Old San Juan is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the islet of San Juan in San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Catedral, Marina, Mercado, San Cristóbal, and San Francisco sub-barrios (sub-districts) of barrio San Juan Antiguo in the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Old San Juan is the oldest settlement within Puerto Rico and the historic colonial district of the city of San Juan. This historic district is a National Historic Landmark District and is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places as the Old San Juan Historic District. Several historical buildings and structures, particularly La Fortaleza, the city walls, and El Morro and San Cristóbal castles, have been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list since 1983. Historically the mixed use commercial and residential real estate in the main streets like Cristo Street, Fortaleza Street (north) from Tanca Street to the Governor’s Mansion is the most valuable in the area and it has kept its value and increased steadily through several years despite the past economic turmoils.
Castillo San Felipe del Morro Lighthouse, also known as Faro de Morro Port San Juan Light by the National Register of Historic Places and colloquially Faro del Castillo del Morro and Puerto San Juan Light, is a lighthouse atop the walls of Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Old San Juan. It's the first lighthouse built in Puerto Rico.
Cape San Juan Light is a historic lighthouse located on the northeastern part of the highest point of Cape San Juan in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. The lighthouse was constructed in 1880 and was officially lit on May 2, 1882. The original illuminating apparatus, not changed until after 1898, had an 18-mile (29 km) range and displayed a fixed white light which every three minutes flashed red.
Arecibo Light is a historic lighthouse located in the city of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. It is also known as Los Morrillos Lighthouse because of its location on top of a rocky headland known as Punta Morrillos. The lighthouse was constructed and lit in 1898. This was the last lighthouse built by the Spanish government on the island.
Punta Higuero Lighthouse, also known as Faro de Punta Higuero, is an historic lighthouse located in Rincón, Puerto Rico. The original building was built in 1892 by the Spanish government and was rebuilt in 1922 by the United States Coast Guard.
Punta de las Figuras Light is an historic lighthouse located in Arroyo, Puerto Rico. It was first lit by the Spanish government in 1893. The light was relocated in 1938, and the structure was deactivated and abandoned. During World War II, the lighthouse was used as a lookout. After the U.S. Army abandoned the structure in 1963, the lighthouse was repeatedly vandalized. In 1969 the lens and lantern were destroyed. The lighthouse was again damaged by Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017. The light housing is broken, all of the windows are boarded up, and several of the surrounding light pole fixtures are downed. The interior is currently inaccessible.
Punta Tuna Light is a historic lighthouse located in the southeast of the town of Maunabo, Puerto Rico on a narrow promontory at the southeasternmost point of the island. It was first lit in 1892 and automated in 1989. The light was a third-order lighthouse that served as the primary light connecting the island's southern and eastern lights system. The design was drawn and laid out by Joaquin Gisbert in 1890. The lighthouse construction was initially overseen by Adrian Duffaut. It was built from March 13, 1891, to September 29, 1893. Final construction was taken over by the Spanish Body of Engineers according to annotations of the historian Carlos Moral. It was originally named Faro de Mala Pascua after the cape to the west. Later, it was moved and renamed after the Point of the construction site so the light could perform a double duty warning ships off the Sargent reef. On August 8, 1899, the lighthouse suffered damage from Hurricane San Ciriaco; the town suffered heavy damage. On April 12, 1900, an act of Congress extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service to the noncontiguous territory of Puerto Rico and adjacent American waters. 1900 The Lighthouse Board took charge of the Puerto Rico lighthouses. September 13, 1928, Devastating Hurricane San Felipe II strikes, again the lighthouse stands firm, but the town housing is nearly totally destroyed. It was once again damaged by Hurricane Maria on Sept 20, 2017. The light's housing, the external facade, and the surrounding vegetation were all damaged, with some trees completely downed. It was listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1981. In 2007, the government of Puerto Rico bought an area near the lighthouse to create a conservation area. The structure is being restored by the town of Maunabo and is open to the public. The light is not working and the lens appears to be missing. The lighthouse in a state of disrepair and locked, but one may still view it from the surrounding property.
Punta Mulas Light, also known as Faro de Vieques, is a historic lighthouse located in the north shore of Vieques, an island-municipality of Puerto Rico. It was first lit in 1896 and automated in 1949. Punta Mulas Light was the second lighthouse built on Vieques after the Puerto Ferro Light. The light was established to guide through the dangerous passage formed by a chain of reefs. It was of key importance for navigation in the San Juan Passage.
Mona Island Light, also known as Faro de la Isla de la Mona, is a historic lighthouse located on the island of Mona, Puerto Rico, in the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. It is the only lighthouse built of iron and steel in Puerto Rico. While some sources reported that the structure was designed by Gustav Eiffel, who also designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris, recent studies have shown that the tower was designed around 1885 by Spanish engineer Rafael Ravena.
Caja de Muertos Light, is an 1887 lighthouse in Ponce, Puerto Rico, that is unique amongst all other lighthouses in Puerto Rico for its unusual Cross of Lorraine, double-arm, T-type shape structure. The historic lighthouse is located in Caja de Muertos, an uninhabited island off the coast of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The light stands at the highest point of the island.
Guánica Light was a historic lighthouse located in the municipality of Guánica, Puerto Rico in the Guánica State Forest. It was first lit in 1893 and deactivated in 1950. The light marked the entrance to Guánica Bay and bridge the gap between Los Morrillos Light and Caja de Muertos Light.
Punta Borinquen Light is a lighthouse located in the old Ramey Air Force Base in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The station was established in 1889 by the Spanish government. With the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, the lighthouse would become "the most important aid to navigation on the route from Europe to Panama". In 1917, the U.S Congress provided funding for a new lighthouse in higher ground.
Puerto Ferro Light, also known as Faro de Puerto Ferro, is a historic lighthouse located in the Vieques, Puerto Rico. The light was first lit in 1896. It is one of the last minor or local lights to be built by the Spanish government. The light was of crucial importance to cross the Vieques Passage. The lighthouse was deactivated in 1926 when it was abandoned.
Isla Cabras Light, also known as Faro de Isla Cabras, was a lighthouse located on a rocky but flat islet with the same name, which sit just off the coast near Ceiba, Puerto Rico, toward the Vieques Passage.
The Carretera Central is a historic north–south central highway in Puerto Rico, linking the cities of San Juan and Ponce by way of Río Piedras, Caguas, Cayey, Aibonito, Coamo, and Juana Díaz. It crosses the Cordillera Central. Plans for the road started in the first half of the 19th century, and the road was fully completed in 1898. At the time the United States took possession of Puerto Rico in 1898, the Americans called it "the finest road in the Western Hemisphere."
This portion of National Register of Historic Places listings in Puerto Rico is along the central mountain region, from Las Marías and Maricao in the central-west to Juncos in the central-east, including the slopes of the Cordillera.
Beatriz del Cueto is a Cuban-born architect specialising in conservation and architectural preservation. A resident of Puerto Rico since 1960, del Cueto is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and Henry Klumb Award winner in 2012.
Culebrita Lighthouse is the only remaining Spanish-era structure in the Culebra archipelago. Construction of the lighthouse began on September 25, 1882, and was completed on February 25, 1886. The Spanish Crown built the lighthouse to help secure its claim over the main island of Culebra. It is the most eastern light outside mainland Puerto Rico. It guided navigation through the Virgin Passage and the Vieques Sound connecting in the Puerto Rico Light System with the Cape San Juan Light.
Casillas de Camineros is the name in Spanish given to structures built every 6 kilometers during the latter part of the 19th century alongside the major roads built in Puerto Rico and provided as residences to the "camineros", specially-trained government workers charged with providing maintenance to the surface of approximately six kilometers of a major road.
The Puente Río Portugués is a historic bridge over the former course of the Río Portugués in barrio Playa in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The bridge was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2015. The bridge is prominent as "the oldest longitudinal steel beams / reinforced concrete bridge built within the historic Carretera Central". It is located on Avenida Hostos, just south of its intersection with Ponce By Pass.
