List of the oldest buildings in Puerto Rico

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This article lists the oldest extant buildings in Puerto Rico, including extant buildings and structures constructed prior to and during the United States rule over Puerto Rico since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898. Only buildings built prior to 1750 are suitable for inclusion on this list, or the building must be the oldest of its type.

Contents

In order to qualify for the list, a structure must:

This consciously excludes ruins of limited height, roads and statues. Bridges may be included if they otherwise fulfill the above criteria. Dates for many of the oldest structures have been arrived at by radiocarbon dating or dendrochronology and should be considered approximate. If the exact year of initial construction is estimated, it will be shown as a range of dates.

List of oldest buildings

BuildingImageLocationFirst builtUseNotes
La Casa Blanca
Casa Blanca San Juan 1904.jpg
Old San Juan 1521Military, residenceLocated in the Old San Juan National Historic Landmark District. [1] Built as a fortified residence for Juan Ponce de León. The house has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898.
San José Church
Iglesia de San Jose - San Juan, Puerto Riceo - DSC06878.JPG
Old San Juan 1532ReligiousLocated in the Old San Juan National Historic Landmark District. [1] Oldest church building in Puerto Rico. Additions and renovations over the centuries. The church has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898.
La Fortaleza
LA FORTALEZA.jpg
Old San Juan 1533Government, militaryLocated in the Old San Juan National Historic Landmark District [1] and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [2] Oldest executive mansion in the New World. Extensive reconstructions took place over the centuries.
Castillo San Felipe del Morro
Castillo San Felipe del Morro in San Juan Puerto Rico.jpg
Old San Juan 1539MilitaryPart of the San Juan National Historic Site [3] and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [2] Built to defend the eastern entrance to the San Juan Bay and the Islet of San Juan. Construction started in 1539, with extensive additions over the centuries.
Cathedral of San Juan Bautista
Catedral de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico - DSC06868.JPG
Old San Juan 1540ReligiousLocated in the Old San Juan National Historic Landmark District. [1] Oldest church building in the U.S. and its territories, original built in 1521 on modern-day location (extensive additions and renovations). The cathedral has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898.
Basílica of the Virgin of Monserrat
BasilicaMenor-HormiguerosPR-03.JPG
Hormigueros c. 1570Religious Radiocarbon dating on the building foundations and the inner chapel dates to ca. 1570. The current church building was built during the second half of the 18th century.
San Juan City Hall
Puerto Rico -- San Juan -- City Hall.JPG
Old San Juan 1604-1789GovernmentOldest building used as a city hall in Puerto Rico, first built as the Cabildo de Puerto Rico . The main structure was built in stages between 1604 and 1789. The façade dates to 1840. [4]
Porta Coeli
Porta Coeli in San German (Puerto Rico).jpg
San Germán 1609ReligiousThe church has been on US territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898. Located in San Germán Historic District. [5]
Fortín San Juan de la Cruz
Fortsanjuandelacruz.JPG
Toa Baja 1610-1660MilitaryPart of the San Juan National Historic Site [3] and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [2] Built between 1610 and 1660 at the site of a former small wooden fortification which defended the western entrance to the San Juan Bay and the original mouth of the Bayamón River. [3]
Monasterio del Señor San José de la Orden de Nuestra Señora del Carmen
El Convento Hotel, San Juan.JPG
Old San Juan 1646-1651ReligiousFormer nunnery and monastery founded in 1651, today a hotel known as Hotel El Convento. The current exterior dates to the second half of the 19th century.
Iglesia San Blas de Illescas
ChurchCoamo.JPG
Coamo 1661ReligiousConsidered one of the most important works of religious architecture in Puerto Rico. [6] The church has been on US territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898.
Hermitage Church of Nuestra Señora de Valvanera of Coamo Coamo 1685ReligiousBrick masonry chapel from 1685. The church has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898. [7]
Iglesia San Germán de Auxerre
San German Auxerre.jpg
San Germán 1688ReligiousThis parish church was built in 1688. The church has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898.
Church Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria y San Matías of Manatí
Catholic church in Manati barrio-pueblo.jpg
Manatí 1729ReligiousOriginally in 1729 and underwent major repairs in 1864. The church has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898.
Parroquia del Espiritu Santo y San Patricio
Parroquia del Espiritu Santo y San Patricio.jpg
Loíza 1729ReligiousThis parish church was built in 1729. The church has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898.
Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes de San Miguel de Hato Grande
San Lorenzo Catholic Church.JPG
San Lorenzo 1737ReligiousAlso known as Las Mercedes Church, this Classical Revival style building was built in 1737. The church has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898.
Alejandro Tapia y Rivera Theater
Teatro Tapia - San Juan IMG 2003 calle tetuan.JPG
Old San Juan 1824TheaterOldest free-standing theater in San Juan and one of the oldest theaters in the Caribbean. [8]
La Princesa Prison
Old San Juan - Carcel La Princesa.jpg
Old San Juan 1837PrisonOldest purpose-built prison in Puerto Rico. [9]
Ponce City Hall
Ponce City Hall.JPG
Ponce 1840GovernmentOldest purpose-built city hall in Puerto Rico and oldest surviving building Ponce. [10]
United States Customs House in Ponce
US Customs House, Ponce, Photo 2.jpg
Ponce 1842GovernmentOldest U.S. customs house in Puerto Rico and the only one of its type under the U.S. flag. Possibly also the oldest purpose-built post office in Puerto Rico. [11]
Casa de los Ponce de León San Germán 1842ResidenceAllegedly the oldest continuously occupied home in Puerto Rico; home to Ponce De Leon family. Located in San Germán Historic District. [5] The house has been on U.S. territory since Puerto Rico was annexed in 1898.
Port San Juan Light
San Juan, Castillo del Morro 44.jpg
Old San Juan 1846LighthouseOldest lighthouse structure in Puerto Rico. [12] Built onto El Morro, which is part the San Juan National Historic Site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [2]
Central San Vicente
Central San Vicente Rubert Hermanos.jpg
Vega Baja 1873RefineryFirst sugarcane refinery to be built in Puerto Rico. Although most of the building is in ruins, its chimney and central brick structure and steam engines still remain. [13]
Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad
Holy Trinity Church in Barrio Cuarto in Ponce, PR, looking east (IMG 2980).jpg
Ponce 1873ReligiousOldest non-Roman Catholic religious building and oldest Anglican and Protestant church building in Puerto Rico. Holy Trinity was still the only Protestant church in Puerto Rico at the time of the United States invasion in 1898. The current structure dates to 1926 and it preserves some of its former features such as its 1870 bell cast. [14]
Cape San Juan Light
Las Cabezas de San Juan Lighthouse2.jpg
Fajardo 1880LighthouseOldest free-standing lighthouse building in Puerto Rico. [15] It played a major role in the Battle of Fajardo during the Puerto Rican Campaign of the Spanish–American War in 1898.
Logia Masónica Hijos de la Luz
Logia Masonica Hijos de la Luz 1 - Yauco Puerto Rico.jpg
Yauco 1894Meeting hallPossibly the oldest built and certainly the oldest surviving purpose-built Masonic building in Puerto Rico. [16]
Yagüez Theater
Teatro Yaguez - Mayaguez Puerto Rico.jpg
Mayagüez 1909TheaterOldest surviving purpose-built movie theater in Puerto Rico.
Jose V. Toledo Federal Building and United States Courthouse
Jose V. Toledo Federal Building and United States Courthouse.JPG
Old San Juan 1914GovernmentOldest U.S.-built post office, courthouse and federal building in Puerto Rico. [17]
Ponce High School
Ponce High School in Ponce, Puerto Rico (IMG 2887).jpg
Ponce 1915EducationOldest purpose-built public school and high school building in Puerto Rico. [18]
Museum of History, Anthropology and Art of the University of Puerto Rico
MAHA - UPR.jpg
Río Piedras 1951MuseumOldest purpose-built museum building in Puerto Rico. [19] [20]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Old San Juan Historic District---American Latino Heritage: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  3. 1 2 3 Juan, Mailing Address: 501 Norzagaray Street San; Us, PR 00901 Phone: 787 729-6777 Contact. "Basic Information - San Juan National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  4. ↑ "Alcaldía de San Juan". Discover Puerto Rico. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
  5. 1 2 "San German Historic District--Historic Places in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands; A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
  6. ↑ Church of San Blas de Illescas of Coamo
  7. ↑ Marisa Gomez and Ester Cardona (July 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Hermitage Church of Nuestra Señora de Valvanera of Coamo". National Park Service . Retrieved December 29, 2016. with photos
  8. ↑ Donald Thompson (1990). "Notes on the Inauguration of the San Juan (Puerto Rico) Municipal Theater". Latin American Music Review. 11. JSTOR   780360.
  9. ↑ "Antigua Prisión La Princesa". Puerto Rico Historic Buildings Drawings Society. 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  10. ↑ Discover Ponce's NeoClassical Buildings and Museums. Puertorico.com: Puerto Rico Channel. 2018. Accessed 28 March 2018.
  11. ↑ U.S. Custom House listing at NRHP Retrieved 21 November 2009.
  12. ↑ "Lighthouse Friends- Puerto San Juan" . Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  13. ↑ Universidad Interamericana - Recinto Metro (ed.). "Central San Vicente, Vega Baja". Centrales Azucareras de Puerto Rico (1873-2007). Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 9 Sep 2017.
  14. ↑ Explore Puerto Rico, by Harry S. Pariser. San Francisco: Manatee Press, p. 244, Retrieved 30 November 2009
  15. ↑ "Las Cabezas de San Juan Lighthouse - Municipalities | EnciclopediaPR".
  16. ↑ Héctor F. Santiago (October 1987). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Logia Masonica Hijos de la Luz". National Park Service . Retrieved January 29, 2021. With accompanying eight photos
  17. ↑ "U.S. Post Office and Courthouse Addition - San Juan PR". Living New Deal. 2019-07-26. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  18. ↑ Maruja Candal Salazar and Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. Museo de la Historia de Ponce. Sala de Educacion. 30 December 2016.
  19. ↑ "Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte de Río Piedras". Universidad de Puerto Rico (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  20. ↑ "Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte de la Universidad de Puerto Rico". Discover Puerto Rico. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
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