Cupey is one of the 18 barrios of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico located in the mountainous area of the municipality. It is the largest barrio or district in the San Juan and the third most populous with 32,833 inhabitants according to the 2020 US Census. The territorial land area of Cupey is 7.49 square miles (19.40 km²). It is bound by the municipality of Caguas to the South, by the municipality of Trujillo Alto to the East, by the barrios of Caimito and Monacillo to the West, and by the barrios of El Cinco and Sabana Llana Sur to the North. Between 1990 and 2000 Cupey had a 17.98% increase in population, more than any other barrio in San Juan.

History

Established in 1878, this barrio was a former ward of the now defunct town of

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Flo ...

. It was divided into the "subbarrios" of Cupey Alto and Cupey Bajo. It is named for the Cupey tree, sometimes spelled copey ('' Clusia rosea''), which is indigenous to the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. It belongs to the family

Clusiaceae The Clusiaceae or Guttiferae Juss. (1789) (''nom. alt. et cons.'' = alternative and valid name) are a family (biology), family of plants including 13 genera and ca 750 species. Several former members of Clusiacae are now placed in Calophyllaceae ...

. Linguistically, ''cupey'' or ''copey'' most likely come from the Taino language (''cubey'') and might or might not share a lexical relation to the name

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. Cupey 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. 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 Cupey barrio was 1,834. In 1956, the Puerto Rico Legislature integrated the town of Río Piedras and the town of San Juan. Today, Cupey is the largest barrio in San Juan in area.

Landmarks

The Interamerican University of Puerto Rico's Metropolitan Campus, and the Metropolitan University, a unit of the Ana G. Méndez University System, are located in Cupey. TV personality and astrologer,

Walter Mercado Walter Mercado Salinas (March 9, 1931 – November 2, 2019), also known by his stage name Shanti Ananda, was a Puerto Rican astrologer, actor, dancer, and writer, best known as a television personality for his shows as an astrologer. His astro ...

, is buried at Señorial Memorial Park in Cupey. Señorial Memorial Park, Cupey, San Juan, Puerto Rico.jpg, Señorial Memorial Park and Funeral Home in Cupey

Geography

Cupey barrio is 7.49 square miles (19.40 km²). It is bound to the north by the San Juan barrios of El Cinco along State Road PR-176, and by Sabana Llana Sur in the Venus Gardens neighborhood. From the south it is bound by the municipality of Caguas, starting at the intersection of state roads PR-176 and PR-175. From the east it is bound by the town of Trujillo Alto along state road PR-199. From the west it is bordered by the San Juan wards of Caimito, starting at the intersection of state road PR-199 and state highway PR-52, and by Monacillo. San Juan's only lake, Lago Las Curias, is located in Cupey. It was originally dammed in 1946 by the Municipal Government of San Juan to provide potable water to the cities of

and San Juan and was later transferred to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). it is currently owned by the Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewer Authority (PRASA). The earthen dam is approximately 75 feet high and 800 feet long and its design capacity is 1,120 acres-feet.

Notable residents

Cheo Feliciano Cheo Feliciano (3 July 1935 – 17 April 2014) was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa and bolero music. Feliciano was the owner of a recording company called "Coche Records". He was the first tropical singer to perform at the "Amira ...

, salsa legend *

Raul Julia Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor. He was known for his intense and varied roles on stage and screen. He started his career in the Public Theater before transitioning to film. He ...

, actor * Rafael Hernández, composer and musician * Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rico Nationalist leader *

Kenneth McClintock Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s N ...

, Secretary of State and Senate President * Thomas Rivera Schatz, Senate President * Jorge Santini, Mayor of San Juan * Félix Trinidad, world champion boxer, member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame *

Felix Trinidad Sr. Felix Trinidad Sr. is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer and prominent boxing trainer. Mostly remembered for training his son, International Boxing Hall of Fame member Félix Trinidad, Felix Trinidad Sr. nevertheless was a Featherweight boxer ...

, Puerto Rico national Featherweight boxing champion *

, Astrologer, actor, dancer, and writer, best known as a television personality for his shows as an astrologer.

References

{{Portal bar, Puerto Rico, Geography Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Barrios of San Juan, Puerto Rico

History

Landmarks

Geography

Notable residents

See also

References