Carraízo is a

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

in the municipality of

Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico Trujillo Alto () is a Trujillo Alto barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico. Located on the northeastern coastal plain on the boundary between the Northern Karst Belt and Sierra de Luquillo, it is north ...

. Its population in 2010 was 16,399.

History

Carraízo was in Spain's

gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or wikt:directory, directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup, social statistics and physical features of a co ...

s until Puerto Rico was ceded by

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the aftermath of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

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, was signed by Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States on December 10, 1898, and marked the end of the ...

and became an

unincorporated territory of the United States Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

. 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, als ...

conducted a

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Carraízo barrio was 1,159.

Carraízo Dam and Loíza Lake

The

Loíza Lake Loíza Lake, or Lago Loíza, is a reservoir located in the municipality of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. It was formed by construction of the Carraízo Dam on the Río Grande de Loíza The Rio Grande de Loíza (English language, English: ''Gre ...

is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

located in Carraizo, formed by the construction of the

Carraízo Dam Carraízo Dam is a concrete gravity dam located in the municipality of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico within the flow of the Río Grande de Loíza. Its construction was completed in 1953. Carraízo Dam impounds Loíza Lake which serves as Puerto Rico ...

on the

Río Grande de Loíza The Rio Grande de Loíza (English language, English: ''Great River of Loíza'' or ''Loíza River'') is a river in the Geography of Puerto Rico, main island of Puerto Rico. It is the largest river in Puerto Rico by discharge volume. Situated on th ...

. It serves as the main water supply source of the San Juan metropolitan area.

Gallery

Carraízo, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico - panoramio (8).jpg Carraízo, Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico - panoramio.jpg, View of Loíza Lake Shack next to lake Carraizo, Trujillo Alto, PR - panoramio (2).jpg, Shack near Loíza Lake

Popular culture

"Carraízo" is popularly used in Puerto Rican vernacular Spanish as a

minced oath A minced oath is a euphemistic expression formed by deliberately misspelling, mispronouncing, or replacing a part of a profane, blasphemous, or taboo word or phrase to reduce the original term's objectionable characteristics. An example is "gosh ...

to substitute for ''"carajo"'' (a vulgar term equivalent to "hell" in

Caribbean Spanish * Caribbean Spanish (, ) is the general name of the Spanish dialects spoken in the Caribbean region. The Spanish language was introduced to the Caribbean in 1492 with the voyages of Christopher Columbus. It resembles the Spanish spoken in the Ca ...

). The expression ''"anda pa'l Carraízo"'' and its variants is equivalent to "go to heck" or "buzz off" in English. It is considered mild enough to use in polite company. The expression has spread to the Dominican Republic, probably due to the close ties between the two islands.

References

Barrios of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico {{TrujilloAltoPR-geo-stub

History

Carraízo Dam and Loíza Lake

Gallery

Popular culture

See also

References