Adjuntas barrio-pueblo is a barrio and the administrative center ( seat) of

Adjuntas Adjuntas (, ) is a small mountainside town and municipality in Puerto Rico located central midwestern portion of the island on the Cordillera Central, north of Yauco, Guayanilla, and Peñuelas; southeast of Utuado; east of Lares and Yauco; a ...

, a municipality of Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 4,406. As was customary in Spain, in Puerto Rico, the municipality has a barrio called ''

pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

'' which contains a central plaza, the municipal buildings (city hall), and a Catholic church. Fiestas patronales (patron saint festival) are held in the central plaza every year.

The central plaza and its church

The central plaza, or square, is a place for official and unofficial recreational events and a place where people can gather and socialize from dusk to dawn. The

Laws of the Indies The Laws of the Indies ( es, Leyes de las Indias) are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown for the American and the Asian possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political, religious, and economic life in these areas. T ...

, Spanish law, which regulated life in Puerto Rico in the early 19th century, stated the plaza's purpose was for "the parties" (celebrations, festivities) ( es, a propósito para las fiestas), and that the square should be proportionally large enough for the number of neighbors ( es, grandeza proporcionada al número de vecinos). These Spanish regulations also stated that the streets nearby should be comfortable portals for passersby, protecting them from the elements: sun and rain. Located across from the central plaza in Adjuntas barrio-pueblo is the , a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church which was inaugurated in 1815.

History

The location of modern-day Adjuntas barrio-pueblo was first settled in the Cidra River valley at the beginning of the 19th century, along an old road that connected Utuado with Ponce and the southern coast of Puerto Rico. At the time, the territory formed part of the municipal region of

Coamo Coamo (, ) is a town and municipality founded in 1579 in the south-central region of Puerto Rico, located north of Santa Isabel; south of Orocovis and Barranquitas; east of Villalba and Juana Díaz; and west of Aibonito and Salinas. Coamo ...

. A chapel was erected in 1805, which was later upgraded into a parish church by petition of the citizens of Adjuntas. The official founding of the pueblo happened on August 11, 1815, with Don Diego Maldonado being its official founder and first elected representative. The settlement of Adjuntas was granted official "villa" status by the Spanish crown in 1894. Puerto Rico was ceded by

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in the aftermath of the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

under the terms of the

Treaty of Paris of 1898 The Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, commonly known as the Treaty of Paris of 1898 ( fil, Kasunduan sa Paris ng 1898; es, Tratado de París de 1898), was a treaty signed by Spain and the United Stat ...

and became an

unincorporated territory of the United States Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...

. In 1899, the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...

conducted a

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Adjuntas barrio-pueblo (Pueblo) was 1,963.

Landmarks and places of interest

* The Adjuntas Public Square (''Plaza Pública de Adjuntas''), located at the very center of town, is one of the highest in Puerto Rico, at almost 1,640 feet (500 m) in elevation. It hosts a large working thermometer, paying homage to some of the coldest recorded temperatures in Puerto Rico. As it is custom in Puerto Rico, the ''plaza'' also hosts the city hall (''alcaldía'') and Roman Catholic parish church (''Parroquia San Joaquín''). *

Casa Pueblo Casa Pueblo is a non-profit environmental watchdog community-based organization in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, headed by Alexis Massol-González, a civil engineer and winner of the 2002 Goldman Environmental Prize.

(Spanish for "the people's house") is a non-profit community and educational organization dedicated to the protection of the environment. It is located in a historic ''Criollo'' house, and it often hosts cultural events, educational tours and classes. This organization is largely responsible for the creation of the nearby People's Forest (''Bosque del Pueblo''). * The Washington Irving Grade School (''Escuela Graduada Washington Irving'') is a

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

-listed building located near the town ''plaza''.

Gallery

Places in Adjuntas barrio-pueblo: Escuela Washington Irving 2 - Adjuntas Puerto Rico.jpg, Washington Irving School, listed on the US National Register of Historic Places La bella fuente.jpg, Fountain at the central plaza of Adjuntas Adjuntas, early 20th Century.jpg, Adjuntas Pueblo in the early 20th century

References

External links