hernández- Former Speaker House of Representatives
  • Carmita Jiménez- Singer
  • Priscila Flores- Singer
  • El Invader #1- professional wrestler
  • Escolastico Capeles - oldest man in San Lorenzo 110 years old
  • Dr. Marc H. Rosa, - Former Teacher, School Administrator and University Professor
  • Jay Fonseca - Political Commentator
  • Edwin Cruz - Lead singer "Mechi"

See also

References
  1. "Preliminary Locations of Landslide Impacts from Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico". USGS Landslide Hazards Program. USGS. Archived from the original on 2019-03-03. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  2. "Preliminary Locations of Landslide Impacts from Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico" (PDF). USGS Landslide Hazards Program. USGS. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-03. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  3. "San Lorenzo Municipality". enciclopediapr.org. Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades (FPH). Archived from the original on 2019-06-21. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  4. Picó, Rafael; Buitrago de Santiago, Zayda; Berrios, Hector H. Nueva geografía de Puerto Rico: física, económica, y social, por Rafael Picó. Con la colaboración de Zayda Buitrago de Santiago y Héctor H. Berrios. San Juan Editorial Universitaria, Universidad de Puerto Rico,1969. Archived from the original on 2018-12-26. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  5. Gwillim Law (20 May 2015). Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: A Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 through 1998. McFarland. p. 300. ISBN 978-1-4766-0447-3. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  6. Puerto Rico:2010:population and housing unit counts.pdf (PDF). U.S. Dept. of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
  7. "Map of San Lorenzo at the Wayback Machine" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-24. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
  8. "US Census Barrio-Pueblo definition". factfinder.com. US Census. Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  9. "Agencia: Oficina del Coordinador General para el Financiamiento Socioeconómico y la Autogestión (Proposed 2016 Budget)". Puerto Rico Budgets (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  10. Rivera Quintero, Marcia (2014), El vuelo de la esperanza: Proyecto de las Comunidades Especiales Puerto Rico, 1997-2004 (first ed.), San Juan, Puerto Rico Fundación Sila M. Calderón, ISBN 978-0-9820806-1-0
  11. "Leyes del 2001". Lex Juris Puerto Rico (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  12. Rivera Quintero, Marcia (2014), El vuelo de la esperanza:Proyecto de las Comunidades Especiales Puerto Rico, 1997-2004 (Primera edición ed.), San Juan, Puerto Rico Fundación Sila M. Calderón, p. 273, ISBN 978-0-9820806-1-0
  13. "26 Individuals Charged With Drug Trafficking In Puerto Rico Project Safe Neighborhoods Enforcement Effort". fbi.gov. Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  14. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  15. "Report of the Census of Porto Rico 1899". War Department Office Director Census of Porto Rico. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  16. "Table 3-Population of Municipalities: 1930 1920 and 1910" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 17, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  17. "Table 4-Area and Population of Municipalities Urban and Rural: 1930 to 1950" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 30, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  18. "Table 2 Population and Housing Units: 1960 to 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2019-07-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-11-23. Retrieved 2019-07-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. "El Béisbol Recuerda A Héctor Ferrer". Isla News PR (in Spanish). November 6, 2018. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  23. "Samaritans of San Lorenzo History". ballcharts.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  24. "Elecciones Generales 2012: Escrutinio General". Div1.ceepur.org. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
  25. "San Lorenzo Bridges". National Bridge Inventory Data. US Dept. of Transportation. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  26. "SAN LORENZO". LexJuris (Leyes y Jurisprudencia) de Puerto Rico (in Spanish). 19 February 2020. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
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