Isabel II barrio-pueblo ''(referred to as Isabel Segunda in Spanish)'' 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 ...

and the administrative center (

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

) in the downtown area in the island-municipality of

Vieques, Puerto Rico Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island, Culebra barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico, and together with Culebra, Puerto Rico, Culebra, it is geographically part of the Spanish Virgin ...

. Its population in 2010 was 1,354.

The central plaza and its church

As was customary in Spain, in Puerto Rico, the municipality has a barrio which contains a central plaza, the municipal buildings (city hall), and a Catholic church. Fiestas patronales (patron saint festivals) are held in the central plaza every year. 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 () are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown in 1573 for the American and the Asian possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political, religious, and economic life in these areas. The laws are com ...

, Spanish law, which regulated life in Puerto Rico in the early 19th century, stated the plaza's purpose was for "the parties" (celebrations, festivities) (), and that the square should be proportionally large enough for the number of neighbors (). 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 the central plaza in Isabel II barrio-pueblo is the , a Roman Catholic church, which was first built in 1844.

History

Isabel II 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 combined population of Pueblo and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

barrios was 2,646. In July 2020,

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

appropriated funds for repairs to Vieques' plaza.

Sectors

Barrios (which are, in contemporary times, roughly comparable to minor civil divisions) 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. The following sectors are in Isabel II barrio-pueblo: , and .

Historic sites and features

Isabel II barrio-pueblo is the location of several historic sites listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, including: * Fuerte de Vieques (El Fortín Conde de Mirasol) * Casa Alcaldia de Vieques * Casa Augusto Delerme * Casa Delerme-Anduze No. 2 * Casa de Jaime Puig Lemoine * Delerme-Anduze House * Las Tumbas de J. J. Maria le Guillou * Rafael Acevedo House * Smaine-Ortiz House

Gallery

Places in Isabel II barrio-pueblo: Isabel Segunda, Vieques, Puerto Rico.jpg, Scenic panorama of Isabel Segunda Fortin Conde de Mirasol Vieques PR.jpg, El Fortín Conde de Mirasol 300-year-old Ceiba Tree in Isabel II, Vieques, Puerto Rico.jpg, 300-year-old Ceiba Tree Street in Isabel II barrio-pueblo, Vieques, Puerto Rico.jpg, Street in Isabel II barrio-pueblo Statue of Simon Bolivar in Isabel II, Vieques, Puerto Rico.jpg, Statue of Simon Bolivar Casa Alcaldía Isabel Segunda, Vieques PR.jpg, The City Hall 20080720 155752 Festival Viequense 2008.jpg, Patron saint festival celebration in 2008

References