Algarrobos Explained

Official Name:Algarrobos
Settlement Type:Barrio
Pushpin Map:Caribbean
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Puerto Rico
Coordinates:18.2297°N -67.1673°W
Coordinates Footnotes:[1]
Subdivision Type:Commonwealth
Subdivision Name: Puerto Rico
Subdivision Type1:Municipality
Subdivision Name1: Mayagüez
Unit Pref:Imperial
Area Total Sq Mi:2.43
Area Land Sq Mi:1.66
Area Water Sq Mi:0.77
Population As Of:2010
Population Note:Source: 2010 Census
Population Total:4383
Population Density Sq Mi:2640.4
Timezone:AST
Utc Offset:-4
Elevation Ft:72
Postal Code Type:ZIP Code

Algarrobos is a barrio in the municipality of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 4,383.[2] [3] [4]

Background

Algarrobos is a coastal, rural barrio deriving its name from the Algarrobo tree. The Algarrobo tree is leguminous, with shiny leaves and purple and white flowers. Its fruit is the carob bean, which consists of seeds covered by an edible substance, contained in a capsule-shaped pod.

History

Mayagüez was a perfect smugglers' shelter for being a distance away from the barracks occupied by authorities. Its value was the strategic entrance to the Castillo de los Valdés in Algarrobos. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries there was in its jurisdiction a stronghold, the Algarrobo Fort, and Spanish battalions were there, one by the sea and another on the west side of Cerro de El Vigia. In the mid-twentieth century there was an American battalion located by the sea in the vicinity of Peña Cortada.

Algarrobos was in Spain's gazetteers[5] until Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and became an unincorporated territory of the United States. In 1899, the United States Department of War conducted a census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Algarrobo barrio was 1,054.[6]

Economy

Between 1962 and 1998 it was the base port and the headquarters of the largest tuna factory in America.[7]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: US Gazetteer 2019. US Census . US Government.
  2. Book: 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.
  3. Book: Gwillim Law. Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: A Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 through 1998. 25 December 2018. 20 May 2015. McFarland. 978-1-4766-0447-3. 300.
  4. Book: Puerto Rico: 2010 Population and Housing Unit Counts.pdf . 2010. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau.
  5. Web site: Anuario del comercio, de la industria, de la magistratura y de la administración. 1881 . Biblioteca Nacional de España . es . 1614. 4 April 2023.
  6. Book: Joseph Prentiss Sanger. Henry Gannett. Walter Francis Willcox. Informe sobre el censo de Puerto Rico, 1899, United States. War Dept. Porto Rico Census Office. 1900. Imprenta del gobierno. 164. es.
  7. Web site: Valentin Calderon. Lionel . Barrio Algarrobos . Aquí Esta Puerto Rico. es.